With all the questions that will be fired toward Ivan Rodriguez this weekend by media from around the country, on Friday morning he addressed the one uncomfortable issue that has dogged him for years.
Performance-enhancing drugs.
“I never took it,” he said. “Never.”
The topic was broached in his new book, “They Call Me Pudge,” which hits bookstores Tuesday. Excerpts have made the rounds, and the issue of performance-enhancing drugs is addressed in the first chapter.
It’s bound to come up Saturday when he faces a larger pool of media rather than a quaint sessions with writers who cover the Texas Rangers, as was the case Friday.