Alex Rodriguez made a personal call to apologize to Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks after the slugger's admission that he used banned substances while playing for the team from 2001-03.

Hicks told The Associated Press on Tuesday evening, hours after Rodriguez publicly apologized for his misdeeds in a press conference at Yankees spring training, that Rodriguez called him last week.

Hicks says Rodriguez didn't ask him to accept the apology, and Hicks says he didn't accept it.

Hicks says the two men talked for about 25 minutes, and he described Rodriguez as being embarrassed.

When the Rangers signed Rodriguez as a free agent in December 2000, they gave him a then-record $252 million, 10-year contract.