by Tim Elfrink
father of a Coral Park classmate: Dale Tafoya, Bash Brothers: A Legacy Subpoenaed (Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books Inc., 2008).
“I was kind of sleepwalking through games at that point”: Canseco, Juiced, 40.
“I knew he was using some kind of chemicals”: Jose Canseco, interview by Gus Garcia-Roberts, August 2013.
“the needle penetrating your buttock muscle”: Canseco, Juiced, 12.
The average salary had almost tripled in five years: Associated Press, “Average Baseball Salary,” undated.
“this unhealthy way players were living”: Jose Canseco, interview by Gus Garcia-Roberts, August 2013.
without any “chemical enhancement”: Ibid.
“The media dubbed us the Bash Brothers”: Ibid.
Rafael Palmeiro, Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, and Juan Gonzalez: Ibid.
“Jose Canseco Milkshake”: Ken Rodriguez and Jorge Ortiz, “Canseco Denies Using Steroids,” Miami Herald, September 30, 1988.
“You steroid-shooting motherfucker!”: Skirboll, The Pittsburgh Cocaine Seven, 234.
“Typhoid Mary” of steroids: Steve Sailer, “Out of the Park,” The American Conservative, April 12, 2004.
CHAPTER THREE
The footage is shaky: Descriptions of this game’s footage come from a video shot by former Cardinal Newman players.
Roger Jongewaard wrote of Rodriguez: All scouting report descriptions are from Jongewaard’s scouting report from Rodriguez, released by the Baseball Hall of Fame.
grew up to peddle life insurance: Joe Capozzi, “Former Cardinal Newman Players Remember the Day They Beat Alex Rodriguez,” Palm Beach Post, October 28, 2009.
“and I didn’t have anything to lose”: Jack Kokinda, interview by Gus Garcia-Roberts, November 2013.
“The best player in the country plays his worst game”: Judy Battista, “Westminster Stunned by Newman,” Miami Herald, May 12, 1993.
“Alex has a lot of connections”: Rodriguez’s high school teammates, interviews by Gus Garcia-Roberts, September to November 2013.
“It’s almost like omerta”: Wayne Stewart, interview by Gus Garcia-Roberts, January 2014.
a deal in 2006 to write a biography of Rodriguez: S. L. Price, “The Writer and the Puzzle: Richard Ben Cramer Couldn’t Crack A-Rod,” Sports Illustrated, January 14, 2014.
“Absolutely there was speculation”: Steve Kokinda, interview by Gus Garcia-Roberts, November 2013.
“He was pretty scrawny”: Richard Hofman, interview by Gus Garcia-Roberts, February 2014.
Rodriguez said that he’d like to be a civics teacher: Finnigan, “Missing Dad.”
he had transformed himself in the weight room: Richard Hofman, interview by the authors, February 2014.
He had packed on twenty-five pounds of muscle: Tim Wendel, The New Face of Baseball (New York: HarperCollins, 2003).
“If you were to sit down in front of a computer”: Ed Giuliotti, “Prospect Perfect: ‘Can’t Miss’ Banner Suits Westminster’s Rodriguez Just Fine,” Sun Sentinel, June 1, 1993.
In his senior year, Rodriguez batted an otherworldly: Bob Finnigan, “M’s Draft Rodriguez—Player of Year Batted.505,” Seattle Times, June 3, 1993.
almost doubling his sophomore mark of.270: Barry Horn, “Crowd Pleaser,” Dallas Morning News, December 17, 2000.
he popped nine homers and stole thirty-five bases in thirty-five tries: Glenn Sheeley, “Mariners Choose High School SS Alex Rodriguez; Braves Sit Out First Round of Baseball’s Amateur Draft,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 3, 1993.
able to bench press three hundred pounds: No byline, “Transcript of Alex Rodriguez’s Press Conference,” New York Times, February 18, 2009.
its way to a state berth in 1992: Roddy Barnes, interview by Gus Garcia-Roberts, November 2013.
“There’s something wrong here”: Anthony Cancio Bello, interview by Gus Garcia-Roberts, November 2013.
“holding him back was his stature, and he fixed that”: Roddy Barnes, interview by Gus Garcia-Roberts, November 2013.
“because I work for the fire service”: Ibid.
the knowledge of Coach Hofman: Roberts, A-Rod.
“an obscure writer trying to make a name for herself”: Richard Hofman, interview by Gus Garcia-Roberts, February 2014.
Murray Chass calling the book an “abomination”: Murray Chass, “Roberts Whiffs on A-Rod and ’Roids,” May 7, 2009, http://www.murray chass.com/?p=700.
students polled knew another kid on steroids: David Medzerian, “Steroid Scoop Puts Student on Top,” Miami Herald, March 28, 1987.
