From the archives: Straw would have taken steroids

This story was originally published in Newsday on March 4, 2009

Alex Rodriguez regrets that he took steroids. Darryl Strawberry wishes that he had. Or at least had the opportunity to try them. That's what the outspoken Strawberry revealed yesterday when asked if he would have chosen to inject the forbidden performance-enhancing drugs.

"Hell yeah, I would have used them," Strawberry said. "Are you kidding me? I mean, come on. We're competitive creatures and we have tremendous drive, high tolerance, all these things. I'm not saying that was the right thing to do. But if that was going on in the '80s, that probably would have been in my system, too. I wouldn't have denied it because you guys know I don't deny anything."

Strawberry left out that Rodriguez was forced into his admission by the SI.com story that revealed his steroid use, but he can empathize with A-Rod's plight, having been a baseball megastar in New York. Strawberry had plenty of his own problems during his days patrolling rightfield for the Mets, and he sent words of encouragement to Rodriguez through mutual friends.

"I love Alex and respect him, and I'm glad Alex was man enough to stand up and tell the truth about it," Strawberry said. "But I have a hard time with the union when one player out of 104 players' names comes out and it's Alex Rodriguez - on testing that was done that was supposed to be confidential.

"Obviously, somebody had it out for him, and it's not fair. If you're going to name one, why don't you name all of them. That's the problem I have with this whole situation. They have put Alex in a situation where it's him alone against the world. That's not fair. It's unfortunate, but that's what happens when you play in New York."

Strawberry is in uniform this week as a guest instructor for the Mets and he still appears to be in playing shape, even though he did decline someone's request to take a few hacks on Field 7 - the replica of Citi Field. He finished with 335 home runs, but never hit more than 39 in a season, and said it was too late for him to try steroids when use of that drug was at its peak in baseball.

"I was too old," the 46-year-old Strawberry said. "If you caught me when I was 24, 25 in my career. Of course, I was naive, stupid, just like Alex was. When I saw his comments, I could relate to that because I was stupid, too when I was 24, 25, 26 years old.

"That's why I never condemn anybody that fails. If a guy could fall and get up, dust himself off and help somebody else, then he's really done what he's taught to do, because it's not about him. I believe that will be the great message for a guy like Alex Rodriguez."