Willie Randolph, the first black manager of the New York Mets, apologized Wednesday to team ownership, the club's TV network and his players "for the unnecessary distraction" he created when suggesting he was portrayed in a different manner than white managers.

Randolph made the comments during an interview that appeared Monday in The Record of Hackensack, N.J. He questioned the way he has been presented by SNY, the team's TV network.      

"Is it racial?" Randolph was quoted in the story. "Huh? It smells a little bit. ... I don't know how to put my finger on it, but I think there's something there."      

Before the Mets played the Braves on Wednesday, Randolph began by saying, "I just wrote down some notes I want to share with you guys."      

"First of all, I want to apologize to the Mets ownership, SNY and my team for the unnecessary distraction that I created, that I caused the last couple days," he said. "I shouldn't have said what I said. It was a mistake. As simple as that. It was a mistake.      

"And there is no excuse for that. No excuses. I own up to it. The fact of life is that we haven't been playing very well as a team. We've been very inconsistent. We've talked about that before. When it happens, you're going to get criticized for that. I understand that."      

Randolph said his apology was of his own doing, and not requested by Mets management.