Former New York Yankees Great Rodriguez Responds to Ex-Teammate's 'Die Alone' Comments
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He took the high road.
Former New York Yankees legend Alex Rodriguez responded to harsh comments made by his former high school and Yankee teammate Doug Mientkiewicz, who told the "Foul Territory" podcast that Rodriguez was "going to die a lonely man."
“There’s always going to be people out there that have things to say, everyone has an opinion, but I certainly would never talk publicly negatively about any of my teammates, especially someone from high school,” Rodriguez told Fox 5 NY's Rosanna Scotto on Wednesday.
“I mean, look, we’re almost 50 now. This is supposed to be the good old days when we look back, and we cringe about some of the weird things that we did, and we’re proud of the relationships we built over the years. So you take that with a grain of salt and you wish everyone well and you move on.”
Mientkiewicz, a former Gold Glove first baseman, who played with Rodriguez on the Yankees in 2007, has a gripe with A-Rod over several issues, which includes ditching their friends from Westminster Christian School in Palmetto Bay, Fla.
“It’s like, ‘You’re just trying to get into heaven now.’” Mientkiewicz said of Rodriguez. “I’m still friends with my high school team. We still text often, not as often as we should, but we still text, group thread, constantly badgering each other. He’s just distant from it. I don’t care how good or how great you become and how far your career goes, you never forget your high school dudes.”
Rodriguez did a separate interview on Wednesday with USA Today Sports, where he said he was "shocked and surprised" by Mientkiewicz's comments, which he considered "strange, because I always considered Doug a friend."
Rodriguez, who is a co-owner of NBA franchise the Minnesota Timberwolves, said he was close with Mientkiewicz's parents and would “never speak poorly about any of my teammates.”
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