David Ortiz is still steaming about the dust-up between the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays last week that resulted in a six-game suspension for Sox pitcher Brandon Workman. Ortiz is furious that Price was not suspended after he almost certainly hit Big Papi on purpose, and we don’t blame him.
After the incident, Price said Ortiz has a tendency to “look like he’s bigger than the game of baseball.” The comment offended Ortiz, and he had no problem discussing it further on Wednesday.
“That ain’t me. I never overlook the game, you know?” Ortiz said, per WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford. “There’€™s never going to be a player bigger than the game. It doesn’t matter if you act like it, if you think you are or if people think that you are. It’€™s not true. Bigger than the game, nobody’€™s ever going to be. Know why? Because you come in, you play, you leave and the game continues.”
Big Papi then went off on Price once again.
“He just doesn’t understand that he’s not going to win all the time,” Ortiz said. “He’s carried that since last year when we whooped his ass. … It’€™s too bad that MLB sees the way he talked the day that he hit me and the way that he talked the next day and they still haven’€™t followed up with the rules.
“He basically said that he hit me on purpose, but I’€™m over that. I don’€™t really care about what he said. Who gives a [expletive]? Who is David Price? I don’€™t really care. I’€™m going to continue with what I do. Like it or not, it is what it is.”
Ortiz is one of the most well-liked players in baseball, hence his nickname Big Papi. He’s always smiling and joking with opponents when he reaches base, so it’s not as if he loves controversy. Should he let the feud with Price go? That’s probably in Boston’s best interest, but you can see why he’s upset the league didn’t punish Price. Either both pitchers should have been suspended or neither one.