Almost immediately, Pelegri: Mike Phillips, “Final Chance for a Coach,” Miami Herald, November 28, 1989.
South Florida’s Monsignor Edward Pace High: Monsignor Edward Pace High School website, accessed January 2014, http://www.msgr-pace.com/sports/MeetTheCoaches.php.
attacking one another at meets: Don Reynolds, interview by Gus Garcia-Roberts, November 2013.
grumbled an Immokalee football coach: Dan Deluca, “Teams Say State Failed Steroid Test,” The News-Press, August 12, 2007.
teenagers being coerced to pee in cups: Don Reynolds, interview by Gus Garcia-Roberts, November 2013.
“daughter a blue chipper in athletics”: William N. Taylor, Anabolic Steroids and the Athlete (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2002).
“a millionaire by the end of the year”: Rickie Crotts and Jon Dietz, “Legal, Ethical Issues Trap Physicians,” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, April 15, 1985.
“There was one guy that found it all real funny”: Daniel Persaud, interview by Gus Garcia-Roberts, November 2013.
played financial hardball like a jaded veteran: Roberts, A-Rod.
play for the hometown Florida Marlins: Victor Lee, “Rodriguez had radical idea so Marlins can draft him,” Palm Beach Post, May 19, 1993.
future baseball card endorsements: Roberts, A-Rod.
Arriola salvaged a contract: Ibid.
“He was pretty much a glorified butler. He was a go-to guy”: Wilhelm Ansdale Henricus, interview by Gus Garcia-Roberts, September 2013.
“takes care of things when you don’t have time yourself”: Richard Hofman, interview by Gus Garcia-Roberts, February 2014.
“upper-end early yuppie”: Michael Knisley, “All A-Rod, All the Times,” Sporting News, June 28, 1999.
“Grand Slam for Kids, handle that sort of thing”: Ibid.
enthusiast who he had met at a Miami gym: Associated Press, “Alex Rodriguez passed out during birth of his first daughter,” May 6, 2008.
Sucart’s wife and kids: Wilhelm Ansdale Henricus, interview by Gus Garcia-Roberts, September 2013.
for dinner, drinks, and a cigar: Ibid.
“agency for professional athlete representation”: Washington State Office of the Secretary of State, Senok Management Group, LLC, corporation filed May 16, 2002.
Canseco says he first started hanging out with Rodriguez: Jose Canseco, Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars, and the Battle to Save Baseball (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009).
ramming his wife’s BMW with his Porsche: No byline, “Canseco Rams into Wife’s Car,” New York Times, February 14, 1992.
soon tested positive in jail for steroids: Diane Marrero, “Canseco Sent Back to Jail for a Month,” Sun Sentinel, June 24, 2003.
And Canseco claimed to have dated Madonna: Dave Goldiner, “Jose Canseco Claims Madonna Wanted His Baby, Magazine Sez,” New York Daily News, July 10, 2008.
Rodriguez reportedly went on to do: Rebecca Winters Keegan, “A-Rod and Madonna: A Fan’s Guide,” Time, July 8, 2008.
“but he’s as milk-and-cookies”: Knisley, “All A-Rod, All the Times.”
surrounded by acres of poplar trees: Jose Canseco, interview by Gus Garcia-Roberts, August 2013.
“Alex didn’t believe me”: Ibid.
“A-Rod’s 40-40 of Devonshire”: Knisley, “All A-Rod, All the Times.”
“That was the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen”: Jose Canseco, interview by Gus Garcia-
Roberts, August 2013.
“a teenage girl going out to dinner with Madonna”: Jim Street, “Rodriguez Blossoms into Early All-Star,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 9, 1996.
“Max,” who was also a steroids provider: Canseco, Vindicated, location 2093 (Kindle edition).
identified by Sports Illustrated as “Max”: Selena Roberts and David Epstein, “Exclusive: The man behind the Max,” Sports Illustrated, April 18, 2008.
“My life is so clean I don’t even take vitamins”: Gus Garcia-Roberts, “Canseco Creams A-Rod,” Miami New Times, February 26, 2009.
Miami-area Gulliver private school: Ibid.
Boys & Girls Club mentor, Eddie Rodriguez: Christian Red, Nathaniel Vinton, Michael O’Keeffe, “Jose Canseco’s steroid dealer says he never gave A-Rod drugs,” New York Daily News, April 18, 2008.
big for small market, mild-mannered Seattle: Associated Press, “$252,000,000,” December 11, 2000.
later revealed by Sports Illustrated, failed: Selena Roberts and David Epstein, “Sources tell SI Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003,” Sports Illustrated, February 7, 2009.
