Reggie Jackson’s mouth has reportedly gotten him into trouble, at least with the Yankees organization. Jackson was always known as one of the more outspoken players during his MLB career, and he recently decided to revisit his old ways with some very intriguing and controversial thoughts about steroid use in baseball. Included in the discussion was Alex Rodriguez, whom Jackson said he considers a “very good friend” but questioned his accomplishments because of his involvement with performance-enhancing drugs. This has not gone over well with the Yankees.
According to Buster Olney of ESPN the Magazine, the Yankees have asked Jackson, who works as a special adviser for the team, to stay away from team events indefinitely. He was not with the club for a four-game series in Boston over the weekend, and one source reportedly described the situation to ESPNNewYork.com as a “cooling off period, but not the death penalty.”
Jackson, who apologized to Rodriguez and the team on Friday, is expected to be back at some point. A-Rod said that he spoke to Reggie on the phone but that he plans to keep that conversation “very private.” Jackson said some unfair things about current Hall of Famers during his interview, but his comments about A-Rod were pretty reasonable. In the eyes of most people, Rodriguez’s accomplishments are tainted since he admitted he has used steroids. Jackson’s mistake was not filtering himself as a Yankees employee.
