Alex Rodriguez made a personal call to apologize to Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks after the slugger's admission that he used banned substances while playing for the team from 2001-03.
A-Rod steroid shake-up
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"He told me he certainly didn't mean to infer that there was anything going on in the Texas Rangers clubhouse that was any different than any clubhouse in baseball," Hicks said. "And I know that's the truth."
Rodriguez led the AL in home runs in each of his three seasons for the Rangers, including 52 in 2001 and 47 in 2003, when he won the first AL MVP award. Texas traded him to the Yankees before the 2004 season because of A-Rod's growing frustration with losing. The Rangers were last in the AL West each of his three seasons.
When they spoke last week, Hicks encouraged Rodriguez to come clean.
"I said you have a chance to positively change millions of kids' lives if you'll come out and tell the truth," Hicks said. "When you made your mistakes, why you did it, when you started, what you've learned from it and why you'd do things differently if you could."
Without elaborating, Hicks said Rodriguez indicated that was his intention.
"He needs to tell young people all the details about the mistakes he made," Hicks said. "He had a God-given talent that was good enough to be the best player in baseball anyway."
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