Primobolan, a steroid, and testosterone: Ibid.
worst free-agent signings in baseball history: Page 2 Staff, “Worst Contracts in MLB History,” ESPN.com, February 6, 2009, http://sports .espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=contracts/090206.
California-based entity that paid Sucart’s salary: Florida Department of State Division of Corporations, Newport Property Ventures, corporation records filed December 30, 2003, Yuri Sucart bankruptcy, case 11-19621-AJC, filed April 10, 2011, Southern District of Florida.
Rodriguez was a budding CEO: Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Construction Financial Officer license number FRO4147; Rodriguez took a construction financial officer’s test in June 2009, during the season.
slugger with a $20 million–plus: “Manny Ramirez,” accessed March 2014, http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ramirma02.shtml.
salary in order to make the deal happen: Ross Newhan and Jason Reid, “Union’s Reservations Block the Blockbuster,” Los Angeles Times, December 18, 2003.
When Aaron Boone tore a knee ligament: ESPN.com News Services, “Hurt Playing Hoops, Boone Might Miss Season,” ESPN.com, January 28, 2004, http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1719255.
trademarked in Seattle in 1996: United States Patent and Trademark Office, AROD; filed August 8, 1996, serial number 75147052.
Rodriguez became a full-time third baseman: ESPN.com News Services, “Selig Gives Blessing to Mega-merger,” February 17, 2004, http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1735937.
rainwear to cloth baby bibs: United States Patent and Trademark Office, The Curse of the A-Rod; filed October 22, 2004, serial number 78504662.
the youngest ever to that mark: ESPN.com News Services, “A-Rod Becomes Youngest Player in MLB History to Hit 500 Homers,” August 5, 2007, http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2961191.
But a transcript obtained: Grievance number 2013-2 (Alex Rodriguez), Vol. 8, Major League Baseball Arbitration Panel, Chairman Fredric R. Horowitz, October 17, 2013.
On February 16, 2007: Ibid.
During his testimony: Ibid.
“do they have a legitimate medicinal purpose?”: Jonathan E. Kaplan, “2007 Brought Spike in Players Taking Stimulants for ADD,” Portland Press Herald, January 16, 2008.
insulting eighth in the batting order: John Harper, “Source: By Batting A-Rod 8th in Playoffs, Joe Torre Wrote Him Off,” New York Daily News, January 26, 2009.
glove to avoid getting tagged out: No byline, “Rodriguez: A Continual Stir,” New York Times, January 11, 2014.
“I’ll even cheat to win”: Bob Finnigan, “Rodriguez Takes Losing Personally in This Lost Season,” Seattle Times, September 14, 1998.
harassed by rival fans with cutout masks: “Sox Fans Can’t Mask Hatred for A-Rod,” TMZ.com, July 7, 2008, http://www.tmz.com/2008/07/07/sox-fans-cant-mask-hatred-for-A-Rod.
“Stray-Rod” by the New York Post: “Stray-Rod,” cover headline, New York Post, May 30, 2007.
“There’s big news brewing”: Richard Sandomir, “Rodriguez and Agent Hijack the World Series,” New York Times, October 30, 2007.
“then we don’t want him”: Ed Price, “Hank Steinbrenner Fires Back at A-Rod,” Star-Ledger, October 29, 2007.
A saga of last-minute resuscitation began: David Waldstein, “Hitched to an Aging Star: Anatomy of a Deal, and Doubts,” New York Times, March 30, 2013.
$275 million to stay in pinstripes until 2017: Jack Curry and Tyler Kepner, “For Rodriguez and Yankees, It’s All but Over,” New York Times, October 29, 2007.
to the good-natured animated ogre: Roger Ball, interview by Gus Garcia-Roberts, November 2013.
the focus of a three-thousand-word ESPN.com story: Amy K. Nelson, “Sucart ‘Lives, Breathes to Please Alex,’” ESPN.com, March 2, 2009, http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3941742.
filings showing his employment by Rodriguez: Sucart Navarro v. Holder et al, case number 1:10-cv-20936-JAL, filed March 24, 2010, Southern District of Florida.
Rodriguez paid him $57,499.92 a year: US Bank v. Yuri Sucart, case number 09-064728-CA-01, filed August 10, 2009, Miami-Dade County Court.
the roughest neighborhoods in the Miami area: Miami-Dade Property Appraiser, folio numbers 01-3127-008-0022 and 01-3127-008-0022.
CHAPTER FOUR
“Just look at that bomber who is a [Harvard] graduate”: Dr. Murali Rudraraju, interview by Tim Elfrink, January 2013.
“Tony was a great marketer”: Roger De Armas, interview by Tim Elfrink, September 2013.
“They were really aggressive young kids”: Tim Elfrink, “A Miami Clinic Supplies Drugs Sports’ Biggest Names,” Miami New Times, January 31, 2013.
