Mark Teixeira’s career is set to close, as the New York Yankees first baseman will retire at season’s end. The 36-year-old enjoyed a phenomenal 14-year career split between Texas, Atlanta, and New York, hitting 406 career home runs. In a wide-ranging interview with Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, Teixeira opened up about what it was like to be a clean star in the sport’s steroid era.
Teixeira told Rosenthal he was “never tempted to cheat” calling the decision to use PED’s “wrong.” He said he would have quit if he ended up using steroids.
“When I started playing professional baseball, I told myself, ‘If I have to take drugs to play this game, I’ll quit.’ It’s not worth it. I stuck to that. And I’m proud of sticking with it.”
Teixeira played more than a decade with Alex Rodriguez, arguably the most infamous steroid user in the last two decades. I’d imagine the topic was tenuous between the pair as Tex told Rosenthal he has trouble accepting the fact PED users are allowed to stay in the game.
“We’ve done a better job (of dealing with the issue). But guys that are trying to cheat, it’s very tough for me to accept that they’re allowed to stay in the game.”
MLB has become more aggressive in PED-related suspensions over the past couple seasons, but it’s easy to assume Teixeira would be firmly in the camp in favor of lifetime bans for a single positive test. I understand his viewpoint. Teixeira, like most fans and players, wants all players to be on an even playing field. Kudos to Tex for keeping it clean.
