Original source: Xinhuanet

BEIJING, Feb. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez refused to call himself a cheater when addressing the media Tuesday for the first time since his admission of doping.

A-Rod, the three-time MVP, tried to explain to the public where he was wrong during the press conference, reading from a prepared text.

He said his cousin repeatedly injected him from 2001 to 2003 with a 'mysterious' substance from the Dominican Republic, twice a month for six months in each of the three years.

'It was really amateur hour. I mean, it was two guys,' Rodriguez said. 'We couldn't ask anyone. We didn't want to ask anyone.'

'It was pretty evident we didn't know what we were doing, we did everything we could to keep it between us, and my cousin didn't provide any other players with it. I stopped doing it in 2003 and haven't done it since.'

He admitted that he had more energy but reiterated that he wasn't sure what the overall benefits were.

He tried to refuse to call himself a cheater, saying that will be determined in years to come.

'I understand the questions and the doubts,' Rodriguez said. 'I made my bed, and I'm going to have to sit on it. I'm here to take my medicine. One thing I will say is that after today, I hope to put this behind me.

'I'll be honest with you. The last 15 months have been very, very tough. I've been through a divorce. I've been in the tabloids – you name it. I miss simply being a baseball player... I screwed up big time. The thing I ask is to judge me from this day forward,' A-Rod said.

'I can't tell you today this is over. It doesn't go away,' Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said, noting that he wasn't speaking specifically about Rodriguez.