David Ortiz says he has lost respect for David Price.
In the process, a lot of people have lost respect for Ortiz.
The Boston Red Sox‘s outspoken designated hitter routinely says what’s on his mind and rarely fails to bring out the emotions of his audience. He has inspired teammates, fans and even an entire city through his intensity. It is probably one of the reasons he has gained so many fans over his career.
His passionate postgame comments about Tampa Bay Rays pitcher David Price brought out some emotions and opinions of another nature.
Price plunked Ortiz with a 94-miles-per-hour fastball in the first inning of Friday night’s game. If you read between the lines of Price’s postgame comments, it would appear the pitch was in retaliation for Ortiz’s slow trot after a home run in last season’s American League Division Series.
Benches cleared in the fourth inning after Price hit Mike Carp with a pitch.
During the game, Red Sox starting pitcher Brandon Workman, third base coach Brian Butterfield, manager John Farrell and bench coach Torey Lovullo were ejected.
After the game, Ortiz went off on a rant to reporters, including Rob Bradford from WEEI.com.
I have a lot of respect of the guy, man, but it’s over. I have no more respect for him. Last year we kick his ass in the playoffs, he went off, talking s–t about everybody, Tom Verducci and everybody. Players. We kind of got to talk on the phone. We kind of straightened things out. He was kind of upset. Me as a veteran I kind of let him know how things go in this game. Later on he called me and apologized because he knows he was wrong. He apologized in public. He apologized to myself. Everything was cool. So first at-bat of the season against him he threw at me. I mean, it’s a war. It’s on. Next time he hits me he better bring the gloves. I have no respect for him no more.
Less than a week removed from Memorial Day, a moment of honoring fallen soldiers, is a little too soon to take a baseball beef and compare it to an armed conflict. As can be expected, fans did not react kindly to the comments.
It’s a game, not a war. Win or lose everyone lives to see tomorrow.
The poor timing of that comment would be overshadowed by the addition of a very misogynistic tone to his rant.
I was surprised for a minute until I watched the video. I thought everything was cool. You can’t be acting like a little girl out there. You aren’t going to win every time. When you give it up, that’s an experience for the next time. But when you’re to be acting like a little b—h every time you give it up, bounce back like that and put your teammates in jeopardy, that’s going to cost you.
When you infer that there is something wrong or inferior with being a female and include a hateful term toward women, people usually get upset.
One good indicator of a poor statement is when a player upsets a fan of their team.
There were, of course, some fans of the Red Sox that were completely fine with what Ortiz said.
The rivalry between the Red Sox and Rays has become the most heated in the AL East. With two more games in this series and more games this season, it is safe to say the final words of this feud have not been said.
Hopefully, we have heard the final comparison to war and words rooted in disrespect to women.
Stay classy.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com