David Ortiz has been extremely hot for the Red Sox lately, having hit in eight straight games. He has four home runs and 10 RBIs in that span, and he’s gone deep in both of Boston’s wins over the Yankees this week. Ortiz flipped his bat following a home run in the 5th inning Tuesday, almost as if he was saying “suck it,” and that angered the pinstriped crew.
Ortiz took a brushback pitch later in the game, and there were rumblings he would get hit by a pitch Wednesday to straighten things out. That never happened, but Ortiz learned his lesson after Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he didn’t really care for the bat flip. Even though the offense was minor, it still was classless and Girardi’s reaction was in line. Ortiz said the only reason Girardi didn’t like it is because it happened against his team. He’s right, but that doesn’t make the flip OK. Ortiz apparently learned his lesson.
On Wednesday, David took Yankees starter A.J. Burnett deep in the first inning but he circled the bases without incident. After the game he explained why he fell in line and decided not to flip the bat. Ortiz went off on a rant “I don’t want to be on national news tomorrow. I don’t want to have you guys asking me the same questions. I got almost 370 bombs in the big leagues and everybody wants to make a big deal because I bat flip one of them. [Expletive] that [expletive], man. If I have to make that video on my [expletive], let’s see how many bat flips I got on this [expletive]. Good night.”
That to me is an admission from Ortiz that his reaction was wrong. Nobody wants to be shown up, and Ortiz doesn’t want to pay the price in the form of being dosed by a pitch. He learned his lesson, and hopefully other players will take note. Are you listening, Bryce Harper?
