Wednesday, October 27, 1999
Gray apologizes to fans, not Rose
NEW YORK — NBC reporter Jim Gray apologized to baseball fans Tuesday night for his contentious interview with Pete Rose before Game 2 of the World Series.
Gray, who said Monday he would not apologize to Rose, made his apology to fans only.
“After viewing the videotape, I can understand the reaction of many baseball fans,” Gray said during NBC's pregame show Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium. “I thought that it was important to ask Pete Rose if this was the right moment for him to make an apology.
“If in doing so, the interview went on too long and took out some of the joy of the occasion, then I want to say to baseball fans everywhere that I'm very sorry about this.”
Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Sports, backed Gray by calling him “the best TV sports reporter of his generation.” However, Ebersol said he thought the interview “probably went too long.”
NBC was deluged by complaints from fans Sunday night after Gray's interview with Rose at Turner Field in Atlanta. It centered on Rose's lifetime ban from the sport for gambling, and came minutes after he returned to a major league field for the first time in 10 years as a member of baseball's All-Century team.
Watch Gray's apology at msnbc.com
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