Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz went medieval on a dugout phone last night after he struck out and then was ejected from the game against the Baltimore Orioles
Ortiz thought he had a walk in the 7th inning with the count 3-0 when umpire Tim Timmons called a very high strike from pitcher Jairo Acencio that appeared to be out of the strike zone. Ortiz was actually on his way to first when Timmons made the strike call.The next pitch was also called a strike. Ortiz then struck out swinging.
An obviously upset Big Papi started shouting at the umpire, had to be restrained, and then began smashing the visitors dugout phone with a bat before he was calmed down with the help of second baseman Dustin Pedroia , manager John Farrell, and bench coach Torey Lovullo. In the video, Pedroia can be seen covering his head with a towel to avoid flying splinters.
The Red Sox won the game 7-3 on the strength of two home runs by Stephen Drew.
After the game, Ortiz explained that hitting is his livelihood, and the umpire was disrespecting him by interfering with a plate appearance. “All I’ve got to tell you is I’ve got 17 years in the league and I don’t think I deserve to be disrespected like that. If you want to get respect from the players, you respect the players. That was horrible. Both of the pitches, not one. These people been semi-intentionally walking me all night, I don’t mind going to first base so what was the reason you’ve got to call pitches like that a strike?’”
Added Ortiz: “That was horrible. It was horrible. People always focus on when we snap. We’re not snapping everyday out there; there’s a reason why we snap. You always look like the bad guy — I’m not a bad guy; I’m trying to do my job. You don’t take my at-bat away from me like that.”
Ortiz also insisted that he shouldn’t have been tossed out of the game for what he did in the dugout: “I wasn’t screaming at [the umpire], I was just upset, and I started swinging at everything in the dugout, probably that’s the only thing I can hit every time.”
Do you think David Ortiz overreacted to the strikeout and ejection? Apart from paying to repair the dugout phone, do you believe that MLB will impose any additional discipline and would that be justified?
