Rafael Palmeiro Quotes

These days the temptation to use steroids in sports has become too great for many young athletes.

With all the great products that are apparently out there that are undetectable, for me to take something like that... when people take things that now aren't even being tested for, does it make any sense?

Because I tried to everything possible to become the best player in the world? Do I believe steroids and growth hormones helped me achieve that? Yes. Were there a lot of other players doing it that I had to compete against? Yes.

Football, basketball, and the Olympic sports all have their problems with banned substances.

That's what Major League Baseball's steroid scandal was all about, the hidden harm in competitive sports that sends the wrong message to the young.

Sadly, this problem of steroid use is not isolated to baseball.

Steroids are for guys who want to cheat opponents.

Well, when I think of steroids I think of an image. You have the advantage over someone, which is a form of cheating. I guess it wouldn't be right unless it was legal for everybody. Reason it's not legal for everybody is because it can hurt people seriously.

Tony La Russa was quoted as saying that I was using steroids back then, and I was talking about it in the clubhouse, openly.

I cannot bet my life on it, because I was not involved, that Alex Rodriguez ever used steroids. But in my opinion, I suspect he has, yes.

I'm against steroids. Steroids are bad.

I mean, does anyone seriously think there are no drugs in Olympic sports just because they do some kind of testing? They are highly competitive sports with highly competitive people and just with competitive business people do whatever they can do to get ahead.

I never did steroids in my life. I know all the fighters; they are all on steroids.

It's no secret what's going on in baseball. At least half the players are using steroids.

The safety argument against steroids may be a good one, but let's be honest. It isn't the one that motivates most officials and fans to frown on steroids. Steroid use does not just seem risky or unnatural, it seems to disrupt the level playing field.

I had no interest in steroids. I didn't need them, and I didn't want them. I never wanted them. From the get-go, I've frequently mouthed off about their negative impact on the game.

Drug use, within entire teams continues unabated. It is planned and deliberate cheating, with complex methods, sophisticated substances and techniques, and the active complicity of doctors, scientists, team officials and riders. There is nothing accidental about it.

I don't recommend steroids for everyone, and I don't recommend growth hormones for everyone. But for certain individuals, I truly believe, because I've experimented with it for so many years, that it can make an average athlete a super athlete. It can make a super athlete - incredible. Just legendary.

It is cycling as a professional sport that represents the problem. It can transform someone into a liar.

Does that mean we should give up? Probably. But there are two issues worth considering. The first is - is it really true that drugs destroy the integrity of the game?

I'm for a drug-free sport and always will be.

Once and for all, I did not use steroids or any other illegal substance.

The best example of how impossible it will be for Major League Baseball to crack down on steroids is the fact that baseball and the media are still talking about the problem as 'steroids.'

My guess is many top athletes, distance runners included, use performance-enhancing drugs, enough so that the problem must be tackled.

I'm sure people will wonder if I could have hit all those home runs had I never taken steroids.