A-Rod: Cousin gave me drugs

Aha! so it was the cousin who done it. or was it Colonel Mustard in the library with the rope?
Or perhaps it was mr Rodriguez himself? And who cares if its Bola or boli. BooYa!
It was six years ago, can we move on now?

Alex Rodriguez said on Tuesday that he was injected with steroids from 2001-03 by a cousin who purchased the drugs in the Dominican Republic, but he denied knowing they were steroids, didn't know how they impacted his performance and refused to name his cousin.

Rodriguez made the comments in a packed, emotional, 35-minute press conference at the Yankees' spring training complex in Tampa, Fla.

"I didn't think they were steroids," Rodriguez said. "That's part of being young and stupid. It was over the counter. It was pretty basic. It was amateur hour.... It was two guys doing a very amateur thing ... All these years I never thought I did something wrong."

Rodriguez said his cousin injected him twice a month for three years. He later clarified that it could have been fewer than twice a month or more than twice a month in certain months.

"It was injected," he said. "To what degree it helped, I don't know." He did admit he had more energy.

Ripped Fuel
Rodriguez also said he used Ripped Fuel, an off-the-shelves muscle-building supplement created by a Hauppauge-based company called Twinlab, during his years with the Seattle Mariners.

Ripped Fuel was eventually taken off the shelves because it contained ephedra, an amphetamine that stimulates the central nervous system and was cited in the death of Baltimore pitcher Steve Bechler in February 2003. Twinlab went bankrupt later that year and their Hauppauge office closed in 2005.

A-Rod said his cousin procured the drugs from the Dominican Republic at his request.

"He basically took instructions from me. He thought he was doing something that was helpful, not hurtful."

Primabolan
He said in 2001 his cousin told him about a substance he could buy that would give him a boost. Rodriguez said it was known "on the streets" as "boli" or "bola." He said his cousin was also the person who injected him with the drug.

"Bowl-ee" or "bowl-ah," as pronounced by Rodriguez, apparently is steroid-user's slang either for Primabolan or Dianabol, both anabolic steroids banned as performance-enhancing substances by baseball.

"We consulted no one," Rodriguez said. "It was pretty evident we didn't know what we were doing. . . I didn't think they were steroids. I know we weren't taking Tic Tacs. It could potentially be something that perhaps was wrong."

"It was basically amateur hour," Rodriguez said. "We used to do it about two times a month. I don't even know if that's the right way to take it."

"He's a huge investment. So he's an asset, and this is an asset that's currently in crisis," general manager Brian Cashman said. "So we will do everything we can to protect that asset. ... If this is Humpty Dumpty, we've got to put him back together again, to get back up on the wall."

Rodriguez held his first news conference since a Feb. 7 Sports Illustrated report that he tested positive for steroids in 2003. In an interview with ESPN's Peter Gammons Feb. 9, Rodriguez admitted his steroid use from 2001-03 while with the Texas Rangers, but he was not specific about what he used or for how long. He also claimed not to know what he was taking.

SI.com reported Rodriguez tested positive for two anabolic steroids, testosterone and Primobolan, in 2003.

A-Rod started the press conference on Tuesday by saying, "First, bear with me. I'm a little nervous - or a lot nervous." Then he read a prepared statement. After that, he took questions from the 200 or so assembled media members.

Rodriguez, 33, has been called one of the greatest baseball players of all time and has long been considered a lock for the Hall of Fame. Rodriguez, who is on pace to break the all-time home run record, is a career .306 hitter with 553 home runs, 1,606 RBIs and 1,605 runs scored -- plus nine years left on his Yankees contract.

Rodriguez was joined by Yankees officials Hank Steinbrenner, Felix Lopez, Cashman, manager Joe Girardi and teammates, including Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Johnny Damon.

Specifically addressing his teammates, Rodriguez said, "I thank you, I love you. I look forward to putting this day behind us and having an amazing season."

"After today," Rodriguez said, "I hope to put this behind me and focus on baseball."