Remembering the ‘war’ between David Price and David Ortiz
David Price and David Ortiz are teammates. But friends? Not so fast.
The newly signed Red Sox ace and veteran slugger have a lingering beef, or, as Ortiz said in 2014, “a war.’’
During a regular season matchup on May 30, 2014 between the Rays and Red Sox, Price plunked Ortiz, who said he went from having “a lot respect’’ for Price to having none.
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“First at-bat of the season against me he drilled me? I mean, it’s a war. It’s on,’’ Ortiz said after the game, via The Boston Globe. “Next time he hits me he better bring the gloves.’’
Ortiz continued on a profanity-filled monologue, during which he called Price a “little bitch.’’
And Price was quick to explain why he threw at Ortiz.
“Nobody’s bigger than the game of baseball,’’ he said May 31, 2014 following Ortiz’s comments. “You ask pitchers from 10-15-20 years ago. That’s normal. Part of the game.
“He was mad, I get it … You say stupid stuff when you’re mad. Been there. I’m sure he probably wishes he didn’t say some of the things he said. You can’t relate the game we play to a war.
“[NFL player] Kellen Winslow got a lot of crap for saying he was a soldier. No, you’re not a soldier. This is not war. We have troops fighting for us that are in a war. It’s not a good comparison.’’
The disagreement seemed to stem from Game 2 of the ALDS in October 2013, where Ortiz hit a pair of homers. On the second, the ball went out of the park near the foul pole — and Ortiz lingered in the batter’s box.
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“He steps in the bucket and he hits a homer,’’ Price said in 2013, via Masslive.com, “and he stares at it to see if it’s fair or foul — I’m sure that’s what he’d say. But as soon as he hit it and I saw it, I knew it was fair. Run.’’
Ortiz hit a pair of homers on Price that night — those are the only two home runs Ortiz has hit against Price. In the 48 at-bats where they’ve square off, Ortiz has eight RBI, five walks, nine strikeouts, and a .250 batting average.
And it should stay that way, as Ortiz is set to retire after the 2016 season and Price is locked up for seven years with the Red Sox.
Perhaps, the war is over.
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