A-Rod Doesn't Want You To Take Everything Literally

I wasn't around on Wednesday when Alex Rodriguez made his comment regarding drug testing in Major League Baseball, so it's hard to tell exactly how he said it. Was he presenting it in a serious way, or was he sort of joking around? I'm not sure. But what I am sure of is that someone contacted him, and told him he needed to clarify his statements. Because yesterday is was "nine or ten" drug tests last year, and today it's just an illustration of how stringent the MLB drug testing policy is.

Alex Rodriguez says he was exaggerating when he claimed he was given nine or 10 drug tests last year. Rodriguez made his original statement Wednesday, before the Yankees' first full-squad workout of the year.

If A-Rod had been tested that many times, either he was selected for an unusually high number of random checks or he might have been subjected to additional tests - which would happen, for instance, if a panel decides there was reasonable cause or a player tests positive for a banned stimulant for the first time.

"I know it was more than one," Rodriguez said after Thursday's workout. "It's a few. The lesson is, you've got to be very, very specific with what you say because everything then will come back and people are going to ask you. I learned my lesson."

My guess is that his agent cringed when he heard the remarks, and instantly placed a call to A-Rod telling him to revise his statements. I'm guessing it's so that Rodriguez doesn't come under suspicion for possibly having an unusually high number of tests. Without him telling the public, there's little chance that we would know how many times he was tested. And with the steroid stigma firmly attached to pro baseball, no one wants their name connected with performance enhancing drugs. Especially not a superstar like A-Rod.