David Ortiz is fed up.
Ortiz was ejected in the seventh inning of Saturday’s game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium after arguing with home plate umpire Bruce Dreckman about a couple of outside strike calls. The Boston Red Sox slugger remained heated after his team’s 7-4 loss, prompting him to go off about Major League Baseball’s expanding strike zone and the current state of umpiring.
“I mean, man, this (expletive) game has changed so much,” Ortiz told reporters in Kansas City. “Nothing is new to me, you know what I’m saying? This is like, I mean, everybody keeps saying, ‘He’s old, he’s this, he’s that, that’s why he doesn’t hit anymore.’ All of a sudden, I was being one of the best strike zone hitters to being one of the worst. So, from day to night, it doesn’t work that way.
“It feels like every time you go into the box, you have two strikes already. You can’t hit like that, period. You can’t hit like that. I’m facing a guy that’s throwing 100 mph, and you’re going to give him two pitches. How am I going to hit?”
Hard-throwing Royals reliever Kelvin Herrera jumped ahead of Ortiz, 1-2, in his seventh-inning at-bat. Ortiz, who had some words for Dreckman, then singled into center field on a pitch down and out of the strike zone, after which the nine-time All-Star flung his bat into fair territory, seemingly in disgust.
Dreckman shouted down to Ortiz after he reached first base. Ortiz dismissively waved off Dreckman, prompting the umpire to send Big Papi to the showers, much to his surprise.
“All I have to say is that this situation between players and umpires is getting to a ridiculous point,” Ortiz said. “And it’s because it seems to me it’s more of a feeling than reality. I’m an 18-year veteran in this league, and when I was coming up, it seems like you deserve respect because of that. But it seems like it doesn’t work that way anymore.
“Growing up in my house, I was taught that if you don’t respect me, I don’t respect you, you know what I’m saying? That’s how I am. That’s life. You call two bad pitches on a guy that throws 100, what do you want me to do? It was pretty obvious that those two pitches were pretty bad. Not only that, I look at you, you look at me, and I tell you the guy doesn’t need help and you keep giving me signals. I finally give up on you, and you throw me out of the game for that? I don’t know.”
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Red Sox manager John Farrell emerged from the dugout as Ortiz walked down the line to confront Dreckman. Farrell restrained Ortiz as the animated DH mimed ejecting Dreckman from the game.
It was an absolute debacle that further showcased the Red Sox’s collective frustration — and Ortiz’s frustration, in particular — amid their disappointing 2015 season.
Thumbnail photo via Denny Medley/USA TODAY Sports Images
