Heyman On Gresh & Zo: Good For Joe Torre To Defend Scorekeeper
BOSTON (CBS) - In the past week, Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz has gotten more attention for his mouth than his bat.
On Wednesday, Ortiz called Red Sox scorekeeper Bob Ellis' judgement into question after he handed Minnesota Twins first baseman Joe Mauer an error instead of giving Ortiz a hit on a ground ball in the seventh inning.
"He's not watching the same ballgame that everybody's watching, I guess," Ortiz said after the game.
Major League Baseball executive vice president Joe Torre came to the Ellis' defense saying that official scorers make decisions that "don't make everyone happy" and that "everyone in the game deserves respect."
MLB has since changed the play to a hit and Ortiz has apologized, but the incident was a talking point for Hardy, Scott Zolak and CBS Sports baseball insider Jon Heyman on 98.5 The Sports Hub's Gresh and Zo show Tuesday afternoon. Heyman stated that Torre did the right thing by looking out for the scorekeeper.
"I think it's good to defend scorekeepers. I mean they're not paid a lot of money, lets face it. I think it's fair to defend them and you know Ortiz -- after he got his hit -- he admitted that he probably shouldn't have done that," said Heyman. "As much as we like David Ortiz, he's a little too focused on how many hits he's getting. The issue with the Red Sox goes beyond his batting average."
Heyman is alluding to the fact that the Sox are five games under .500 and have a run differential of -26. With the team six games out of the second wild card spot, Zo was curious if the Red Sox should look into trading someone like starting pitcher Jake Peavy for prospects. But Heyman notes that the Peavy market would be "limited" and Boston isn't ready to wave the white flag.
"At this point it looks like there are going to be five or six sellers and I wouldn't say Boston is among them," said Heyman. "They're not the types to give up off of a championship. They are going to want to try to win as many as they can in that division. Nobody in that division and few teams around baseball have really played so great."
Listen below for the whole Ortiz discussion, Alex Torres' new cap, the new home-run derby format, and more:
Heyman: Good For Joe Torre To Defend Scorekeeper
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