Hall of Famer Blasts Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani: ‘The Pretty Girl of MLB’
Shohei Ohtani enters Monday night’s game against the Chicago Cubs with 46 home runs and 46 stolen bases. He’s setting records nearly every game and he is the favorite to win the National League MVP.
He is also doing this while rehabbing his second Tommy John surgery and as a designated hitter.
Ohtani has commanded the spotlight all season beginning with his 10-year, $700 million contract that he signed in the offseason. Once he stepped on the field, the spotlight got brighter and it continues to get hotter as he inches closer to baseball’s first 50-50 season.
The Dodgers’ DH has also caught the attention of Baseball Hall of Famer David Ortiz, but not in the way one would think.
Ortiz was primarily a designated hitter during a career that spanned two decades. He never won an American League MVP award. His apparent jealousy came through in recent comments reported by Marca.com.
“They always had ‘issues’ not to give me the MVP because I was a designated hitter. I’m going to see what they’re going to say this year when Ohtani, the ‘pretty girl’ of MLB, is in the race,” Ortiz said.
Ortiz has somewhat of an argument with home runs and runs batted in. Ohtani eclipsed 100 RBIs for the first time in his career this season while Ortiz’s best season was in 2005 when he drove in 148.
The glaring omission from Ortiz is the stolen base category. He had 17 in his entire career.
Ortiz also blamed a media campaign that, according to him, is pushing Shohei Ohtani to reach historical achievements while leaving players like Francisco Lindor behind.
“Every day they are encouraging Ohtani to reach 50-50, while players like Francisco Lindor are being held back,” Ortiz said.
Is Lindor having a good season? Yes. Would the Mets be fighting for a Wild Card spot without him? No.
However, the same could be said for Ohtani. Would the Dodgers be the best team in baseball without him? Probably not, considering all their injuries.
As of Sept. 6, Ohtani had a Wins Above Replacement (bWAR) of 7.0, surpassing Ortiz’s career-high of 6.4 from 2007, according to Baseball Reference. Despite this, Ortiz argued that MVP promotion should be fair and not influenced by media hype.
At the end of the season, the MVP will be awarded to the player most deserving and right now, it’s hard to argue that the sport’s first 46-46, potentially 50-50, season won’t win.
Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
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Ortiz should change his nickname from Big Papi to Big Jerk.
In 2024, the mark of greatness is when you get major haters. Ohtani. Caitlin. Let the hates continue since it seems to fuel these two to greater height.
Big Pouter should just be happy he got into the HOF even though he was a juicer.
Big papi little jerk
He still whines because Ted Williams hit a ball farther than he ever could.
Ortiz is at his most intellectually impressive, when he keeps his pie-hole zipped.
Did people flock from the Dominican Republic to watch Ortiz play every single game? Did Ortiz’s presence encourage advertisers from his native land to advertise at the ballpark whether he was playing at home or away? Could Ortiz run let alone pitch?? Didn’t think so. If Ortiz really loved the game, he should be happy about all the things Ohtani has done for it. Ohtani has helped bring so much attention and advertising dollars to the sport, and sales of his merch are through the roof.
The media’s attention on Ohtani doesn’t prevent Lindor from performing or anything so I don’t know how he got to the conclusion that it holds Lindor back.
I like Big Papi but he just sounds like a Big Whiner here.
I tend to ignore whiners, but one question I do have is this: was Ortiz a leadoff batter? I don’t believe he was, so the fact that he had 148 RBIs in a season and Ohtani currently has over 100 and the total will be TBD, while spending a good portion of the season as leadoff or # 2 hitter, means in all likelihood he has fewer people on base than Ortiz in the # 4 slot. I’m sure I could find the stats for avg with RISP, but it just seems like sour grapes to me.
Big Papi, sorry I meant Big Baby, now he’s starting to sound like Pete Rose, The Whiner. First of all Ortiz you can not put yourself in the same category as Shohei Othani, not even close!!! You should be happy that you got into the hall. Act like a hall of famer !!! Not like Pete rose!!! You should keep your opinion to yourself and stop being JEALOUS of a true athlete. Future Hallof Famer!!!!
Hey Armando. Pete rose is the greatest ball player ever, so he deserves to be in the HOF. It’s only whining when youn aren’t as good as who your talking about. Papi was the most clutch player of his time, and could take a Bullet, give him a break!
The media follows the story! The media has nothing to do with what Ohtani does at the plate or on the bases!! Right now, he is the story in MLB!!!It’s incredible that he has 100 RBI’s, considering he seldom comes to the plate with runners on base. He is just a phenomenon that seldom comes through the ranks. I’m just glad we, the Dodgers have him on our team!!!!
Funny, I thought Ortiz had more class than this.