David Ortiz Angry With Media Controversy, Says Boston's Becoming '[Expletive] Hole'
BOSTON (CBS) -- With one report after another coming out about the Red Sox' dysfunction, David Ortiz is firing back.
The Red Sox' designated hitter, who's the longest-tenured member on the team, spoke with the media at Fenway Park on Thursday and vented his frustrations with the ongoing saga.
"I'm just trying to deal with the drama here," Ortiz said. "This is baseball, man. It seems like everything that goes [on] around here is like one of those Congress decisions that would affect the whole nation."
Ortiz, who's hitting .313 with 18 home runs and 49 RBIs, said "hopefully" this will be the last year he has to prove people wrong, and when asked if he still wants to be in Boston, he said (perhaps somewhat jokingly), "I don't know. I'll think about it."
That's when Ortiz was asked about reports that the clubhouse is toxic. It began over the weekend with Buster Olney's initial report, grew with Peter Gammons' claim that the coaching staff was divided, and blew up even more on Thursday when Sean McAdam reported many players do not like manager Bobby Valentine and have gone to general manager Ben Cherington to complain.
"This is baseball. We're supposed to have fun," Ortiz said. "But every day something new, some drama, some more [expletive]. I'm tired of that, man."
Ortiz was asked if he's having fun playing in Boston anymore.
"Not really. Too much [expletive], man. Too much [expletive]," Ortiz said. "It's becoming to be the [expletive] hole that it used to be. ... Playing here used to be so much fun. Now, every day it's something new not related with baseball. People need to leave us alone [to] play ball, man."
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Despite the strong comments, Ortiz said the team remains unified and will continue doing the only thing it's supposed to: win.
"The only thing that we can control is play ball," he said. "You guys [the media] control the microphones, the papers, everything."
Ortiz was asked if he's most upset with what fans are saying or what the media is reporting.
"Who came out with the news a couple of days ago -- the fans or the media?" he said.
