Originally published Friday, February 13, 2009 at 12:00 AM

Baseball | Bud Selig: A-Rod "shamed the game"

Unable to punish Alex Rodriguez for flunking a drug test that was supposed to be anonymous, Bud Selig could only chastise him. "What Alex did was...

By The Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. — Unable to punish Alex Rodriguez for flunking a drug test that was supposed to be anonymous, Bud Selig could only chastise him.

"What Alex did was wrong and he will have to live with the damage he has done to his name and reputation," the commissioner said Thursday, three days after the Yankees star admitted using banned substances from 2001 to 2003 while playing for Texas.

"While Alex deserves credit for publicly confronting the issue, there is no valid excuse for using such substances, and those who use them have shamed the game," Selig said.

Rodriguez's admission followed a Sports Illustrated report that he was on a list of 104 players who tested positive for steroids in 2003, when testing was intended only to determine the extent of steroid use in baseball.

The results were seized by the government in 2004 and remain under seal.

Selig also spoke how the issue involving Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds had affected him. Selig is considering making Aaron the all-time home-run king again.

"This is breaking my heart, I don't mind telling you that," he said.

Notes

• A federal judge dismissed most of Roger Clemens' defamation lawsuit against his former trainer, saying statements made in the Mitchell Report on doping in baseball are protected. Brian McNamee told federal agents, baseball investigator George Mitchell and a House of Representatives committee he injected Clemens more than a dozen times with steroids and human growth hormone from 1998 to 2001.

• Outfielder Rick Ankiel and the St. Louis Cardinals agreed to a one-year contract worth $2,825,000, avoiding arbitration.

• Second baseman Dan Uggla won his arbitration case against the Florida Marlins and was awarded $5.35 million. The Marlins had offered $4.4 million.

• Right-hander Braden Looper and the Milwaukee Brewers agreed to a one-year contract with an option for 2010 that could be worth $12.25 million.

• Outfielder Delmon Young and the Minnesota Twins have agreed to terms on a $1,152,000, one-year contract.

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