Baseball and steroids: Tejada sheds tears during apology

As American as apple pie and Chevrolet, the sport of baseball is an ongoing tradition in the United States. However, it looks like a new tradition is taking over and the baseball greats have gotten more than a little help in earning their titles.

At a news conference in Houston, Texas, Astro's shortstop Miguel Tejada displayed obvious emotion as he apologized to America and the Dominican Republic for his misleading Congress regarding a teammate's use of steroids back in 2005. During his apology, he teared up as he spoke to the reporters:

"I just want to apologize," Tejada said. "I made a mistake, and now I know how serious of a mistake that I made for not answering a question about another teammate. I take responsibility ... and I'm very sorry for what happened. I'm sorry to my family, to the Congress, to the Houston Astros, the Orioles, the major leagues."

His apology came following a plea agreement and testimony in Federal Court that he knowingly held back information during questioning several years ago in relation to steroid use of another teammate. He also acknowledged that he purchased human growth hormone during the time he played for Oakland, however he did not use the HGH. General manager for the Astros, Ed Wade, stood by Tejada during the process, supporting his starting player and acknowledging that Tejada "understands the ramifications of the mistake that he made." Defense attorneys for the Astro's star believe that he will receive probation, although the misdemeanor could land him up to a year in jail. However, Wade fully expects his starting shortstop at spring training in Florida on Tuesday. Tejada was named in the Mitchell Report, released in 2007 which named nearly six dozen major league baseball players as allegedly using illegal substances. The report is connected to the ongoing scandal involving illegal steroid use and major league baseball(BALCO scandal) as well as Kirk Radomski, the former batboy of the New York Mets, who pled guilty to distribution of the illegal substances to league players and is serving five years probation. Recently, A-Rod admitted to taking performance enhancing substances during the same year that he earned MVP. He was visibly shaken, stating in an ESPN interview that "It was very loose. I was young. I was stupid. I was naive. And I wanted to prove to everyone that I was worth being one of the greatest players of all time." His apology came after news reports revealed that a warrant served on Comprehensive Drug Testing, Inc. uncovered his name on a list of 104 positive testers back in 2003. The information, however, was leaked by unnamed sources and Rodriguez was not involved in the BALCO scandal that prompted the issuance of the warrant in the first place. So with all of the million dollar contracts being signed in the sport of major league baseball today and the unveiling of just how many of baseball's "greats" are actually users of performance enhancing drugs, it may be time to issue a nation wide recall on those awards, titles, stars and MVPs that have been linked to illegal drugs because, in all fairness, the playing field wasn't even.