David Ortiz had played 160 games against the Yankees without being hit by a pitch. And when he finally was hit on Thursday night, he was not his usual smiling self in the clubhouse after the game.
"I want to thank you guys — not all of you, most of you — for the stat today of me not getting hit by the Yankees," Ortiz told reporters, according to the Boston Herald. "Finally got hit. Hope you [expletives] are happy."
Ortiz's anger was directed not at Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia, who beaned Ortiz in the thigh in the fourth inning, but rather at the media, who he apparently believed provoked the beaning by revealing the statistic about him never being hit by a pitch against the Yankees.
Ortiz offered only his statement and did not take questions after the game.
Looking back at the events of the past few games between the teams, it was almost expected for the Yankees to throw at a Red Sox player before the end of the series.
Ortiz had drawn criticism from Yankees manager Joe Girardi when he flipped his bat after belting a home run in Tuesday's game, and Red Sox pitchers had already hit four Yankees in the series before Ortiz was beaned — including Josh Beckett hitting both Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez with pitches earlier in Thursday's contest.
"I'm still trying to figure out if David got hit because of something I did," Beckett said on Thursday, "or if it was something ESPN tried to stir up."
