Ken Griffey Jr. Apologizes For Awkward Interview With ESPN's Linda Cohn On SportsCenter, Blames 'Cough Attack' [VIDEO]

Major League Baseball legend Ken Griffey Jr. apologized on Wednesday for his role in an awkward interview with ESPN anchor Linda Cohn.

Griffey, a spokesman for Upper Deck trading cards, appeared on SportsCenter to promote the brand’s 25^th anniversary. But the retired outfielder seemed less than excited about participating in the live interview.

Cohn gave Griffey a chance to discuss Upper Deck, and then asked him to answer a few questions related to the current MLB landscape. But Griffey’s responses were listless; he gave one-word answers, looked away from the camera and generally refused to give a detailed reply.

After the awkward interview, Cohn took to Twitter to criticize Griffey. “Is life really that bad for Ken Griffey Jr right now? Smell the roses Ken !” she wrote. “For a guy who wants to be known for his smile he has a strange way of showing it.”

For a guy who wants to be known for his smile he has a strange way of showing it. #kengriffeyjr @J2theMo13
— Linda Cohn (@lindacohn) March 5, 2014

Soon after, Griffey responded to Cohn’s comments by posting an apology to his Instagram account. “I want to apologize to Linda for the way things went today,” he wrote. “I was in the middle of a cough attack and felt a little ill and didn’t want to walk off the set. Linda has always been professional to me and my family. I’m sorry, Junior.”

Griffey also apologized to Cohn over the phone, a gesture which the veteran sports anchor accepted. “Just got off the phone w Ken Griffey Jr. he apologized sincerely for how he came across in [SportsCenter interview]. I accepted his apology,” she wrote on Twitter.

[h/t For The Win]