Ortiz Excited For 2012, Ready To 'Turn The Page' On 2011
FORT MYERS, Fla. (CBS)- Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz spoke for the first time this spring on Wednesday, and said it was time to move on from 2011.
"We're here this year to change things around. You learn from your mistakes, you learn from your struggles. I'm pretty sure everybody is on the same page now and things are going to be different," Ortiz said. "We have a new manager in Bobby (Valentine); he has an idea of what he wants to do with all of us. I'm pretty sure he's going to take over and try to do his job."
"If they've come out and apologized, that means they're not going to do it again," he said of players that drank beer and ate fried chicken in the clubhouse. "Because of that, you need to turn the page. Are we going to be thinking about the chicken and beer they had last September in March and February 2012? You're not going to solve any problems with that. We have a new skipper that is aware of all that stuff and he's going to change things around. That's all you can do about it."
"Based on what happened the last month of the season last year, it seems like everything was going south. It doesn't matter what we do, it doesn't matter how things happen; it (seemed) like everything was going to end up the way it did."
When asked what his biggest mistake of 2011 was, Ortiz joked it was not hitting .340. He said he spoke with some players about their conduct, but he was speaking to them as a player to another player, not a disciplinarian.
"It's not my job to go off on anyone… I'm not a babysitter or anything like that," said Ortiz. "There is a difference between being a team leader and a babysitter. Everybody has an idea about what they are here for. You know this is your home right here; you have to defend it. You have to take care of it. But you don't have to have someone telling what to do every day."
That job is for the manager. And Ortiz is confident the new man in charge will get the job done.
"We're going to adjust ourselves to whatever he wants us to do; which is the right thing to do," he said of Bobby Valentine. "It's a good time for him to walk in, so he can pull his experience and teach us how to do the right thing. Sometimes, like I said, things get out of hand and sometimes you get to thinking you're doing the right thing, but you aren't. You have to be reminded, and that's what he's here for."
What disappointed Ortiz the most was the fact the team had such a big lead heading into September. While most of the focus comes down to the final game of the season, the Red Sox had plenty of chances to lock up a playoff spot but didn't get the job done.
"You had a lot of opportunities to win ball games and for any reason, it didn't happen. Then you have to face that situation. I think after the season last year, I was a little depressed because I was so ready to go to the playoffs. It didn't happen and I remember at one point during the season, I was like this is the best ball clubs I have been a part of."
"I was very disappointed," said Ortiz. "But at one point, I was like let's move on. Nothing you can do about this year. You have to pull yourself together and be ready to do damage next year."
Now the Red Sox come into a new season, and after being heavy favorites to begin 2011, are picked to finish third in the AL East and fifth in the American League.
"I like that; I like to be the underdog," said Ortiz. "You get the opportunity to flip things around. When you are out there, like the spot they put us in last year, I think anything you do you just give people the reason to say something. But when they're not expecting you to do well, they can't say anything. Unless you come out on top."
