I don't understand
David Ortiz. I'm sure the dude's a nice guy on a personal level, but he not a prophet or anything like that. I'm not sure when Ortiz got too big for his britches. Maybe it was when they won the World Series for the first time in 80+ years. Maybe it was when Bud Selig hugged him and basically made him MLB's "Golden Boy"... but I gotta tell ya, Ortiz is believing it and apparently he thinks he's untouchable.
He's not, he's just a ballplayer who is now on his decline and clearly getting defensive about it. Hey, I get it, but I personally don't find Ortiz to be an elite player any longer and soon enough, he'll recognize that too... and hey, IT'S OK. That's what happened to older players.
Here's the puzzling part of all of this. The word 'Disrespect'. Ortiz is apparently upset with critics for his .219 season so far.
According o WEEI, he said this:
"I’m not washed up. I guarantee you that. I can wake up and hit, bro.
That’s my nature. I’m not washed up. … I was asked on camera the other
day if I was washed up. And I pretty much didn’t react to it, but I
thought that was very disrespectful.... You don’t disrespect people like that, you know what I’m saying?"
Interesting.
"You don't disrespect people like that." Like what? Suggesting that older people don't play as well? It's not even out of line, it's common sense. Hell, the only really players in baseball that played even halfway decent at an older age are
Minnie Minoso (54),
Rickey Henderson (44) and
Julio Franco (48). The point is, it ain't easy, but more importantly who the hell is Ortiz suggesting that "
YOU DON'T DISRESPECT PEOPLE LIKE THAT?"
Remember when Ortiz said he lost respect for David Price when Price hit him with a pitch? That was followed by David Ortiz calling Price a
"Little girl" and that it was
"War". Got it, but that wasn't disrespectful to call a man a "girl", right?
How about when Ortiz
touched umpire John Tumpane. The ump is the authority on the field. Seriously? That's NOT disrespectful? I guess it's allowed because it's David Ortiz. Ridiculous.
How about on the rule about batters having to keep one foot in the
batters box? To it, he said, '
I call that bullshit." Really? It's a rule in baseball now, and you are what, gonna disregard it or something?
The point is, where do you draw the line as to respect and disrespect? And, not for nothing, but isn't David Ortiz a walking contradiction? Um... yes he is.
David Ortiz is not squeaky clean. David Ortiz is not the anointed one and no, he ain't Jesus either. He's immature and he's got a lot to learn. If critics want to suggest the simplest of opinion about an aging player, that's not offensive... it's not even disrespectful... it's reality.
Bumping and umpire? That's worse, Big Shot. Shut up.
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