Alex Rodriguez believes that an infamous Esquire article published in 2001 when Rodriguez was a member of the Texas Rangers strained his relationship with former best friend and future teammate Derek Jeter “for years,” though it was not Rodriguez’s intention to insult him.

“That Esquire article, I thought it was pretty vanilla,” Rodriguez admitted in episode 2 of HBO’s Alex vs. ARod, which premiered Thursday, November 13. “I complimented the whole team and they took that and ran with it. That put a strain in our relationship for years.”

In the article, Rodriguez spoke glowingly about Jeter’s Yankees teammates — but in a way that seemed to disparage the Yankees icon.

“Jeter’s been blessed with great talent around him,” he said. “So he’s never had to lead. He doesn’t have to, he can just

See Full Page