ST. LOUIS ? Nothing a public figure says ever fully goes away in the age of the Internet, a fact that Lance Berkman was often reminded of on Tuesday.
Back in January, the St. Louis Cardinals slugger went on a Houston radio station and said the reason he didn't sign with the Texas Rangers was because they'd be "average" without Cliff Lee leading the rotation. He also remarked that the other Rangers pitchers "caught lightning in a bottle" and that their true talent level wasn't close to what they exhibited in winning the AL pennant.
Ten months later, Berkman backtracked and said he was only too happy to be served a giant plate of crow before he meets the Rangers in the World Series on Wednesday.
"Obviously some of that has been proven incorrect. It's not the first time I've been wrong and it won't be the last," Berkman said a media session at Busch Stadium. "When I'm asked a question I try to answer it honestly. Sometimes I shouldn't. Sometimes I should just pass the question and I'd be better off."
The comments that Berkman made last winter almost immediately drew the attention of Rangers pitcher C.J. Wilson, who snarkily pointed out that Berkman had been considering retirement before signing with the Cardinals.
"I'm not going to be too offended by anything he says," Wilson said at the time.
Wilson, who will start Wednesday's Game 1 for Texas, said the comments made by both men were ancient history and that there will be no ill will when Berkman steps into the box for the first time. The two actually worked things back at the All-Star Game, when Wilson arrived at his locker to find a note from Berkman inside.
"Hey, congratulations on your guys' success. I guess I was wrong. Not the first time."
"I ran into him at breakfast a couple days later and we talked about it and he was really awesome," Wilson said. "So I have no issues with what he said."
Berkman said he thought the size of the story really didn't match the frequency of questions about it. But he also didn't pass up an opportunity to drench the situation with some of his trademark southern-fried humor.
"It really kind of surprised me, to be honest with you," Berkman said. "Because the comments were made in the setting of a local Houston radio show. (But) then I forgot that they have the Internet.
"That type of thing plays really well in Houston.�Not so much in Dallas."
'Duk is on the ground in St. Louis at the World Series
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