Pirates' Rodriguez: Gatorade cooler still a little resentful

Sean Rodriguez says cooler heads have prevailed.

The Pittsburgh Pirates super utility man is back with the club this season and acknowledged that he and the team's Gatorade cooler have moved on following a heated confrontation in the dugout last October.

"We had a good conversation," Rodriguez told Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune. "(Cooler) is still a little resentful. I can't blame him for that."

Rodriguez was irate during last year's National League wild-card game against the Chicago Cubs after he was ejected for his role during a benches-clearing incident. He walked off the field and immediately began punching the cooler.

"They said I threw a punch, and I did," Rodriguez said in October of the reasoning behind his ejection. "I didn't hit anybody. I wish I had. It's the truth. It was (David) Ross. I won't shy away from saying his name."

The 30-year-old agreed to a one-year, $2.5-million deal to return to Pittsburgh in December.