Superstar slugger Alex Rodriguez, vowing to fight a 211-game doping ban, made a controversial Major League Baseball (MLB) season debut for the New York Yankees on Monday.
Rodriguez played against the Chicago White Sox just hours after the league handed down sweeping sanctions in the latest drugs scandal to hit the game.
Rodriguez was banned to the end of the 2014 season. His punishment is due to start on Thursday, but he will be able to play during his promised appeal.
Fronting the media, Rodriguez refused to answer a direct question on whether MLB was accurate in charging that he used performance-enhancing drugs, including testosterone and human growth hormone.
"We'll have a forum to discuss all of that and we'll talk about it then," Rodriguez said, referring to the appeal.
"I don't know what the motivation is for any of this. But I'm going to respect the process."
A dozen other players accepted 50-game suspensions over links to the Biogenesis anti-ageing clinic in Florida.
MLB's announcement of the bans ended weeks of speculation over the fate of Rodriguez, a three-time American League MVP who baseball officials say not only used banned drugs "over the course of multiple years" but also acted to "obstruct and frustrate" their Biogenesis probe.
Rodriguez, recovered from hip surgery and a quadriceps injury, saw his first major league action since last year's playoffs.
He singled in his first at-bat - greeted by a chorus of boos - and finished 1-for-4 at the plate as the White Sox ripped the Yankees 8-1.
"I thought he looked OK," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "That's about all I can say."
While the suspension meted out to Rodriguez isn't as devastating as the lifetime ban MLB reportedly considered, it could be a career-ender for a 38-year-old player.
"I've had two hip surgeries. I've had two knee surgeries. I'm fighting for my life," said Rodriguez, who described the past seven months - clouded by injury and doping accusations - as a nightmare and the worst time of his life.
"I have to defend myself," he said. "No one else will."
His appeal could hinge on whether MLB Commissioner Bud Selig exceeded his authority with a 211-game ban, when baseball's anti-doping policy calls for a 50-game suspension for a first steroid offence and 100 games for a second.
Rodriguez admitted in 2009 to using steroids while playing for the Texas Rangers between 2001 and 2003, but that was before current anti-doping rules were in place.
This latest scandal further taints his achievements, including a 2009 World Series title with the Yankees and 647 career home runs to be fifth on the all-time list.
The sweeping suspensions are based on evidence gathered in the investigation rather than on positive drug tests - so-called non-analytical positives.
Several stars have admitted to doping, and US home run king Barry Bonds and pitching legend Roger Clemens escaped doping charges in court cases only after their legacies were tainted.
