Ottavino 'meant no disrespect' by saying he'd strike out Babe Ruth

Now that he's going to be wearing the same pinstripes as Babe Ruth did, Adam Ottavino wants to clear the air with the Sultan of Swat.

Back in December, while still a free agent, Ottavino made some headlines by boldly suggesting he'd "strike out Babe Ruth every time" if he was able to somehow face the former home run king.

On Friday, the right-hander faced the media for the first time since signing a three-year, $27-million deal with the New York Yankees, so Ottavino took the opportunity to clarify that he wasn't dissing the iconic slugger.

"I mean certainly I probably used a bad example of the point I was trying to make: the evolution of the pitching in baseball over baseball history. And Babe Ruth's probably a name that I shouldn't have used in this example," Ottavino said, according to Ronald Blum of The Associated Press. "... I meant no disrespect.

"I'm a huge baseball historian and love the game and it's not even something that can be proven anyway, so I find it a little funny."

The 33-year-old, a Brooklyn native who continued to live in New York while pitching for the Colorado Rockies, said he didn't get off easy for his swipe at the Bambino.

"I've got a lot of flak for it, mostly funny stuff, like my uncle telling me that he can't go anywhere without hearing about it," Ottavino said.

While he won't get to test his pitching against Ruth, Ottavino's already managed to join him in the Yankees' record books thanks to an odd bit of history. Ottavino will be the first player in team history to don No. 0, the last remaining single digit still available to Yankees players. Numbers one through nine, including Ruth's famous No. 3, are all retired by the organization.