05/01: A-Rod Goes 1 for 6 in First Game Action; Players and Coaches Comment on New Steroid and Pitch Tipping Allegations
Posted by: Patrick
In his first rehab game action, A-Rod went 1 for 6 with a home run and 2 walks in an extended spring game, reports MLB.com's Dawn Klemish.
Of course, the hot topic of the day was the fresh speculation derived from Selena Roberts' new book. Namely, the suggestion that A-Rod used steroids both with the Yankees and in high school and that he engaged in pitch tipping in Texas. The book says that A-Rod would tell friends on other teams what was coming, when the game was out of hand, in expectation of receiving the same treatment from them. On Thursday, many players or former players and coaches commented on the speculation.
"To me, it seems like a lot of he-said, she-said kind of stuff," Joe Girardi told MLB.com's Anthony DiComo. "We've been down this road. We're going to move on. Alex has talked about how he's going to move on." Girardi said that he's never seen Alex tip pitches.
In an interview with SI.com, Robert detailed the pitch tipping accusations and what they are based on.
Also on SI.com, Ted Keith spoke with former A-Rod teammates R.A. Dickey, Doug Glanville and Shane Spencer. All three expressed outrage at the idea of pitch tipping. Both Dickey and Glanville said that they hadn't seen anything that would support the claims and that they would reserve judgment, hoping it to be untrue. Spencer, though, says that he heard whispers about it, but apparently never witnessed it himself.
Mike Cramer, who was the President of the Rangers when A-Rod was with the team, told the Post that he never heard anything about pitch tipping.
Both A-Rod's former high school coach, Rich Hofman, and a former high school teammate, Doug Mientkiewicz have come out refuting the claim that he used steroids while playing high school ball.
"It's totally unsubstantiated, totally false, all innuendo, a vendetta," Hofman told Linda Robertson of the Miami Herald. "We had a close-knit group and in all our conversations, steroids never came up. These kids loved to play baseball. We had a rigorous program and that's why we were good - we earned it."
When asked about the claim that Hofman's son, David, had seen A-Rod use steroids, Hofman called it "totally bogus."
"There’s no way," Mientkiewicz told Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports. "I was with him too much, I was with him for too long. Our team was together, like, 20 hours of the day. Every day."
"He also grew two or three inches," Mientkiewicz continued. "You’re talking about a 15 year old kid who looked really skinny and scrawny. Then he hit puberty and he grew into a man. Everybody goes through it. So now every 13 to 15 year old kid is going to be accused of this, because he hits puberty?"
Both Mark Teixeira and Johnny Damon issued your standard "no comment, we support Alex" type of statements.
A-Rod himself declined comment on the book. "I'm not going there," he told Klemish. "I'm just so excited to be back on the field and playing baseball."
Via the Post, Steve Lombardi and Steve, again via Rhett Bollinger.
Of course, the hot topic of the day was the fresh speculation derived from Selena Roberts' new book. Namely, the suggestion that A-Rod used steroids both with the Yankees and in high school and that he engaged in pitch tipping in Texas. The book says that A-Rod would tell friends on other teams what was coming, when the game was out of hand, in expectation of receiving the same treatment from them. On Thursday, many players or former players and coaches commented on the speculation.
"To me, it seems like a lot of he-said, she-said kind of stuff," Joe Girardi told MLB.com's Anthony DiComo. "We've been down this road. We're going to move on. Alex has talked about how he's going to move on." Girardi said that he's never seen Alex tip pitches.
In an interview with SI.com, Robert detailed the pitch tipping accusations and what they are based on.
Also on SI.com, Ted Keith spoke with former A-Rod teammates R.A. Dickey, Doug Glanville and Shane Spencer. All three expressed outrage at the idea of pitch tipping. Both Dickey and Glanville said that they hadn't seen anything that would support the claims and that they would reserve judgment, hoping it to be untrue. Spencer, though, says that he heard whispers about it, but apparently never witnessed it himself.
Mike Cramer, who was the President of the Rangers when A-Rod was with the team, told the Post that he never heard anything about pitch tipping.
Both A-Rod's former high school coach, Rich Hofman, and a former high school teammate, Doug Mientkiewicz have come out refuting the claim that he used steroids while playing high school ball.
"It's totally unsubstantiated, totally false, all innuendo, a vendetta," Hofman told Linda Robertson of the Miami Herald. "We had a close-knit group and in all our conversations, steroids never came up. These kids loved to play baseball. We had a rigorous program and that's why we were good - we earned it."
When asked about the claim that Hofman's son, David, had seen A-Rod use steroids, Hofman called it "totally bogus."
"There’s no way," Mientkiewicz told Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports. "I was with him too much, I was with him for too long. Our team was together, like, 20 hours of the day. Every day."
"He also grew two or three inches," Mientkiewicz continued. "You’re talking about a 15 year old kid who looked really skinny and scrawny. Then he hit puberty and he grew into a man. Everybody goes through it. So now every 13 to 15 year old kid is going to be accused of this, because he hits puberty?"
Both Mark Teixeira and Johnny Damon issued your standard "no comment, we support Alex" type of statements.
A-Rod himself declined comment on the book. "I'm not going there," he told Klemish. "I'm just so excited to be back on the field and playing baseball."
Via the Post, Steve Lombardi and Steve, again via Rhett Bollinger.
