A little over a week ago, Bobby Valentine made his first public appearance since being fired as manager of the Boston Red Sox. As expected, he had plenty to say. Bobby V.’s comments about David Ortiz quitting on the team were easily the most noteworthy thing he said during his interview with Bob Costas. Ortiz responded to that accusation on Monday.
For starters, Big Papi said the decision for him to shut it down for the season after returning from the disabled list was one made by team doctors and had nothing to do with the megadeal between the Red Sox and Dodgers. Then, he had the following to say to ESPNDeportes.com about his former manager.
No. 3, after he went on national TV to say what he said, he sent me a text message trying to tell me that it was the media trying to change things. I did not respond to the message and I said to myself, this guy must have some mental issues or needs medicine or something? I said, I am dealing with someone crazy and I am not going to drive myself crazy, so it is better if I leave it alone.”
It’s easy to understand where Ortiz is coming from. The media didn’t try to twist anything. Valentine made the comments and there was only one way to interpret them. In addition to that, Ortiz was one of the few players who reportedly defended Bobby V. toward the beginning of the season when people were calling for his head. If Valentine made me look bad on national television for seemingly no reason, I wouldn’t want to hear what he had to say either.
Photo credit: Tom Szczerbowski-US PRESSWIRE
