David Ortiz received an unintentional intentional walk from the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, and he sort of made a joke of the whole thing.
Ortiz was 0-for-2 with a walk when the Cubs decided to pitch him carefully with a man on and two outs in the bottom of the 7th and the score tied 1-1. Relief pitcher Wesley Wright threw three straight balls well off the outside corner, so on the fourth pitch, Ortiz began walking up the line before the pitch was even delivered and reached the catcher.
What Ortiz did may be viewed by some as disrespectful, but it might actually pay off at some point. This could tick off teams to the point where they wouldn’t want to give Ortiz the free base, or they’ll feel like they can sneak a fastball by him next time. In that sense, Ortiz could be baiting them into pitching to him.
Whatever the case, the Cubs’ strategy worked, because Mike Napoli grounded out to end the inning.
