As hard as it is to believe, another Red Sox player is unhappy with his treatment from the media. No, it's not Curt Schilling -- though that would neither surprise nor interest. Instead, it's the usually affable David Ortiz, who is upset with a headline accompanying a story in which he admitted to being confused about what substances are and are not banned by Major League Baseball. The headline -- "Papi' Unwitting 'Roid User?" -- has Mr. Ortiz feeling reticent about talking to any member of the media, including the Boston Globe's Jackie MacMullan: "I'm angry, bro," [Ortiz] declared. "I'm going to be angry for a while."
"I just want to know," he said. "What have I ever done for people to question my integrity? Why do people who have never met me want to [expletive] me up? Why would you want to hurt someone who has tried to do the right thing, be available to the media, to be respectful to the fans?"
"I'm just really disappointed," he said last night following Boston's 6-3 loss to the Orioles. "People want to see you fail. That's not what I've ever wanted to believe, but that's what I've seen around here. Why do people want to make me look that way when they know I've done nothing but try to lift up this ball club from Day 1? I've tried to put a positive spin on everything, on everybody."And this is what I get for that. For now, I'm going to be very limited in my responses. Whenever anyone had a question before, about me, about my teammates, about the game, I tried to help. When they had a question, I always had an answer. Now I won't."
Sorry, but Ortiz has an excellent point here. The headline is what it is only to get attention, not to communicate to readers the actual crux of Ortiz's comments. David sounded a bit too vague for comfort when he said he didn't know what he puts in his body, but that certainly doesn't make him a steroid user by default.
And since the Herald reporter, Michael Silverman, didn't write the headline, this means one thing: a copy editor is responsible! Why will no one listen to me about the copy editor scourge? They're taking over!
Previously on the FanHouse:
David Ortiz May or May Not Have Taken Steroids
