Major League Baseball executive vice president Joe Torre and Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz aren’t on the same page.
Torre issued a statement Friday in response to Ortiz’s criticism of official scorer Bob Ellis following the Red Sox’s 2-1 win over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday at Fenway Park. Torre expressed total disapproval of Ortiz’s controversial actions.
Torre’s statement reads:
“Official scorers have a job to do, and by their very nature, their decisions don’t make everyone happy. But everyone in our game deserves respect. I hope that David will meet that standard going forward because I don’t share the same views that he expressed.
“Official scorers should never give any benefit of the doubt to the home team. We want their best judgment, based on the rules. We have a process to review the decisions that our scorers make. Even when there are inevitable disagreements, we expect everybody to act professionally and respect the game and the integrity of our scorers.”
Ortiz grew upset with Ellis on Wednesday because he wasn’t awarded a hit in the seventh inning of Boston’s win. Ortiz hit a ground ball that Twins first baseman Joe Mauer dove to knock down — something Ortiz thought should have played a factor in the official scoring. Rather than Ortiz being credited with a hit, however, Mauer was handed an error. The ruling prompted Ortiz to yell at the Fenway press box while giving a thumbs down, and the slugger continued to voice his displeasure after the game.
“It’s always so hard here, man,” Ortiz said after Wednesday’s game, which the Red Sox won in 10 innings as a result of back-to-back home runs by Big Papi and Mike Napoli. “I thought they were supposed to have your back at home, and it never happens. It’s always like that. I’ve been here for more than a decade, and the scorekeepers here are always horrible. This is home, man.”
Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington chalked up the incident as emotions getting the best of Ortiz. Clearly, Torre isn’t willing to accept that reasoning.
