ESPN’s Wilbon: ‘Enough of A-Rod’

During Tuesday’s broadcast of “Pardon the Interruption” on ESPN, co-hosts Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser discussed New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez’s formal apology letter. In the letter, Rodriguez called the New York Yankees “gracious” for offering him the chance to use Yankee Stadium for a news conference. But Rodriguez chose not to have a formal media session.

“I take full responsibility for the mistakes that led to my suspension for the 2014 season,” Rodriguez said in the statement. “I regret that my actions made the situation worse than it needed to be. To Major League Baseball, the Yankees, the Steinbrenner family, the Players Association and you, the fans, I can only say I’m sorry.

I accept the fact that many of you will not believe my apology or anything that I say at this point. I understand why and that’s on me. It was gracious of the Yankees to offer me the use of Yankee Stadium for this apology but I decided the next time I am in Yankee Stadium, I should be in pinstripes doing my job.”

Rodriguez is coming off of a 211-game suspension for the use of performance enhancing drugs.

According to Wilbon, this letter was not Rodriguez’s idea and he’s had enough of Alex Rodriguez.

“He needed to do it, but Tony, you’re seen as sympathetic when you’re a child and your teachers, somebody in authority makes you apologize because that’s their role and children need to be taught how to do that. But when you’re a grown 40-year-old man and somebody has to make you apologize because, you weren’t gonna do it on your own, you didn’t want to do it and you’re only doing it because you were coerced. I’m not going to speak on anybody else. I was one of the last people to get off the A-Rod train. Someone made him do it. This is not his idea.”

Wilbon continued to say, “I want to say this to you, and this is not mainstream because I do this to you with the Yanks and the Sox. I don’t care. A-Rod, as the kids say, I’m so over him. Enough of A-Rod. This is like Johnny Manziel now. He’s going to be inconsequential to the season and irrelevant to baseball.”

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent