On David Ortiz' Bat Flip, and The Yankees-Red Sox Series

I was on the bus home from the Staten Island Ferry when the Yankees-Red Sox game started last night, and I was following the progress via my iPhone. By the time I arrived home, the Yankees were already losing 3-0. Not a great way to start off the evening.

And it got even worse. I also missed seeing Mark Teixeira getting helped off the field. What a nightmare. Between that, and David Ortiz's hitting a home run, complete with an obnoxious bat flip, it wasn't exactly an evening for the ages for Yankee fans. (Although Jorge Posada fans did get to see him ably step up with his best game of the year -- his first 2011 three-hit game -- after he stepped in to take Mark Teixeira's place in the lineup, and at first.)

But as for Ortiz, I was irritated by his antics during the game (what, he was mad Hector Noesi went a little inside on him? Spare me. Ortiz still has never been hit by a Yankee pitcher. Ever!) and even more annoyed by his arrogant comments afterwards. He said:

“It’s not my first time. It’s not going to be my last time. So, big deal,” he said.

“I’m a home run hitter. It’s not like I do it all the time. But it’s part of the excitement. What can I tell you? I just went deep. You want more emotion than that. I just went deep. It’s another homer for Papi.

“That was one of the Papi good ones.”

Two third-person references in one interview? Oy. What happened to the personable Ortiz, any way, the one who didn't come across like a clown in interviews?

The Yankees weren't happy about his little show last night, and we'll see if they enact a little payback this series.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

My thoughts on David Ortiz's presser

Squawker reader Jonmouk71 wanted to know what I thought of the David Ortiz press conference. Answer is: not very much. Granted, Ortiz is a very likeable guy, and a beloved figure in baseball. Heck, even after the whole steroids scandal surrounding him, he still garnered very few votes so far in the Subway Squawkers poll on our readers' least favorite Red Sox. (Jonathan Papelbon may be untainted by steroids, but he is also the overwhelming "winner" so far in the poll.)

All that being said, Ortiz's story just isn't plausible. As SNY-TV's Sam Borden wrote:

"I definitely was a little bit careless back in those days when I was buying supplements and vitamins over the counter," Ortiz said, as if this was somehow a good thing. A person whose livelihood depends on physical activity is so "careless" he doesn't read labels? Doesn't know what's he swallowing? Doesn't even remember whether he took a particular product?

Exactly. It defies credulity that Ortiz, who has a personal chef, didn't pay attention to what he was taking. Besides, wouldn't he want to know what worked, and what didn't? And very few people in the media are noting that Ortiz admitted that he was indeed in 2004 about being on the list. So how could he be "blindsided"? And why wouldn't he find out then from the union what he failed the test on, so that he wouldn't take that same stuff again?

And, more to the point, whatever "vitamins" and "supplements" he was taking turned him from a mediocrity to MLB's top RBI producer from 2003 to 2007. Yet he wants us to believe he had no idea what he was doing? C'mon now.

Aside from wanting somebody to ask why Ortiz was dressed like Roy Clark on "Hee Haw," here are some other questions that I would have liked to see Big Papi have to answer:

* Did he ever take HGH?

* What about Jerry Remy's son saying that he talked steroids with his personal trainer?

* Exactly what supplements and vitamins did Ortiz take back then?

* Why isn't he petitioning the government for his test results, to clear his name?

* Why did it take nine days for him to talk? All this defense about multiple lists and such were things the union knew six years ago, so that can't be the reason.

If the lack of Red Sox in the Mitchell Report didn't make you cynical enough, the fact that MLB and the Players Union issued a joint press release about the steroids test really makes you wonder if everybody is in the tank for Boston. That, and the fact that the union was nowhere to be found when it came to Alex Rodriguez.

Even the Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy noted the disparity as to the union being MIA with A-Rod:

“We thought we were pretty darn vocal,’’ Weiner said. “We wrote a long and publicly-released letter to congressmen Waxman and Davis. Maybe we made a mistake of thinking people would read a letter sent to congressmen.’’

Right. Most of us routinely inspect all correspondence between the Players Association and Congress. Sorry we missed this one.

Good point. But Shaughnessy's skepticism isn't shared by some other media members. AOL's Lisa Olson writes:

Despite everything I know and all the lies and denials I've heard players utter over the years, I'm inclined to believe Ortiz, despite the circumstantial evidence tracking his mediocre career in Minnesota to his superstar resurgence with Boston. Here's why: no union officials ever felt the need to sit beside Giambi, Ramirez or Pettitte during their so-called confessionals.

Let me get this straight. Ortiz is a player who never hit over 20 home runs in Minnesota, nor drove in 75 RBIs, goes on to average 44 home runs/128 RBIs a year from 2003-2007. But Olson believes him because a guy from a union that is on record as saying that steroids are no worse than cigarettes is at the presser? Good grief.

Maybe that was Barry Bonds' mistake - he should have had some slick union dude backing up his "I thought it was flaxseed oil" story.

Yankee fans have noted ESPN's anti-Yankee bias for years. This weekend, the same network that had one of their anchors chanting "boli, boli, boli" about A-Rod, thought Ortiz's presser was "genuine." And while A-Rod's PED scandal involved wall-to-wall coverage, the Ortiz story is barely a footnote on ESPN.com today.

What's the cliche - no cheering in the press box? Too bad so many in the media can't resist shaking pom-poms when it comes to carrying water for David Ortiz.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

New York Times writer George Vecsey misses boat on David Ortiz booing

Payback was the operative word in last night's game. The Yankees finally beat - make that pummeled - the Red Sox. A very whiny Dustin Pedroia got plunked in apparent payback for the Red Sox plunking A-Rod at Fenway. And David Ortiz got booed - loudly - as payback for the Sox fans' "You do steroids" chants.

But one New York Times writer seems to think that Ortiz didn't get booed loudly at all. George Vecsey, who admits that he spent years saying "Got proof?" to fans emailing him that Ortiz was a juicer, and now claims that Ortiz's positive PED test is "unofficial"and somehow does "not count" in the scheme of things, seems to be just as myopic over Big Papi's reception at last night's game.

In "On Big Day for Bronx, Cheating Is a Non-Issue," Vecsey writes:

But on this day of Sotomayor’s confirmation and Ali’s visit, Big Papi did not stir up much anger, or even make-believe anger. Big Papi made a pro-active strike, bellying up to the rail to sign autographs and pose for photographs with fans in Red Sox gear or striped Yankee jerseys. Classic Big Papi, the man of the people. Hard to boo a fellow like that, or even stick out the tongue between the lips and make the razzing sound long associated with the Bronx.

Vecsey also called Ortiz either "Big Papi" or "Papi" an incredible eleven times in the article. Put down your red pom-poms, dude.

Vecsey continues his worshipful piece this way:

To be sure, the Outdoor A Cappella Choir of the Right-Field Bleachers did come up with some vocal raspberries for the Red Sox and emit a flurry of boos when Papi was introduced in the starting lineup. But the response was nothing like the yowling vengeance-is-ours tone of e-mail messages from Yankee fans in recent weeks, celebrating the news about Ortiz. Maybe people who pay these prices psychologically check their anger at the gate, along with their water bottles. Or maybe it’s hard to hate Big Papi in person, when he presses the flesh....

Big Papi did hear some boos at 7:17 p.m. when he batted with two men on and two outs, but it pretty much died out before he dug in his spikes.

What game was Vecsey watching, exactly? The one on his "Faith Rewarded" Sox DVD or something? Because his description was as off the mark as his assertion about Yankee fans' emails about Ortiz in "recent weeks" is (it was one week, not multiple weeks.)

In an article entitled "David Ortiz can't hide from Bronx boobirds," Steve Buckley of the Boston Herald described that same scene this way:

When the Red Sox starting lineup was announced, it was as though everyone in the joint was waiting, just waiting, for one name.

And when that name was announced - Ortiz was the fifth hitter in the Red Sox order, behind Kevin Youkilis - the predictable long, droning chorus of boos commenced....

