By nature, I’ve got sensitive instincts. I’ll listen. I’ll believe. I’ll let you reason and rationalize your wrongdoings with my mind wide open. And I wanted to do it yesterday, as I watched Alex Rodriguez sit at the microphone, unfold his crinkled script, and begin what was billed as his mea culpa before the media.

But I just couldn’t do it. Instead, I spent the entire 32 minutes of his first post-admission press conference processing the contradictions, the canned lines and the utter crap, constantly thinking about how quickly a convenient pun has turned from taunt to teammates’ nickname to truth.

Because he really is A-Fraud.

Equal parts a product of his personality and his poor gameplan, from start to finish the act came across as wholly disingenuous, and for that Rodriguez has left himself ripe for criticism. This morning, that’s happening coast to coast – and with most of our questions still unfulfilled, it’ll continue to happen on many more mornings over the next few months.

He couldn't even convince those of who were willing to believe him, let alone the cynics and skeptics with whom he never had a chance. So the story will continue to swirl, centered now on these 13 most questionable claims of yesterday’s question-and-(not so much an)-answer session – one for each comprising the number he’ll wear alongside the bull’s eye on his back this summer.

1.  “Going back to 2001, my cousin started telling me about a substance that you could purchase over the counter in the DR [Dominican Republic]. In the streets, it's known as 'boli' or 'bole.' It was his understanding that it would give me a dramatic energy boost and otherwise harmless.”

(So, let’s see. At the very start of his explanation – this was in the prepared statement – he’s telling us he knew this magical substance had to be purchased in a foreign country, knew it had a “street” name, and knew it had to be smuggled across international borders. But somehow he expects us to believe it was all “otherwise harmless”? If you want an energy boost, you drink a Red Bull. Or upsize your morning coffee. You might even pop a greenie, which baseball hadn’t yet banned. You don’t import a drug that’s illegal in the U.S. — unless you've got something to hide.)

2.  “My cousin and I, one more ignorant than the other, decided it was a good idea to start taking it. My cousin would administer it to me, but neither of us knew how to use it properly, providing just how ignorant we both were. … During the '01, '02 and '03 seasons, we consulted no one and had no good reason to base that decision. It was pretty evident we didn't know what we were doing.”

(According to an article in the June 2004 issue of Muscle and Fitness, Rodriguez was in November of 2003 (if not earlier) employing the services of Dodd Romero – lead man at “the best one-on-one training gym in South Florida” – and Romero was close enough to his client that he eventually became the godfather of both Rodriguez’s daughters. Yet we're supposed to believe the health-conscious Rodriguez was careless enough to let his untrained cousin shoot him up with a substance neither knew how to use or what would happen, and do it without asking anyone for advice? I have an easier time believing it was Ty Law’s cousin holding the needle than I do anything in the above paragraph.)

3.  " We did everything we could to keep it between us, and my cousin did not provide any other players with it.”

(If you didn’t suspect there was anything wrong with it, why bother concealing it? You’re playing in the intense heat of Texas all summer. You’re trying to win. If you see a teammate being worn down, and you’re putting up MVP numbers with this simple bi-weekly shot that gives you nothing but energy, don’t you offer to share? If for no other reason than the good of the team?)

4.  “I stopped taking it for several reasons: In 2003, I had a serious neck injury and it scared me half to death. I was scared for my career and truly my career after baseball — my life out of baseball.”

(Both Andy Pettitte and Rodney Harrison – while both were specifically users of HGH – said they dabbled in drugs to help them recover from injury. Relievers who’ve been caught have said the performance enhancers allowed them to regenerate their arm strength quicker. Doctors acknowledge they’re all correct. Therefore, it makes ZERO sense that Rodriguez would stop his cycles during rehab. I'll buy that he stopped because of mandatory testing, but his credibility takes a hit when he keeps sticking to his neck injury excuse.)

5.  “And to my teammates – (37-second pause) – thank you."

(Not even fake tears? Really? Pathetic, all the way around.)

6.  Q: Alex, if your name was never revealed in the Sports Illustrated report, would you have come out on your own volition?
A: "I haven't thought about that much. The fact is it came out and I am here to share my story, put it out there and hopefully I can put this behind me and my teammates don't have to carry the burden of answering all the questions for me."

(Best question, and worst answer, of the whole day. Obviously in his reply he's trying to be evasive, but – when we fast forward to his saying he told Katie Couric he’d never done steroids because, despite Gene Orza’s prior warning, he didn’t think he’d tested positive – he ends up getting caught in a bald-faced lie. He should’ve just said, ‘No,’ netted some easy and understandable credibility, then gone on to the next question.)

7.  "I entered the game when I was 18. For a lot of people, if I had a son I would definitely recommend going to college and having an opportunity to grow up. And I didn't.”

