Considering how much he’s killed the Yankees over the years, it’s surprising David Ortiz had 696 plate appearances against New York and had never been hit by a pitch — until Thursday night, when CC Sabathia plunked him.
Ortiz, who angered Yankees manager Joe Girardi by flipping his bat and admiring a home run on Tuesday night, responded Wednesday by saying, “I don’t care what Joe Girardi says. Take it like a man. I’m done with that.”
Or not.
Sabathia drilled him Thursday in obvious retaliation (Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez had been clipped by Josh Beckett earlier in the game), as the war of words between the two hated rivals once again spilled onto the field. Ortiz made no bones about the beaning during the game, but afterwards he ripped the media.
“I just want to thank [the media]. Not all of you, but some of you, for the stat today about me not being hit,” he said. “I finally got hit. I hope you [expletive] are happy.”
Beckett said, “I’m still trying to figure out if David got hit for something I did or if it was something ESPN stirred up.”
Probably a little bit of both.