The booing he received during introductions turned out to be a mere appetizer for what happened in the first inning, when, with runners on first and second, two down, Ortiz came up to face Yankees starter Joba Chamberlain.

The booing started even before Ortiz’ name was announced, and it continued throughout the at-bat, which ended with a fly out to right. Ortiz finished the game 0-for-5 as the Red Sox lost, 13-6.

Let's see how the Boston Globe described last night's game:

Even before he emerged from the dugout to the on-deck circle in the first inning, fans in the right-field bleachers - the notoriously rowdiest section - chanted, “Papi sucks.’’

Once he walked to the plate and kicked dirt off of his spikes, the crowd hurled loud, extended boos at him.

One fan along the left-field foul line held up a white placard with a thick, black asterisk.

So much for Vecsey's assertion that the boos were not very vociferous, and "pretty much died out before he dug in his spikes," eh? It's one thing for him to have opinions - he's a columnist, after all, and having opinions about sports are pretty much his job description. It's another thing for him to ignore or minimize what really happened to Ortiz at last night's game in order to make his point that fans don't really care about cheating.

Heck, even the sportswriter's own paper contradicted his assertion. How embarrassing is that? From New York Times writer Jack Curry's description of last night's game:

When Ortiz’s name was announced in the first inning, he was heavily booed. One Yankees fan held up a sign that said, “Roid Sox,” and another waved a sign with an “asterisk” on it. There was another interesting scene as a man wearing an Alex Rodriguez jersey stood, cupped his hands around his mouth and aggressively booed Ortiz. Rodriguez acknowledged in February that he had used steroids.

In his previous piece on Ortiz, Vecsey asserted that the New York Times' partial ownership of the Red Sox did not affect the paper's coverage of the team. If we are to take his word for it that it doesn't, then it just means that Vecsey writes about the Red Sox like a gushing fanboy all on his own. Good grief.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

Predictions for Yankees-Red Sox series

Drum roll please...it's time for me to make my Yankees-Red Sox series predictions. Let's hope there are no "Price Is Right" sad horn tones in my future.

* I think the Yankees will split the series. But if they only win one game, it needs to be tonight. If the Yankees go 0-9 against the Sox, the Internet will blow up even more than it did this morning, when Twitter and Facebook went down! Here's my breakdown of the games:

^ Game 1: John Smoltz vs. Joba Chamberlain: Smoltz is 100 years old, while Joba is young, healthy, and finally seems to have gotten it together. Advantage - Yankees.

^ Game 2: Josh Beckett vs. A.J. Burnett: I debated long and hard on who would win this one. The Sox have owned A.J. all year, but Burnett has been so dominant as of late. I'm going to take a risk here and roll the dice in favor...Burnett! Advantage: Yankees

^ Game 3: Clay Buchholz vs. CC Sabathia: I should say CC, but I won't. I have a hunch that Clay will pitch well against the Yankees, and that CC will have a bad outing. Advantage: Red Sox

^ Game 4: Jon Lester vs. Andy Pettitte: Pettitte has had some very bad outings at the Stadium this year. It would not surprise me to see him get hit hard. And Lester is a heck of a good young pitcher. So no, I don't see the Yanks winning this one, either. Advantage: Red Sox

A few other predictions:

* A-Rod will end the home run drought - he's gone 61 at-bats without a homer, the longest drought in his Yankee career.

* David Ortiz will dodge the steroid question a few days, then be lawyered up when he does finally talk, and say close to nothing. He'll give some excuse of an obscure supplement that just happened to cause a positive test results. Oh, and the booing for Ortiz, especially the first at-bat tonight, will make the Yankee fans' booing of Carl Pavano look like a lovefest!

* We'll see the biggest, loudest crowds we've seen at Yankee Stadium this year. I noticed on StubHub that there were only a few hundred tickets left today. Last time the Sox were in the Bronx, tickets were available below face value. This week - not so much.

* Nick Swisher will have some sort of iconic moment. So will Melky Cabrera. And Victor Martinez will be a thorn in the Yankees' side

* And finally, if the Yanks win the series, Squawker Jon will be in despair. That's not a prediction, that's a promise!

