August 15, 2009

Ortiz Expresses Frustration With Media

David Ortiz spent yesterday afternoon talking with Don Kalkstein, the team's psychology consultant. Then, before batting practice, he spoke to the media:
These past few weeks have been terrible for me. People want to [mess] up your reputation ... People always want you to be a good guy, but at the end of the day nobody gives an [expletive] about you.

You know why? Because when this [expletive] came out, this news [the leaking of the positive drug test], no one –– I'm talking about no one in general –– stood up and said, "Let's wait to see what David Ortiz has to say. He's a guy who has been tested 18 times, and why would you believe any of this [expletive]" or "He's a guy who has been playing the game clean and let's wait to hear what he has to say." No. It was, "I'm not surprised he got caught. He did this, or he did that." David Ortiz has never been involved in any kind of trouble. So why do I have to be the bad guy? Why can't anyone stand up for David Ortiz? ...

All these [media members] I've been dealing with through the years, guys who have come to me and tell me, "You've made the difference in this clubhouse because you might be the only superstar here who makes our life easy. When we want to talk to you we can talk to you. You're a nice guy and you do nice things." All that [expletive] went in the garbage when this [expletive] came out. That hurt, bro. ...

It's something that before you come out with things like that, you should sit down and think about, hey, what if somebody did this to my kids or to a friend of mine or to myself or someone else that I know? It's not going to be a good feeling. People talking [bad] about me, I've heard it before. Even I come out and say it, [it's] "He better come out and say that he did it. He better come out." Come on, people. Why don't you say this guy, you know, he is different around here as a player. So let's wait to see what he has to say.

Like I always say, I come in one day, I'll go out another. When I get to be gone, I won't give a flying [expletive] about nobody, period. Nobody going to give a flying [expletive] about me. But I see where all the media and player situation here come from. That said, I thought it was different. It ain't, though. ...

I know that I've been tested 18 times. Nobody talk about that. Have you heard anybody talking about that? Nobody talk about that. But the bottom line is all people care about is selling bad news. Bad news is what makes the money, but sometimes you've got to sit down and think about things before you make that as a truth.

I came out and said what I said. If you want to judge me, it's on you. If you believe me, it's on you, too. It's confusing [stuff], but that's how it is.
There are valid reasons why people are not talking about the 18 passed tests. MLB does not test for all performance-enhancing drugs. For some drugs, tests may not yet exist. So while a positive test means something, it in no way closes the book on a player's possible drug use. (And, I'm sad to say, Ortiz still has not offered even a guess at what supplements he was taking in 2003.)

Yes, some members of the media have been totally unprofessional -- Dan "His Entire Red Sox Career Is A Lie" Shaughnessy and Tony "Big Papi Is A Myth" Massarotti have led the way in print -- but Ortiz should understand by now that the media jump to conclusions and then (maybe, at some point) investigate the truth of those conclusions. These writers are not complex creatures. We know how they perceive the team -- more importantly, we know how they want us to perceive the team.

No player -- even someone we once thought was as Teflon as they come -- is immune.

9 comments:

FenFan said...

What is to be expected these days when every player in baseball is under suspicion for drug use? Media members like CHB and Mazz aren't concerned with negative publicity; it's what sells papers, books, etc. Ballplayers, unfortunately, aren't afforded this same luxury.

Robert Brown said...

How comprehensive are the WBC tests?

laura k said...

but Ortiz should understand by now that the media jump to conclusions and then (maybe, at some point) investigate the truth of those conclusions

That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt, or doesn't bother him in a very real way. When people are anxious or depressed, what they "know" (in their heads) doesn't make them feel any better.

Your analysis may be correct, but it doesn't hurt us to empathize with Ortiz's point of view.

andy said...

In the late 90's and into this millennium I took several performance enhancing supplements. Most of them were combo pills of some number of natural and unnatural ingredients. They were all legal. I can't tell you today exactly what I took. So I believe him. There was a rush of performance enhancing herbal and non-herbal but legal products back then. You could buy them at any drugstore over the counter. I use drug store loosely. Kmart had a good supply. There were even some foreign, mostly mexican, supplements that had god knows what in them as they did not honestly label their products, sometimes just promising something with no list of ingredients. Ortiz is upset because he feels using those kinds of things when they were not banned was ok. It is ok. MLB banned a lot of things even if they may not have been as effective as they should be to warrant such a ban. This is mass hysteria now and all it serves is to distract attention from where it belongs, on the game. And don't give me any of this horseshit that older players didn't take anything. Why do you think these over the counter supplements became so common and easy to get. I am sure they were once shady back room vitamins being used by professional athletes in the past. And using uppers increases focus which is what baseball players most of all need. We have all heard about those in generations past. So fuck you Hank Aaron, you drank coffee which was once thought of as a powerful drug by the people of central and south america.

laura k said...

Yay Andy

9casey said...

Papi , I believe, still had very bad counsel, whether that is his agent or mlbpa, or whomever.....that first day he just should have said bullshit, its all bullshit, instead he waited to tell us he took vitamins and supplements......He and his people fucked this up from the get....and FenFan, you can sell more papers than CHB and Mazz.....

I think overall though he is pissed at Mazz, the fucker wrote his book....Then smashes him, I am suprised that the Red Sox even let him work on NESN....

9casey said...

David Wright just got hit square on the side of the helmet with a 94 mph fastball from Matt Cain...those are always so hard to watch....

tim said...

WOW tonight's oatmeal looks more like diarrhea than a breakfast food.

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. Victor Martinez, 1B
4. Jason Bay, LF
5. Mike Lowell, 3B
6. David Ortiz, DH
7. Jason Varitek, C
8. Brian Anderson, RF
9. Alex Gonzalez, SS

-- Brad Penny, SP

WTF, COOOOOOOOOOOME ON TITO

Pull your goddamn head out of your ass.

allan said...

Yoinks. Bettrt get the game post up.