The New England Patriots will likely lose at least one prominent viewer should Tom Brady’s four-game Deflategate suspension remain in place.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated‘s Andy Gray, Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz spoke of his dissatisfaction with Deflategate:
I think it’s stupid, to be honest with you. Put it this way: You’re talking about the one player that everybody wants to watch play. We’re not just talking about any player. We’re talking about [Brady]. If I turn on the TV on Sunday to watch a Patriots game and I know that [Brady] is not playing, I would turn off the TV. I don’t want to watch that game.
Since he’s one of the most well-liked athletes in the United States, the Patriots should consider sending Ortiz as an emissary to the NFL’s league offices to try to get Brady’s suspension overturned. How could NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell possibly turn down a polite request from Big Papi?
Ortiz told Gray that even New York Yankees fans have warmed to him over the years:
You know how it is when you play for the Red Sox. It doesn’t matter how much things have cooled off. If you don’t play for the Yankees, you don’t matter. But I have been lucky somehow, someway with the Yankees fan. Whenever I’m in New York and I decide to go to public places, they are all cool with me. They can’t wait for me to retire, obviously.
In the interview, Ortiz added that the altercation between Pedro Martinez and Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer in the 2003 American League Championship Series was the craziest thing he had seen on the diamond over his two decades in MLB.
Both benches emptied in Game 3 of the series. During the fracas, Zimmer confronted Martinez, who threw him to the ground:
Ortiz announced last November that he intends to retire following the 2016 season, and he’s picking a great time to walk away from the game. The nine-time All-Star is batting .339 with 13 home runs and an MLB-best 46 RBI and .720 slugging percentage.
Big Papi is a major reason why the Red Sox lead the American League East with a 31-20 record. According to Baseball Prospectus, Boston’s 9.7 percent odds of winning the World Series are second in the AL to the Cleveland Indians (12.4 percent).
Leading the Sox on one more deep postseason run would be a great way for Ortiz to close out an impressive career.
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