What are your prediction? Leave us a comment!

Boston Dirt Dogs mocks Sherlock Ortiz, and John Henry breaks his silence

The day the David Ortiz steroids story broke, I mocked him on The Faster Times for his claims that he would investigate what he tested positive for. I called him "Sherlock Ortiz."

So you can imagine my delight today to see none other than Red Sox fan site Boston Dirt Dogs run with the "Sherlock Ortiz" theme. They even did a photo illustration of Ortiz as Sherlock Holmes! Check it out here. Best part, besides the fact the site linked to Ken Davidoff's Newsday piece quoting me, was this tidbit:

Can You Believe That Alex Rodriguez Handled This 1,000 Times Better Than You?

How funny is that?

Here's the thing with A-Rod. However goofy he sounded, he communicated some remorse, and explained a heck of a lot more than anybody else has so far. As it turned out, he actually did handle this okay.

Meanwhile, Ortiz is still claiming he doesn't know what he tested positive for. Gimme a break.

And get this. Today John Henry finally spoke - a little - about this! Wonder if he will go back to Twitter now?

As for the Newsday article feauring me, I found a newsstand on Staten Island selling the paper, and bought out their supply. It was only two newspapers, but still!

Oh, and Squawker reader Paul from Boston noted that Davidoff's piece was republished on the Boston Herald web site. So I am being read in Red Sox Nation. Check out that link here.

Coming later today, my predictions for Yankees-Red Sox. But in the meantime, please leave us a comment!

Whoo-hoo! I got quoted in today's Newsday!

Stop the presses! Newsday columnist Ken Davidoff interviewed me in his column in today's Newsday. Check it out here.

He asked me about the rivalry, and what Yankee fans' reactions would be to Ortiz. I wrote about this subject for the Faster Times last week, and elaborated on it in the interview.

Anyhow, the best part of the piece is that Davidoff wrote the words, "I think Swan is right"! I told Jon I'm going to remind him of that quote every time we argue on something. It could be like a movie blurb!

Davidoff is a great writer who also does a daily blog on baseball. In case you haven't been able to find that blog thanks to Newsday's redesign, go here.

Thanks very much to Ken for writing about me in Newsday!

* * *

"The Greatest Game" writer Richard Bradley linked to Davidoff's piece in his own blog, "Shots in the Dark." Bradley also wrote some terrific analysis on the calculation behind Ortiz. Check it out here.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

On David Ortiz, missed opportunites, and the trading deadline

A-Rod looks like the truth-teller for the ages compared to his buddy David Ortiz. For all his goofiness, Alex never pretended that he had no idea how he tested positive on a steroids test!

I found David Ortiz' postgame statement ridiculous - here's my piece on it for the The Faster Times site.

At any rate, I should be more upset over all the missed opportunites in last night's Yankees-White Sox game, from the errors to the lack of timely hitting to DeWayne Wise being the late-inning hero for the second time in a week. But hey, I'm still basking in the afterglow of the big Red Sox news.

I did enjoy the heck out of Nick Swisher's ninth-inning, game-tying homer against his own team, though. Hopefully, he'll get even more revenge against the Sox tonight.

Let's hope Brian Cashman has some good surprises in score today, as we wait for the trading deadline.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

It's steroid schadenfreude in Yankeeland

The news that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez failed the 2003 steroids test makes this the most exciting day in the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry for me since the Yanks swooped in and signed Mark Teixeira. And I make no apologies for feeling that way.

Sorry, I'm not going to pretend I think this is a sad day for baseball. I have written for a piece for The Faster Times called "Steroids: The Real Juice Behind Reversing the Curse of the Bambino" - with some of my thoughts on the issue.

As I've said a zillion times over the years, Sox fans should have thought about the very real possibility that the steroids scandal would hit their team. Especially when it came to David Ortiz. But instead, too many Boston fans - not all, but a good bunch - acted like their team's hands were clean on the issue. Too bad, so sad.

Oh, and so much for FoxSports' Ken Rosenthal's self-righteousness on the issue, criticizing anybody who wondered if Ortiz was chemically enhanced.

