David Ortiz has once again gotten his way. The Boston Red Sox slugger put up a major stink over an error against the Minnesota Twins last week that he thought was a hit, and the official scorer has since changed his call.
Official scorer Bob Ellis reviewed the play and awarded Ortiz a hit on Monday. Big Papi was animated in showing his displeasure over the original decision during last week’s game, flashing Ellis a thumbs down while walking back to the dugout. Ortiz remained furious with the ruling after the game, despite the fact that his and Mike Napoli’s back-to-back home runs had just secured a dramatic Red Sox victory.
“People are supposed to have your back at home, and it never happens,” he said at the time. “It’s always like that. I’ve been here more than a decade and the scorekeepers here are always horrible. This is home, man.”
MLB executive vice president Joe Torre later issued a statement condemning Ortiz’s antics. Papi, who had another error changed to a hit after making a fuss earlier this season, apologized to Major League Baseball, Torre and the scorekeepers on Monday.
“All I have to say is I know I owe an apology to MLB, Mr. Joe Torre, even the scorekeeping guys,” he said. “I know that I had frustration come out that way, and that’s not what you really want. You don’t want things to be like that and everything.
“But this has been a season already that has been jam-packed with frustration. At the end of the day, our job is based on results. I sit down and watch that TV every night after the game and I go 0-for-4, and all people talk and bitch about is why I’m not hitting .300. … There’s a lot of people mad at me because I argued something that I didn’t think I should get. I don’t blame them. I’m not apologizing just because I got that result. It’s because the message was spread out based on frustration. That’s why I’m apologizing.”
That was kind of an “I’m sorry that I’m not sorry” apology, but what do you expect? Big Papi isn’t going to change.