“It was a bad, bad experience”: Ibid.
“Tony likes socializing”: Hernan Dominguez, interview by Tim Elfrink, December 2013.
A landlord sued in 1994: Erik Calonius v. Anthony Publio Bosch, case number 1994-474-CC-25, Miami-Dade Civil Court, January 20, 1994.
Another man sued over a contract a few years later: Bruno Rodriguez v. Anthony Publio Bosch, case number 1998-91848-CA-01, Miami-Dade Civil Court, April 21, 1998.
In 1996, Tiki filed the first: Anthony Bosch v. Tiki Bosch, case number 1992-50645-FC-04, Miami-Dade Civil Court, February 20, 1996.
“He’s not here,” she told Bosch’s old friend: Roger De Armas, interview by Tim Elfrink, September 2013.
sexually transmit cancer to their lovers: Tom Farrey, “The Man Who Once Led the Charge Against Steroids Has a New Cause: Human Growth Hormone,” ESPN The Magazine, July 10, 2012.
clad only in a luridly striped Speedo: Guinness World Records spokesperson, interview by Tim Elfrink, January 2014.
isolated HGH from a human pituitary: Vageesh Ayyar, “History of growth hormone therapy,” Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism 15, supplement 3 (September 2011): S162–S165.
“This is not a fountain of youth”: Wolfgang Saxon, “Daniel Rudman, 67; Studied Hormones and Aging,” New York Times, April 20, 1994.
carved years off their sagging pecs: Farrey, “The Man Who Once Led the Charge Against Steroids Has a New Cause: Human Growth Hormone.”
“We cannot recommend it”: Staff Report, “Growth Hormone Fails to Reverse Effects of Aging, Researchers Say,” New York Times, April 15, 1996.
clinical rotations in Mexico: Jerry Manier, “The Hope and the Hype,” Chicago Tribune, April 14, 2002.
“The war on aging has begun!”: Valerie Reitman, “A Rift in Business, Science of Aging,” Los Angeles Times, January 12, 2004.
the whole nation suffer from: David B. Caruso and Jeff Donn, “Big Pharma Cashes In on HGH Abuse,” Associated Press, December 21, 2012.
“by claiming someone has this deficiency”: Dr. Peter Rost, interview by Tim Elfrink, October 2013.
better-known antidepressants like Zoloft: Caruso and Don
n, “Big Pharma Cashes In on HGH Abuse.”
“Adult growth hormone deficiency syndrome is very rare”: Dr. Thomas Perls, interview by the authors, November 2013.
Stopping the Clock: Manier, “The Hope and the Hype.”
tax haven, he told a British reporter: Tim Hulse, “Prince Lazarus Rules the Waves,” The Independent, May 31, 1998.
“bring $4,000 to $20,000 in annual gross revenue”: Brian Alexander, “Mainstream Docs Join Anti-Aging Bandwagon,” NBC, April 21, 2008.
visit by an author of this book: Dr. Murali Rudraraju, interview by Tim Elfrink, January 2013.
extended family familiar with his time in El Paso: A member of Tony Bosch’s extended family, interview by Tim Elfrink, January 2014.
she couldn’t fly to Miami herself: In the Matter of the Marriage of Aliette Bosch and Anthony Bosch and in the Interests of Sofia Bosch and Nikolai Bosch, Children, District Court of El Paso County, Texas, 65th Judicial District Court, Honorable Alfredo Chavez.
His records show that he later attended A4M conferences: Details from Tony Bosch’s records obtained by the authors.
vocal critic of Florida’s lack of regulation: Tim Elfrink, “Biogenesis Just Hints at Florida’s Anti-Aging Crisis,” Miami New Times, December 19, 2013.
One was his de facto medical advisor at VIP Med: Mike Fish and T. J. Quinn, “Anthony Bosch’s Tangle of Ties, Titles,” ESPN, February 6, 2013.
“He was training to learn how you dosify”: Ibid.
“How do you not overdose somebody?”: Ibid.
Sometimes he’d order concoctions: Mike Fish and T. J. Quinn, “Records: Fake Scripts Used for PEDs,” ESPN.com, April 26, 2013, http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/9215008/forged-prescription-forms-friends-performance-enhancing-drugs-supply-chain-major-league-baseball-players-used-south-florida-clinic.
CHAPTER FIVE
“Listen, you grow up in the Bronx”: Kirk Radomski, interview by Gus Garcia-Roberts, January 2013.
“his only partner in crime was the US Postal Service”: Kirk Radomski, Bases Loaded (New York: Hudson Street Press, 2009).
Mandarich admitted that he’d used steroids at MSU: Associated Press, “Tony Mandarich Admits to Steroid Use in TV Interview,” September 30, 2003.
