When Alex Rodriguez adopted desperate measures to avoid positive drug tests

Alex Rodriguez, one of baseball's greatest players, was imposed the longest drug penalty in history.

The former New York Yankees third baseman was benched for the entirety of the season by Major League Baseball's arbitration judge following a tense private session.

This was even though Rodriguez never tested positive for drugs. Rodriguez reaffirmed his claim that he has never used performance-enhancing drugs while playing for New York after the judgment.

On August 4, 2010, Rodriguez hit his 600th home run in his quest to become the greatest home run hitter of all time. Tony Bosch, who ran a secret doping practice for pro athletes, said it was five days before this moment that he was summoned to a Florida hotel to meet Rodriguez for the first time.

Bosch claimed he needed to know how long different medications lasted in Rodriguez's body to create a doping program for him. Rodriguez needed to take the proper doses at the right time to avoid testing positive after a game. Bosch frequently drew Rodriguez's blood at predetermined periods to observe how rapidly the medicines disappeared.

Bosch said:

"So we ended up drawing the blood in the bathroom of this one restaurant slash bar slash club in the bathroom stall at 8:00 p.m."

However, Rodriguez never publicly accepted that he had taken drugs to enhance his game. He had faced a 211 matches suspension due to the drug case.

What happened to the league's investigation?

After being denied on appeal, Alex Rodriguez referred to the evidence as "false and unreliable." He referred to Tony Bosch and claimed that the arbitration panel heard the "hearsay testimony of a criminal."

This controversy came to light in 2013 when a disgruntled business associate of Bosch stole patient records from Bosch's clinic and sent them to the Miami New Times newspaper.

An MLB former, Alex Rodriguez

Rodriguez kept denying things in the public eye. At that time, he had declared that he would take this matter to federal court. He lost around $25 million from his Yankees deal due to suspension. A federal grand jury convened in Florida to decide whether anyone should be charged with a crime.

Bud Selig, the baseball commissioner, introduced the strictest anti-doping policies in all American professional sports as part of his legacy.