WASHINGTON - Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning has never been one to keep his emotions in check. When he gets mad, you know it.

And, man, is he angry at Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid.

The Baseball Hall of Famer who used to hurl fastballs at batters' chins during fits of anger fired some real stingers at Reid this week, calling him irresponsible, a bully, a political hack and "hypocritical Harry.''

What set Bunning off was a 27-page dossier that Reid's office sent out that attacked Senate Republicans who have accepted campaign contributions from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

"The idea of Republicans reforming themselves is like asking John Gotti to clean up organized crime,'' began the statement, which went on to single out 33 Republicans by name for accepting Abramoff money and other alleged misdeeds.

Reid later apologized, saying he regretted the tone of the document and "the current political climate in which policy disputes escalate too quickly into personal condemnation.''

But Bunning, who was one of those singled out by name, wasn't in a forgiving mood.

"Hypocritical Harry struck again,'' Bunning said this week in a conference call with reporters.

"Personally, I can think of 61,000 reasons why Harry Reid is wrong and the wrong spokesman for the Democrats on this issue,'' Bunning vented.

And that was just the warm-up.

"Sen. Reid is nothing more than a political hack who is trying to bully his colleagues here in the Senate by taking unfair political potshots at the expense of the American taxpayer,'' Bunning said. "I think it is wrong and irresponsible for his leadership. This just goes to show that Democrats have no real agenda for the American people, just partisan political attacks.''

Reid sent a personal letter of apology to Bunning and the other senators named in the report. But Bunning said the letter "isn't worth the paper it's written on. It means absolutely nothing because he has done it too many times in the past.''