Since the New York Yankees are so pissed off at former baseball superstar Reggie Jackson aka Mr. October (pictured right) for his recent incendiary comment made in a Sports Illustrated interview about Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez (pictured left), they have reportedly banned him indefinitely from any of the clubhouse and team events, reports The Star-Ledger.
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Jackson, who is a special adviser to the Yankees organization and earns a reported $700,000 for his role, recently put A-Rod, one of the team’s star players, on blast in the Sports Illustrated interview. Jackson spoke to the magazine interviewer about A-Rod’s past use of performance-enhancing drugs (PED) while he was with the Texas Rangers from 2001 to 2003:
“Al’s a very good friend, but I think there are real questions about his numbers. As much as I like him, what he admitted about his (performance-enhancing drug) usage does cloud some of his records.”
Not only did Mr. October question the validity of A-Rod’s career highs, but he also took a nasty swipe at those players whom he feels are undeserving members of the Hall of Fame, such as Kirby Puckett, Jim Rice, Gary Carter, Don Sutton, Phil Niekro, and Burt Blyleven.
The Charles Barkley of baseball also said in the Sports Illustrated interview that he believes the Baseball Writers Association of America, whose members vote for the Hall, have adopted too low a standard. Ouch!
According to ESPN, Jackson offered his apologies to both his “good friend” A-Rod and the Yankees brass on Friday, but it apparently it was not enough.
Monday night at a Kansas City All-Star event, Jackson told reporters that there is no ban or suspension with regards to his Yankee duties, but the Yankees promptly countered, stating that the 1977 MVP had indeed been told to stay away from the team but that the punishment is not a firing.
Many folks are upset with the timing of Jackson’s comment about Carter, which they found to be insensitive considering the man just passed away last February. A source says that Jackson is reaching out to Carter’s family for his offensive remark.
Sources also say that the former star player who once referred to himself as “the straw that stirs the drink” has been friends with A-Rod for at least eight years.
As the new saying goes “with friends like Jackson, who needs enemies?”
