You Wouldn’t Like Him When He’s Angry
Jul 28, 2013; Baltimore, MD, USA; Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz (34) hits a two-run home run in the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports
Saturday night Ortiz went Hulk mode and destroyed the press box phone in the dugout and had teammates ducking for cover from the splinters of his bat. This act had Ortiz ejected in the 7th inning of the game in which the Red Sox were already leading 7-2.
David is having one of his best seasons to date, swinging the bat well with an average of .329 and putting up 20 homeruns.
Saturday night Ortiz went 0-2 with 2 walks. In his last at bat is when he lost his temper, a side of him that an opposing team should never want to see. With the count at 3 balls to 0 strikes the next pitch came in obviously high and Papi, along with probably everyone else watching the game believed it was ball 4. David was so convinced he tossed his bat and took off his elbow pad. The umpire then called it strike 1.
David exchanged glares with the home plate umpire and a few choice words.
In comes the next pitch, which was also a clear ball and again a strike was called.
Now with a full count Ortiz swings right over a low breaking ball and is rightfully upset with himself as he walks tom the dugout and this is where it appears Papi had watched too many Avenger movies as it appeared he walked down the steps and the words “Papi Smash” echoed throughout Camden Yards.
David set his sights on the phone hanging on the wall of the dugout and proceeded to prove that land line phones might survive and apocalypse but could not survive Big Papi. At that point he was ejected from the game which prompted him to walk back up the steps with several words that could not be aired on national television under any circumstance. This was not the emotional “This is our F@#$ing city” speech rather they were harsh words expressing his displeasure for blown calls. He only stopped when John Farrell and Dustin Pedroia bravely stepped in his path and calmed him down enough to hopefully prevent any suspensions.
Later that night in a post game interview David Ortiz still expressed his displeasure with calls and mentioned that his career is devoted to his at bats and that he cannot make up for a missed plate appearance with a great defensive play later in a game. Makes sense to me.
But what he can do is come out the next game and hit everything that was thrown at him, and that is exactly he did Sunday afternoon.
Ortiz must have envisioned the ball as a flying phone as it seemed no matter what was thrown his way he had no problem hitting. He went 4-4 with 3 singles and a 2 run shot. The four hits in this game tied his season high for hits and his Homerun in the 3rd inning gave him 20 on the season which now gives him 11 consecutive seasons as a Red Sox player with at least 20. Only Ted Williams has more consecutive seasons with at least 20 and that is 16 seasons. Ortiz definitely has a chance to possible surpass that number but even if he doesn’t being behind Ted Williams in the history books is not a bad place to be.
If David can go 4-4 every other night then I for one am ok with a few displays of aggression and the assault of a few phones. As .long as he continues to mash the ball on a consistent basis as he has since coming to Boston I will not complain one bit about The Incredible Papi.