‘ ‘ ‘ With gelled hair, rosy red cheeks and a glum face, New York Yankees third baseman Alex… ‘ ‘ ‘ With gelled hair, rosy red cheeks and a glum face, New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs this past Monday. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ His admission came to ESPN just days after Sports Illustrated broke reports of leaked Major League Baseball survey drug tests from 2003, in which he tested positive for testosterone and Primobolan while a member of the Texas Rangers. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Though Rodriguez’s name is now sure to be affixed to the so-called ‘Steroids Era’ of baseball forever with the likes of Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, he hopes he has evaded at least some of the infamy that follows Bonds and the Rocket. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ See, Rodriguez did what most big name stars haven’t to this point. Once he was nailed, he told the truth. He came clean. He stopped the bleeding ‘mdash; at least for now. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ It would have been easy for the three-time league MVP to deny, deny, deny. He could have created media circuses like those of Clemens and Bonds. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ But history tells us that doesn’t seem to work out too well. Bonds is currently facing trial for federal perjury charges, and Clemens can be sure he will face similar trials once the government builds its case against him. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ He could have followed Mark McGuire’s strategy of telling half-truths, receding into the shadows and out of media attention. But McGuire is retired and Rodriguez has plenty of good baseball years ahead of him. And if he ever wants to get into Cooperstown, that tactic hasn’t proved too effective with McGuire, who gained very little support from Hall of Fame voters despite his lofty career slugging numbers. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ So A-Rod did what he thought was best for his career. He admitted that between 2001 and 2003 he did indeed use performance-enhancing drugs. He said that he felt a lot of pressure to perform at the time and that it was part of the ‘culture’ of the game. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ He cited that he’s won two MVPs since those years, and that he had the best season of his career in 2007 while clean. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ And he’s hoping the fans, the game and reporters will forgive him for it. He hopes that telling the truth now will get him off the hook later. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Sure, he’ll lose some fans and the respect of many in the game, namely sports writers and the like, who will ultimately decide if one day he is worthy of having his face enshrined in bronze in up-state New York. He has avoided having to sit in front of a grand jury and being ridiculed in the court of public opinion about whether he is lying or not. Because hey, he admitted he was wrong. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ He may also have given up three seasons of his career to steroid-pumped numbers, but Rodriguez wants everyone to know he’s still got nine other big league years that were supposedly clean that can define his career. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Rodriguez is one of the best and most versatile players in the game today, and no one will dispute that. He is sitting on 553 career home runs at the age of 33. He’s got just about as good a chance as anyone in the history of the game to one day be the all-time home run king and even be the first player to potentially eclipse 800 dingers for his career. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ He won’t turn into Barry Bonds and he won’t become the next Roger Clemens. And because of that, A-Rod believes you should toss him a clean slate and give the guy a break. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ But are sports fans supposed to be satisfied that Rodriguez at least admitted to cheating? After he broke the rules and defaced the sanctity of the game, we should laud his honesty and accept his apology all because he didn’t continue to lie? ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Aside from a total lack of accountability, the ‘Steroid Era’ has diluted concepts that are traditionally just as American as baseball itself: honesty, hard work and belief in the power of determination. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Rodriguez simply becomes another big name cheat, another athlete slowly chipping away at the integrity of sport as a whole. Competition and pride have been replaced with money and self-promotion. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The idea of baseball as America’s pastime no longer exists. Thank you, Rodriguez. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ But at least he told the truth, right?