Alex Rodriguez has admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs from 2001 through 2003 in an interview with ESPN's Peter Gammons.

Newsday blogger Neil Best has transcribed portions of the interview.

"When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure. I felt like I had all the weight of the world on top of me, and I needed to perform, and perform at a high level every day.

"Back then it was a different culture. 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.

"And I did take a banned substance. For that, I'm very sorry and deeply regretful. And although it was the culture back then, and Major League Baseball overall was very . . . I just feel that, um . . . I'm just sorry. I'm sorry for that time, I'm sorry to my fans, I'm sorry for my friends in Texas. It wasn't until then that I ever thought about substance of any kind, and since then I've proved to myself and to everyone that I don't need any of that."

Gammons: "So you're saying that the time period was 2001, '02 and '03?"

A-Rod: "That's pretty accurate, yes."

Gammons: "What kind of substances were you taking?"

A-Rod: "Peter, that's the thing. It was such a loosey-goosey era that I'm guilty for a lot of things. I'm guilty for being negligent, guilty for being naive, not asking all the right questions. And to be quite honest I don't know exactly what substance I was guilty of using."

What do you think of A-Rod's apology? Do you believe him?

Rodriguez admits to using steroids [SI.com]
Alex Rodriguez admits all to Peter Gammons on ESPN [Watchdog]