Shocker: David Ortiz sez he 'didn't like' Ryan Dempster plunking A-Rod!

I saw this article earlier this morning and nearly spit out my coffee -- Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz has said some very shocking (and I mean shocking in a good way!) about Alex Rodriguez! In an interview with USA Today Sports, not only did Ortiz criticize teammate Ryan Dempster's strategy of throwing at A-Rod, and defend Rodriguez, but Ortiz also suggested that the reason MLB was going so hard after A-Rod was because of that huge contract. Here are the relevant quotes, and my comments:

Regarding Dempster plunking A-Rod:

"I didn't like it. I don't think it was the right thing to do,'' Ortiz told USA TODAY Sports. "But we don't all think alike, and the guy who did it, Dempster, is a great guy. It's not that I didn't think it was right because Alex and I are friends, because once you cross the white lines, everyone's on their own."

Isn't it when you cross the white lines you are supposed to be with your team, not on your own?

But anyway, here's what else Ortiz says:

"But we've got Tampa right on our heels, and that pitch woke up a monster in the Yankees' team at that moment. You saw how the game ended up. CC (Sabathia) was throwing 91 (mph) and started throwing 96. Alex later hit one way out there. You're talking about a good team that you can't wake up. But we learn from our mistakes.''

My Red Sox fan friend Sully Baseball was apoplectic about Dempster, saying exactly what Ortiz said about waking up the Yankees. And Squawker Jon, still on his summer Squawker sabbatical, points out that even if CC's velocity went up, he still gave up four runs to the Sox after this!

That being said, if the Yankees make the playoffs (and Tuesday night, after the walkoff win, was literally the first time all season I thought they had a chance to do so!), we will look back on this night as the turning point of the season. Actually, there are several turning points, and it is no coincidence that the Yankees' current 10 of 13 streak started on Friday, August 9, the first game A-Rod played at Yankee Stadium this year.

And how much must it kill Randy Levine and Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner to know that A-Rod, the guy whose career they tried to destroy, is the No. 1 reason this team actually has a chance to make the post-season. (Sully also pointed out that Brian Cashman made a stink about Alfonso Soriano, one of the other main reasons the Yanks are contending!) Not to mention how much ratings and ticket sales are up --Tiqiq told me that in the last homestand, ticket prices have been "up 16% up to $94 on average."

Anyhow, that wasn't all that Ortiz said. The following words are just as interesting as him criticizing the plunking strategy. USA Today Sports writes that "Ortiz said it's not clear-cut which party to side with in the A-Rod-MLB dispute because not all the facts have been revealed, such as baseball's evidence that Rodriguez used PEDs and tried to obstruct the Biogenesis investigation. Plus, Rodriguez has not failed a drug test under the current Joint Drug Agreement."

"I thought handing down a 200-plus-game suspension had something to do with his contract,'' Ortiz said.

"And thinking in general terms, what's good for me, what's good for other players, what's good for your kids if they decide to become ballplayers, you can't let any team break a contract, because then the next time a player gets a DUI, or is charged with domestic violence or with any other thing, then the team may try to get out of a contract. They would have (precedent).''

Of course, MLB denied in the article that A-Rod's contract had anything to do with them going after him (yea, right!) but Ortiz, in his solipsism, is right. I still cannot stand him but I have to give him credit for understanding what is really going on here.

I just want to know what Ortiz thought of Alex's "homage" to him at home plate at Fenway Park after Alex's homer the other night!

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