TAMPA, Fla. — Alex Rodriguez has called Sports Illustrated's Selena Roberts to apologize for critical comments he made during an ESPN interview.

Roberts was co-author of the Feb. 7 article on SI's Web site that reported he was on a list of 104 players who tested positive for steroids during baseball's anonymous 2003 survey. Rodriguez told ESPN two days later that he had used banned substances from 2001-3 while playing for Texas.

"I know this lady from Sports Illustrated, Selena Roberts, is trying to throw things out there that in high school I tried steroids. I mean, that's the biggest bunch of baloney I've ever heard in my life," he told ESPN, adding that "this lady is coming out with all these allegations, all these lies."

Roberts said Sunday that Rodriguez called her last Wednesday. She didn't want to comment on the call until Rodriguez holds a news conference after arriving at spring training Tuesday.

She is writing a book "A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez," due for publication by HarperCollins on April 14.