Fansided

A-Rod claims he was tricked by Biogenesis founder Bosch

By Grant Stoye

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Sep 18, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays fans hold up asterisk signs as New York Yankees designated hitter Alex Rodriguez (13) comes off the field after striking out in the eighth inning at the Rogers Centre. New York defeated Toronto 4-3. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 18, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays fans hold up asterisk signs as New York Yankees designated hitter Alex Rodriguez (13) comes off the field after striking out in the eighth inning at the Rogers Centre. New York defeated Toronto 4-3. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports /

In a predictable twist in the Alex Rodriguez/Biogenesis drama, A-Rod and his legal team are going the Barry Bonds route and claiming that he didn’t realize he was taking illegal supplements, the New York Daily News reports.

"By claiming that he was given banned drugs when he thought he was getting legal supplements, Rodriguez is tearing a page from the playbook that guided other tainted athletes. Barry Bonds told a grand jury in 2003 that he thought the creams he got from his BALCO-affiliated trainer, Greg Anderson, were something like flaxseed oil. Roger Clemens claimed he thought the intramuscular injections he got from his trainer, Brian McNamee, were shots of vitamin B-12 and lidocaine.The alibi got Clemens into trouble when he couldn’t explain why the injections took place during furtive visits to supply closets and an upper East Side apartment, and why he needed an unauthorized strength coach to give him shots instead of a team doctor."

Things are about to get even messier.Soon Bosch will be cross-examined by Rodriguez’s stable of lawyers, bringing in Bosch’s own credibility. This could be used to salvage a modicum of Rodriguez’s tattered reputation and potentially put the kibosh on his potential 211-game MLB suspension.

One of the things about this type of argument runs counter to the fact that professional athletes’s livelihood is dependent upon what goes into their bodies, and they are constantly aware of the intake down to the calories and grams.