Former Red Sox player and current MLB Network analyst Kevin Millar joined the Mut & Merloni show Friday afternoon to talk about David Ortiz‘ outburst during Terry Francona‘s press conference Thursday, the upcoming Red Sox-Yankees series and the addition of Erik Bedard.
To hear the interview, visit the Mut & Merloni audio on demand page.
As a former player, Millar related to Ortiz’ frustrations. The Red Sox designated hitter thought he deserved an RBI that was initially awarded to him but then taken away Wednesday by the official scorer.
“It becomes frustrating at times when you’re a player and I understand the frustrations that Big Papi had,” Millar said. “That wasn’t a staged situation. You deal with this about five times a year. It’s usually over a hit. It’s usually over a judgment call. And some of the guys that make these calls don’t really have the instincts to be up there handling these calls at times. But I don’t know exactly what was taken away, obviously an RBI, or how it was done so it’s hard for me to comment on the exact play. But I know David’s upset, and probably deservedly so and he’s probably right.”
Though Millar sided with his former teammate on the issue, he didn’t necessarily agree with the way Ortiz handled the situation.
“I don’t understand if he was out the door or if he was trying to find Francona,” Millar said. “There’s a right way and a wrong way to do things. Obviously that’s probably not the best way. You kind of want to keep that behind the scenes anyway and just say, hey, man to man, get in there and get your manager to call the official scorekeeper, or your hitting coach, [Dave] Magadan, or somebody call up there and argue for you. But it’s hard when you have to argue for yourself because now it makes you look like, well, what we’re talking about today.”
During his time with the Red Sox, Millar said there was somewhat of a protocol for situations such as these. And, it wasn’t breaking into press conferences.
“Usually, like I said, it was over my head,” Millar said. “You go in there and you feel it was a hit, or whatever it was, you go to your hitting coach. Usually the hitting coach will fight for you. That’s the thing. It’s hard for a player to grab the phone and go up there and argue for a hit because then you feel like that stat guy, or this and that. But the bottom line is everybody wants hits. Everybody wants ribbies. For pitchers, you know, a guy was given a hit and they thought It was an error. They go both sides. Usually if you’re a position player, your hitting coach will back you up for that.”
Ortiz, who is in a contract year, would like to bolster his statistics as much as possible to earn a better payday this offseason. However, Millar said that had nothing to do with the issue.
“I don’t think there’s any frustration [regarding the contract situation],” Millar said. “Did he want an extension before the year started? Yeah, that’s between he and [general manager] Theo [Epstein]. I’ve got a different view of Big Papi. This man, since 2003, has put this city on his shoulders and has changed the face of this nation. Bottom line. Hands down. So, I’m all about loyalty. And I know it’s hard to go find a guy, he was getting pinch-hit for last year in April. It’s hard to find a guy with 30 (home runs) and 100 (RBIs) at the end of the year, and you’re pinch-hitting for him.
“He was struggling early on, but these kind of things go on through a season. You’re going to have emotional ups and downs. Bottom line: Big Papi’s the best DH in baseball. He’s been that for many years. I think obviously when you’re dealing with something like this, I don’t think this has anything to do with his contract situation. He felt he wanted a ribbie or deserved a ribbie and it was taken away from him. If you’re not going to fight for yourself, to be honest with you in this game, nobody else is. So I don’t have a problem with him fighting for it, I have a problem with the way he did it, going into the press conference.”
When asked about the Red-Sox Yankees rivalry, Millar tried to compare it to others around the majors but said no other matchup came close to the intensity between the two American League East foes.
“Red Sox-Yankees, you can’t get better than this,” Millar said. “Being a part of this in the past, I understand it. Guys that have never been a part of it, it’s hard to understand. But this rivalry, these two cities, these two teams, these two payrolls, great players, superstars on each side ‘ how can you not love it?”
Though he surely won’t be cheering for the Yankees, Millar said the team has impressed him thus far in the season. New York has battled injuries throughout the season and currently sits at 68-42.
“The surprising aspect has been Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon,” Millar said. “I mean, Phil Hughes goes down a few weeks into the season and Ivan Nova steps in and has been unbelievable for the. A.J. Burnett‘s been par, or at times sub-par. And you’ve got CC Sabathia at the top who’s been unbelievable. They have been short all year, but have stepped up. And what’s made them step up, this offense has been unbelievable. It seems like they get two three-run home runs a night. The one thing about the Yankees and the one thing about the Red Sox: These two teams hit good pitching. And I think that’s the big key. They get into the postseason, these offense can handle No. 1s and No. 2s better than I think anybody else in the big leagues.”
One player who’s missed serious time this year is third baseman Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez is also the subject of controversy, having been linked to several high-stakes poker games. Major League Baseball reportedly is looking into his involvement with these games.
“It’s hard for me to comment because I don’t know a whole lot about it,” Millar said. “Obviously if there’s underground, illegal poker going on in a house or apartment and someone found out, well, now he’s going to have to answer the questions. But, you know, everybody plays poker. Now what kind of shady poker scene was it? I can’t comment, I don’t know. But hopefully, from Alex’s standpoint he’ll go on and answer the questions and hopefully it won’t be a big deal. You never know with the media, though, because of course it’s on the front page of the paper. But, if it’s a Texas Hold ‘Em game in a restaurant, big deal.”
As for Bedard, Millar said he can be very productive and contribute in the postseason as a No. 3 or No. 4 pitcher. However, it was his comment regarding the southpaw’s performance four seasons ago that stood out.
“If he’s healthy he definitely can pitch and win games,” Millar said. “Bottom line: he’s been sporadically healthy over the last three years. I played with him in ‘07 when he struck out 220 guys in 183 innings. He was the best left-handed pitcher I’ve ever seen. Better than Johan [Santana] in those days, when he was with the Twins. This kid right here, when he’s healthy, he’s got four great pitches. Tremendous cutter, tremendous heater, tremendous curveball and a changeup. He competes. He has to stay on the field. And if he stays on the field, this is an all-reward situation for Theo and the Red Sox because he can fit right in that 3-4 hole and no pressure needed, and just compete with other 3-4 pitchers.”