Foetunately for all of baseball, David Ortiz is retiring. Next to the Mets hopefully winning the World Series, this will be the best part of the 2016 season. 

For all the “loveable” persona he has tried to create, the truth is Ortiz has always tried to be bigger than the game. No one is allowed to criticize him. Despite being given more rope and benefit of the doubt by everyone, he shows up and disrespects umpires:

It’s not just umpires. He shows up other players on the field with his antics. Look, there is a fine line between fun and showing up a pitcher. With that said, when you engage in the histrionics Ortiz engages in, he should expect and accept retaliation.  Each and every homerun involves a pose, a bat flip, and a slow trot around the bases.  In response, pitchers will call him out on his behavior by either speaking to the press or plunking him. Invariably, his response is either that such a player doesn’t have the right to question him or that he’s great so you have to deal with it. 

If you have the audacity to call him out for his on the field behavior, which other players feel disrespects the game, he’ll attack you:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=gxzx3ty4Y2w

To hear Ortiz talk about it, he’s a protector of the game. He previously stated that steroid users should be suspended for a full year. There’s only one problem. Ortiz is as much the cheater as any other steroid user. 

In 2009, it was revealed he tested positive for steroids under the 2003 survey testing. Ortiz was shocked . . . SHOCKED . . . that he tested positive. He was going to demand to find out what he tested positive for because he didn’t take anything impermissible. It was one of those phantom supplements that created the positive test. Ortiz was going to get to the bottom of things. 

He’ll deny everything, but he has still yet to inform everyone what he took. Instead, he pleads ignorance. He says he has never tested positive since that time. By the way, neither did Alex Rodriguez, the player Ortiz wanted suspended for a year. 

For all this nonsense, Ortiz, a career DH, tells everyone he should be elected to the Hall of Fame. Of course, he would say that. He’s spent his entire career letting everyone know how great he is and belittling those who disagree. 

Fact is Ortiz has had a good career with many memorable moments. Moments that will forever be played. He is also a cheater. He has also shown up and disrespected his fellow players. He has shown up umpires. He has let everyone know he is bigger than the game. Thankfully, he’s leaving the game. 

I’m tired of the act. I’m glad it’s almost over.