(Weak attempt at changing the topic. But even a weaker attempt at logic. It doesn’t take a college degree to know the difference between right and wrong. Plus, I think we all know plenty of immature people who went to college, and plenty of mature people who didn’t.)

8.  Q: Alex, you said you took the substance for three years. What was the benefit of taking of it and when you stopped taking it, did you notice any difference when you did stop?
A: "I'm not sure what the benefit was. I will say this: When you take any substance or anything, especially in baseball, it's half mental and half physical. If you take this glass of water and you say I'm going to be a better baseball player, if you believe it, you probably will be. So, I certainly felt more energy, but it's hard to say. Hard to say."

(You’re not sure what the benefit was? In those seasons, you won three straight home run titles. You won three straight Hank Aaron Awards. You won an RBI title for the first time in your career. You led the league in slugging for the first time in your career. You set major league records for total bases (393 in 2001) and home runs (57 in 2002) by a shortstop. You set the AL record for most homers in consecutive seasons by a right-handed hitter (109 in 2001-02). And you won the AL MVP award in 2003. Still don’t see what the benefit was? That’s a lot more than a mental edge, dude.)

9.  Q: Alex, since this came out about a week and a half ago, a lot of people have talked about this being cheating. Do you consider this cheating?
A: "That's not for me to determine. I'm here to say that I'm sorry. I'm here to say that in some ways I wish I went to college and had an opportunity to grow up at my own pace. You know, I guess when you are young and stupid, you are young and stupid. And I'm very guilty of both those."

(We wanted to hear him say he’s sorry, and he did – on several occasions.  And he was, in fact, stupid. But I’m not willing to say he was young. He claims he was doing the steroids until spring training of 2004, and by then he was 28. I’m still 27. And I’m neither young enough nor stupid enough to think steroids, or cheating – YES, CHEATING – is a good idea. Must be my college education.)

10.  Q: Just to be clear, did you know the stuff you were getting from the Dominican was steroids, and, if so, did you consider the consequences at the time?
A: "I didn't think they were steroids at the time. Again, that's part of being young and stupid. It was over the counter, it gwas pretty basic and it was really amateur hour. It was two guys, we couldn't go outside, who couldn't ask anyone, didn't want to ask anyone. We went outside team doctors, team trainers. It was two guys doing a very amateur and immature thing. We probably didn't even take it right. Like I said in my statement, we used to do it about two times a month. I don't even know if that is proper. So when this gentleman asked me about how it affected us — I'm not sure we even did it right to affect us in the right way. All these years, I never thought I did anything that was wrong. Perhaps, but not wrong. And come to find out bole triggered a positive test in 2003."

(He didn’t think they were steroids, but “couldn’t ask anyone.” He didn't know if "he even did it right to affect us in the right way," but never bothered to find out. And he "never thought (he) did anything that was wrong," but Gene Orza admittedly came to him in September of 2004 to tell him he was among the 104 names on the list of offenders. Lies, lies, lies.)

11.  Q: As someone who monitors everything they put in their body, how could you have not done more research or been more conscientious about what you were taking?
A: "I wish I knew, I was 24, I was 25. I was pretty naive and pretty young. Initially, I was curious because he mentioned it a few times, and I just gave it a try."

(It’s almost comical that he uses the word naïve here, since that’s what he’s hoping we are. He was almost 26 when he started, and almost 29 when he stopped. His age may have been the one fact we could unequivocally verify. And yet he didn’t think we would. Foolish.)

12.  Q: Alex, I'm just curious last week when you had your interview with Peter Gammons, why you didn't disclose how you started using this drug with your cousin, this was an interview you arranged and yet you didn't tell him about it. You're only revealing it now.
A: "Good question. The thing is when a reporter came into the gym, maybe 38 hours before, maybe 48 hours before, I thought it was important to come out and get the truth out there early and be forthright. As far as all the details, I didn't want to speak from a position of non-factual. I felt I was putting myself out there already with saying the truth. And over the last nine days, I've sat down with my cousin and we've had several conversations — here are the facts, nine days later. I wasn't prepared to say that when I sat down with Peter. Because I really didn't remember, it was a long, long time ago.

(Okay, mathletes. Selena Roberts went to the gym on Thursday. Her report went public on Saturday. The Gammons interview was Monday. That would seem to give him at least 96 – not 38 or 48 – hours to think about things. Although, maybe it simply takes nine days to come up with a plausible story.)

13.  Q: Alex, describe the first time you were injected — where you were, did you have any doubts at the last minute, where you without doubt, did the injection hurt afterward, the next day or two did you feel anything, did you have any regrets?
A: "At the time I had no regrets. I just, it was injected, to what degree it helped I'm not sure. I hope that answers your question."

(Sorry, A-Fraud. You left that question – and too many of our questions – unacceptably unanswered.)