Ex-Yankee Jim Leyritz apologized publicly Sunday night for ripping two Yankees executives after he wasn't invited to the team's annual Old-Timers' Day.
Responding to a Twitter follower who felt Leyritz was snubbed when this year's list was released last week, the two-time World Series champ wrote: "Yes it’s a joke already. Randy Levine and Debbie Tymon have said I didn’t do enough in Yankee history to be invited. How many sliders did they hit. Lol."
"I am so apologetic to them right now," Leyritz said, according to the Daily News. "As a matter of fact, when I found out this went public, within seconds, I sent emails to Randy and Debbie both and I apologized and in no way did I mean for this to go public, and in no way did I mean for their names to be drawn out in public for this to happen.
"Because we already knew that I wasn't invited. And it made me even more sick when I saw them put out a statement that said Randy wasn't involved in Old-Timers' Day, because I thought someone told me he was. So I owe Randy Levine and even bigger apology, because he has nothing to do with this."
After Leyritz's initial remarks, the Yankees issued a statement saying: "It's disappointing that Jim has entered into this arena the way he has," the spokesman said. "This tweet is baseless and categorically false. Frankly, he should be thankful for his ties to this organization."
Leyritz played for the Yankees from 1990-96 and then again during parts of the 1999 and 2000 seasons. He was never an everyday player for the Bombers, but did hit 17 homers in 75 games in 1994.
Old-Timers' Day will be held June 17 and include first-time participants Andy Pettitte, Jason Giambi, Nick Swisher and Dion James.