The thing that gets me the most on this test failure - and that goes for A-Rod too - is that these players knew the test was coming, and they still failed. What hubris.

Wondering if Curt Schilling still wants the entire list of 103 names to come out?

One other note - Jon and I will still be squawking, but we're going to be writing in other outlets as well. I have another piece coming up soon on BaseballReflections.com. Go here to read my article for them about the first half of the Yankees' season.


What do you think? Leave us a comment!

Hey Ya! David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez Test Positive for Steroids!

Time to do the Snoopy Dance! I will have more to say shortly about the big news that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez reportedly tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. I'm writing a piece up right now. But in the meantime, let me just do the Snoopy Dance and enjoy the news!

Which team is more guilty of brushback pitches - the Yankees or the Red Sox?

The other day, Joe Girardi told the media he thought Brad Penny deliberately hit Alex Rodriguez in Thursday's Yankees-Red Sox game:

"Penny's control was pretty good," Girardi said. "I thought it was on purpose. That is all part of baseball."

Now Penny, who's been on the Red Sox for about five minutes, has fired back a response:

"I don't give two [expletives] what Joe Girardi says," Penny said yesterday. "I'm coming inside. I don't care.

"Anybody can say that. We can say that about the time they hit our guys."

Um, Brad, you guys do. Constantly. Your team's co-owner, John Henry even tweeted about it on June 10:

Q: What's the consecutive game streak for a team hitting another team's hitters? So far they lead us 9-2 this year in hit batters.

What's the consecutive streak of Yankee players being sent to the hospital by Red Sox pitchers? Two, Alfonso Soriano and Derek Jeter, by Pedro Martinez. I must have missed Henry's outrage over that.

Penny continued:

"I'm just trying to pitch inside. Maybe he should worry about managing and not trying to be the commissioner.

"Why wouldn't he say that the night before? Don't wait a day, then say it. He should worry about managing and let the umpire crew do their job."

Guess Penny missed how the umpires "did their job" and issued a warning to both teams after Penny hit A-Rod, which hamstrung the Yankees from responding.

And if waiting a day to respond is so horrible, maybe Penny ought to complain about Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell whining on WEEI the day after Joba Chamberlain hit Jason Bay last month, and threatening retribution:

"Those things aren’t forgotten. We know there is a history there between the pitcher in New York and our guys here and not to say that he was specifically out to do that but I think history speaks for itself and we’ve got a number of games left with these guys.”

At any rate, Penny has nothing to worry about. Only Yankees get suspended for brushbacks against the Red Sox, and not vice versa. Joba Chamberlain has already gotten more punishment from MLB than Pedro Martinez ever did.

Heck, Bob Watson even punishes Yankees when they don't hit anybody! The Red Sox could put up a billboard next to the Citgo sign saying "We're gonna hit A-Rod tonight" and Red Sox Bob wouldn't do anything about it. (Come to think of it, Penny basically did broadcast it, given that he had missed with his first brushback pitch!)

I'm sure I will hear Boston fans accuse me of whining, but I'm just tired of hearing their own whining about this issue. For all the complaints in Red Sox Nation about Jason Bay being hit by Yankee pitches three times this year, and for the now 9-3 plunking differential, there are other numbers to be considered. From 2003-2008 the Sox hit more Yankees than vice versa every single year, for a total of 69 vs. 52 plunkings. I wish reporters would cite those numbers instead of only talking about this year's HBP stats.

And while it is true that Kevin Youkilis has been hit by Yankee pitchers seven times over the last three years, let's look at the numbers of the Yankees' two top players vs. the Red Sox' two top players since 2003:

Player Times HBP
Jeter 12
Rodriguez 11
Ramirez 6
Ortiz 0

Yes, that's right. Despite feasting on Yankee pitching for the past seven years, Ortiz has never been hit once by a Bomber pitch. Not even by accident.

Tell you what - when the HBP totals on Bay, Youkilis, and Ortiz rival the A-Rod-Jeter HBP totals, then the Sox will have a point. Until then, please spare me the sanctimony.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!