Alex Rodriguez regrets that he took steroids. Darryl Strawberry wishes that he had. Or at least had the opportunity to try them. That's what the outspoken Strawberry revealed yesterday when asked if he would have chosen to inject the forbidden performance-enhancing drugs.He also said he "loves and respects Alex," and he was "glad Alex was man enough to stand up and tell the truth about [his steroid use]." The Straw man said he didn't like the fact that A-Rod was the only one of the 104 names released, and that it was obvious "somebody had it out for him, and it's not fair."
"Hell yeah, I would have used them," Strawberry said. "Are you kidding me? I mean, come on. We're competitive creatures and we have tremendous drive, high tolerance, all these things. I'm not saying that was the right thing to do. But if that was going on in the '80s, that probably would have been in my system, too. I wouldn't have denied it because you guys know I don't deny anything."
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He finished with 335 home runs, but never hit more than 39 in a season, and said it was too late for him to try steroids when use of that drug was at its peak in baseball.
"I was too old," the 46-year-old Strawberry said. "If you caught me when I was 24, 25 in my career. Of course, I was naive, stupid, just like Alex was. When I saw his comments, I could relate to that because I was stupid, too when I was 24, 25, 26 years old.
"That's why I never condemn anybody that fails. If a guy could fall and get up, dust himself off and help somebody else, then he's really done what he's taught to do, because it's not about him. I believe that will be the great message for a guy like Alex Rodriguez."
When I first read this I immediately thought, "What the hell is he thinking?" (Not the part about A-Rod, but the blatant admission that he would have cheated if he could have.) But then I thought about it and realized that at least he was telling the truth, and there is something to be said for that.
There are many players who would have cheated - and did cheat - but will still sit in front of a camera or a microphone and lie through their teeth and say "Oh no, I'd never do that." And there's nothing to respect about that. At least Strawberry told the truth.
2 Comments:
Like you said Greg, at least he's being honest.
I'm kinda surprised he would even offer up this info, but whatever, no big deal.
Probably the only drugs he didn't do. Although didn't the Mitchell Report say that those 80's Mets teams did have steroids floating around? Maybe he's only saying he would have taken them to throw people off.
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