Yankees first-rounder apologizes for slamming team

Before the draft lefty pitcher Ian Clarkin was not a Yankees fan, but he’s about to be part of their organization.

After the Yankees selected Clarkin out of James Madison High School in San Diego with the 33rd pick, MLB Network played a tape of him saying:

“I cannot stand the Yankees, so I was actually in tears I was so happy,” Clarkin said about the Diamondbacks beating the Yankees in the 2001 World Series in a taped interview.

Clarkin clarified the comments on Friday, saying they were taken “out of context completely.”

“First and foremost, I want to apologize to all the Yankee fans for my comments,” Clarkin said.

Who was interviewing him during the draft? Luis Gonzalez, of course, the man who hit the game-winning single for Arizona off of Mariano Rivera in Game 7 of that World Series.

“Ohhhh, my gosh,” Clarkin said after clip was played.

Then he said to Gonzalez, “I can’t believe I was 6-years-old crying when you guys won that World Series.”

Clarkin’s decision now will be whether to join the Yankees or stay home and go to the University of San Diego.

“It will just have to come down to life-changing money,” Clarkin said, according to ESPN.com “We are going to have to talk about it over as a family, see what works best for me, see what works best for the family. Hopefully, we’ll get the scholarship in the contract also, but it is going to come down to how the money changes our family’s lives.”