After re-signing for two years with the Boston Red Sox, DH David Ortiz went off on former manager Bobby Valentine in an interview with ESPNDeportes. Valentine infamously said that he thought Ortiz quit on the team after suffering an Achilles injury that let him play in just five games after the All-Star Break.
"Stopping me (from playing) was the decision of the doctors, management, the manager and me," Ortiz told ESPNDeportes.com. "The team doctor recommended that I stop playing to not make the situation worse for the tendon.
"… As a player, the game runs through my veins. In the 10 years I have played in Boston, I have been the heart and soul of the organization and not a second has gone by in which David Ortiz, able to go on the field to do what he knows best, he stayed seated instead."
"No. 1, never bite the hand that feeds you, because in the end that will come back to bite you," Ortiz said. "I was one of those players that always showed support for him. In fact, I held a couple of player meetings.
"No. 2, the day that I returned from the DL, I told him that I was not sure what percentage health-wise I was in, but that I could not be out there without trying to help. When I told him that, I put my career on the side to help him and the team. Being in an incredible amount of pain, I went out there to support them.
"No. 3, after he went on national TV to say what he said, he sent me a text message trying to tell me that it was the media trying to change things. I did not respond to the message and I said to myself, this guy must have some mental issues or needs medicine or something? I said, I am dealing with someone crazy and I am not going to drive myself crazy, so it is better if I leave it alone."
"I am a player that has the game in his blood," he said. "In the 10 years that I have (been) in Boston, I have been the soul of the organization and there has never been a second where David Ortiz being able to go on the field and do what he does has decided to stay seated."
This is pretty much a complete and utter burial of Valentine by one of the most veteran and respected players in Boston. If there was any semblance of sympathy for Valentine in Boston, it's gone after Ortiz dropped this verbal beatdown on him. I don't even know what Valentine was trying to do by calling Ortiz out in that interview with Bob Costas two weeks ago, and I don't think he has a chance in hell at managing anywhere in the major leagues ever again.
[ESPN]
