Reggie Jackson apologizes for profane outburst caught on video

Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson apologized Sunday morning for using profanity during a confrontation with an autograph-seeking fan in Cooperstown, N.Y., on Friday.

Jackson posted his apology on Twitter: “A sincere apology for my profanity in public to all fans. Certainly not a way to communicate. Mad or not, no excuse.”

Jackson, a 14-time All-Star who captured the American League MVP award in 1973, got into an argument with a fan who he claimed was trying to get multiple autographs from him. Jackson’s profanity-laced tirade was captured on camera.

The former New York Yankees and California Angels great offered his explanation of what happened to the New York Daily News:

“I tried to sign a few autographs and then this guy who I’d seen on the golf course earlier in the day came up,” Jackson said. “He was the same guy who I had signed for on the golf course, along with a lot of other people, and who had then gone to the end of the line and had come back again.”

Although the Daily News reported a bodyguard for Jackson grabbed one of the fans, Jackson told the newspaper he, personally, didn’t touch anyone.

“You cannot touch a person,” he said. “It would be wrong to touch a person. Touching someone is not for me.”

Jackson, 69, is in Coopertown to attend the Sunday’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.