Selena Roberts just wrote the big scandalous book about A-Rod (and the NYT was scooped on its contents, btw). One of her accusations in the book: that, during blowout games, A-Rod used to tip batters on the opposing team to what pitches were on the way, if they would do the same for him.

So last Sunday, the NYT examined A-Rod's stats in a "Keeping Score" column, and found that there was no statistical evidence to back up the allegation (better hitting by A-Rod or the opposing middle infielders late in blowout games, for example). The headline: "Numbers Indicate Rodriguez Didn't Tip Pitches With Rangers."

Which pissed off Selena Roberts, we hear! Her reps contacted the NYT, complaining that the story's writer never contacted her, and, more importantly, that the story's headline wasn't supported by its facts because her book claims that A-Rod was cheating with a select group of buddies, not every opposing middle infielder in baseball.

We hear that the Times acknowledged that the headline was erroneous, but internal debate about whether to run an editor's note—a debate which went all the way up to Bill Keller—took so long that the correction to the story was just added yesterday.

Here it is:

A headline for the Keeping Score column on Sunday, about an analysis of the assertion in a new book that Alex Rodriguez revealed pitches to opposing middle infielders to let them know what was coming with the expectation that they would return the favor, referred incorrectly to the findings. As the column reported, the numbers show that either no so-called tipping of pitches occurred or that it was ineffective; the numbers did not "indicate" that "Rodriguez didn't tip pitches."

But Roberts is still pissed that nothing in the story was changed. Says one of the people who are working with her: "First The Times was beaten by its former reporter with the bombshell story that A-Rod used steroids. Then The Times gets the story about A-Rod cheating during games all wrong. But Bill Keller is too worried about losing readers and losing money to risk losing faith among readers by running an appropriate editor's note or full correction."

That seems a bit overblown. (We've contacted the paper for comment and we'll let you know what we hear. UPDATE: See their response below.) The original headline may have been a stretch, but stats are stats. A-Rod could have gotten tipped off for pitches and still not hit better. He could have done it so infrequently that it didn't show up in his stats. You can both be right! Let's all come together to condemn this rich baseball player as one.

[NYT story with correction here. Selena Roberts also addresses this in a Deadspin podcast today.]

UPDATE: NYT spokesperson Diane McNulty sends us this response:

The article did not take issue with Selena Roberts's assertions about A-Rod. It said that the effects that any tipped pitches would normally be expected to produce did not show up in statistics, which indicated that "either no tipping was going on or it was pathetically ineffective." The headline on the article went beyond that and so we promptly (on Monday for Tuesday's paper, typical for errors in Sunday editions) corrected it. There was no internal debate at all about whether to run an editors' note.

Like Brown, A-Rod saw news of his culpability leaked into the middle of President's Day weekend. But the Yankee slugger's apology was even more obscure, since he didn't release a statement.

News that Rodriguez apologized to SI's Selena Roberts was slipped into the middle of CNN's Reliable Sources as an anonymously-sourced scoop by host Howard Kurtz. How many people do you think were watching when Krutz said this earlier today:

KURTZ: Well, you know, Selena Roberts, who's a former "New York Times" reporter, I am told — and I can report this exclusively — that after that interview Alex Rodriguez called her to apologize.

But let's face it, Gregg, he's never had a great relationship with the press. Many journalists kind of resent him and view him as arrogant.

Not many. Which maybe is the point?

Rodriguez, in case you forgot, accused Roberts, on ESPN no less, of breaking into his home, being thrown out of his apartment and being cited for trespassing at the University of Miami. Roberts immediately denied everything and her editors backed her.

Roberts might have a decent libel suit on her hands, but suing would overshadow the book she's working on about the athlete, and hugely complicate her ability to cover him for SI. So she'll probably just accept the apology, and maybe leak word of it to, say, Howard Kurtz.

Rodriguez has reason to trump up charges against SI, which broke news of his steroid use Saturday, forcing the slugger's public admission of (some) guilt, and his apology. And the writer he complained about, Selena Roberts, strongly denied his accusation.

Accused stalker Roberts did have a reputation years ago of getting "carried away" — but only when it came to her writing. When Roberts was at the New York Times, prior to joining SI in 2007, her very purple prose was praised as "heart-stopping" and "incandescent" by executive editor Joseph Lelyveld. New York thought her sentences "occasionally overwrought" but still found her "the best sportswriter in town." And, at the other end of the spectrum from Lelyveld, some random fellow (*cough*) at the Observer quipped, "Sweetheart, get me rewrite!"

None of which is to say Roberts was as over the top in her Rodriguez reporting. In an ESPN interview, the athlete claimed Roberts stalked him, was cited by Miami Beach police for breaking into his home last week while his daughters were sleeping, was thrown out of his New York apartment and was thrown out of the University of Miami for trespassing. SI said it stood by the story "and the professional manner in which it was reported."

And Roberts' denial cut to the chase:

"The allegations made by Alex Rodriguez are absurd," said Roberts, in the statement. "I've never set foot in the lobby of Alex's New York apartment building, never spoken to the University of Miami police, and never set foot on his home property or been cited by the Miami Police for doing so."

It sounds like Rodriguez is going to have to find some other way of distracting people from his problems. Given his proven ability to get onto the front of the tabloids, we're sure he'll think of something.