New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera and Joba Chamberlain made peace a day after a heated exchange occured between the two pitchers, ESPN reported on Monday. Chamberlain publicly warned Rivera not to "shush" him during player interviews with the media on Sunday.
"We did talk,'' Rivera said Sunday morning. "It's good. Sometimes you have little things that we say that we don't mean. We're a family here. It's something that we take care of in house. Unfortunately it happened in front of you guys, but again, it shouldn't happen. We apologize and we move on.''
Chamberlain denied that he had apologized to Rivera -- "There's no need to apologize. For what?'' -- but said he and Rivera had "joked and laughed'' afterward.
The incident occured in the visitors dugout shortly before Saturday night's game against the Kansas City Royals. While conducting an interview with a small group of reporters about his meeting earlier in the day with the family of a young boy killed in an airport accident, Rivera asked Chamberlain to lower his voice because he could not hear the questions being asked.
"Joba, yo, bro, bro,'' Rivera could be heard saying to Chamberlain on a tape of the interview played for ESPNNewYork.com.
"Suave,'' Rivera said, using the Spanish word for soft, while making a palms-down gesture with his hands, according to eyewitnesses.
"You do this every day," Chamberlain replied, who apparently was trying to talk to some family members in the stands near the Yankees dugout. "I don't see my family every day."
According to ESPN, an unaware Rivera did not believe Chamberlain took the altercation as serious and chuckled on the tape while continuing the interview. But afterward, he was approached by Chamberlain, who said, "Don't ever shush me again."
According to witnesses, Rivera tried to laugh that off too, but a serious Chamberlain repeated in a threatening tone, "No, seriously. Don't ever shush me again."
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