Back in January, the controversial New York Yankees third baseman’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, talked to ESPN Radio about performance-enhancing drug use in baseball, saying “I’m not going to start naming all the other players, but some of them are God-like in Boston right now, and people seem to forget that.”
Many believed Tacopina was referring to Ortiz — though he later denied he was — and the Red Sox designated hitter told The New York Post on Thursday that the accusation didn’t sit well with him.
“I was angry,” Ortiz said.
The comments apparently fractured Ortiz’s relationship with Rodriguez, too.
“I haven’t talked to him since,” Ortiz told the Post.
Ortiz didn’t have any negative comments when asked about the A-Rod’s future once he returns from his year-long PED suspension, but he didn’t mince words, either.
“We’ll see what happens, I wish him the best,” Ortiz told The New York Post. “We’ll see how strong he can come back and do his thing.”
Big Papi added that Rodriguez faces an even tougher challenge making a comeback at 39 years old.
“I’ve seen players taking a year off and it’s fine, you get away with it, but at our age, taking a year off is not the easiest thing for you to come back and be at the highest level when the last year he played (2013) wasn’t all there because of injury, so we’ll see what happens,” Ortiz said.
Thumbnail image via William Perlman/USA TODAY Sports Images
