During the home run bonanzas of the steroid days, then-SI writer Rick Reilly challenged Sammy Sosa to take a piss test to prove he didn't use steroids. Despite being a douche of the umpteenth degree, Reilly has been proven right. Now, while putting up one of the best first-halves in the history of the game, Albert Pujols is trying to be the hero that baseball needs, the one that everyone thought Alex Rodriguez was, until he proved to have been a steroids user too.

"I can understand people being disappointed with A-Rod and Manny," Pujols says, "But just because Manny made a mistake, now I have to pay? Just because A-Rod made a mistake, now I have to pay? Oh, guilt by association? That's wrong.

"For people to be suspicious of me because of the year I'm having and for people to say I just haven't been caught, that makes me angry and disappointed.

"I would never do any of that crap. You think I'm going to ruin my relationship with God just because I want to get better in this game? You think I'm going to ruin everything because of steroids?"

Already tested he says 6 times, Pujols says that if that isn't enough, he's willing to be tested EVERY DAY, and if he is caught using anything banned, he'll repay to his employers, the St. Louis Cardinals every cent they've paid him.

"Come test me every day if you want. Everything I ever made in this game I would give back to the Cardinals if I got caught," he told reporters.

In this day and age when the fans look at all the players as tainted, I desperately hope that Pujols is the real deal. I don't care that much about steroids, if everyone was doing them, so be it, it's unfortunate for the ones who weren't, but they weren't complaining when their salaries were rising thanks to the steroids users. However, I want Pujols to be clean.

Albert Pujols is simply too damn good at baseball. If he is using steroids it might break my heart. I want to believe that the things I see him do are legit, I want to believe that a human being is capable of being as incredible as he is.

At this point, no one would surprise me, but Pujols would disappoint me. I hope these statements of his are true, that he is clean and that the evidence will back it up. Baseball needs him. I need him. And at least one of my fantasy teams needs him too.

[USA Today]

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