Hey, at least he is being honest here. How sad, no more sleep overs.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2007/news/story?id=2771141
On the first day of his fourth season with the New York Yankees, Alex Rodriguez finally acknowledged his relationship with Derek Jeter has cooled.
"People start assuming that things are a lot worse than what they are, which they're not. But they're obviously not as great as they used to be. We were like blood brothers."
-- Alex Rodriguez
After insisting for three years that they remained close, Rodriguez said it was "important" to him to publicly confirm what others have said since he joined the team.
"People start assuming that things are a lot worse than what they are, which they're not. But they're obviously not as great as they used to be. We were like blood brothers," Rodriguez said Monday. "You don't have to go to dinner with a guy four, five times a week to do what you're doing. It's actually much better than all you guys expect, but I just want to let the truth be known."
Jeter, the Yankees' captain, has distanced himself since a 2001 Esquire article in which A-Rod said "Jeter's been blessed with great talent around him" and "he's never had to lead."
"You go into New York, you wanna stop Bernie (Williams) and (Paul) O'Neill," A-Rod was quoted as saying. "You never say, 'Don't let Derek beat you.' He's never your concern."
Sitting in jeans and a black sweat jacket in the first-base dugout at Legends Field after his physical, Rodriguez did three rounds of interviews: English-language television, Spanish-language television and print reporters. He addressed his relationship with Jeter in all three.
"We were best of friends about 10, 13, 14, years ago, and we still get along well. We have a good working relationship. I cheer very hard for him. He cheers hard for me. And most importantly, we're both trying to win a world championship," Rodriguez said.
What's changed? He made it sound as if they had just grown apart.
"The reality is there's been a change in the relationship over 14 years and, hopefully, we can just put it behind us," Rodriguez said. "You go from sleeping over at somebody's house five days a week, and now you don't sleep over. It's just not that big of a deal."
