Mark Blinch/Reuters
A new book by two investigative reporters, including the one who broke baseball’s Biogensis drug scandal, reveals that Major League Baseball gave Alex Rodriguez special approval to use testosterone in 2007. Rodriguez asked MLB’s “independent program administrator” for permission to use testosterone, an anabolic steroid that has been banned since 2003. The physician granted Rodriguez a “therapeutic use exception,” allowing him to juice all season. That year, A-Rod won his third MVP award, by hitting 54 home runs and driving in 156 runs. At age 32, he became the youngest player to hit 500 career home runs. The exemption was revealed in a 2013 MLB grievance hearing regarding A-Rod’s suspension that season for breaking the league’s policy regarding performance-enhancing drugs.