David Ortiz doesn't like the new rules in place for hitters. (Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports)
Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz was critical Wednesday of Major League Baseball’s new pace of play rules for the 2015 season.
Ortiz seemed almost amused by the requirement that batters keep one foot in the box at all times and said he’s not going to change his ways at the plate.
“Is that new?” Ortiz asked. “It seems like every rule goes in the pitcher’s favor. After a pitch, you got to stay in the box? One foot? I call that bull—-.
“When you come out of the box, they don’t understand you’re thinking about what the (pitcher) is trying to do. This is not like, you go to the plate with an empty mind. No, no, no. When you see a guy, after a pitch, coming out of the box, he’s not just doing it. Our minds are speeding up.
“I saw one pitch, I come out, I’m thinking, ‘What is this guy going to try to do to me next?’ I’m not walking around just because there are cameras all over the place and I want my buddies back home to see me and this and that. It doesn’t go that way.
“When you force a hitter to do that, 70 percent you’re out, because you don’t have time to think. And the only time you have to think about things is that time. So I don’t know how this baseball game is going to end up.”
Informed that the proposed fine for stepping out fo the box during an at-bat is $500, Ortiz said, “Well, I might run out of money. I’m serious. I’m not going to change my game. I don’t care what they say. My game, it’s not like I go around and do all kinds of stupid —-. But I have to take my time and think about what that (pitcher) is going to do next. I’m pretty sure every single hitter at this level is on the same page.
“They put their rules together, but they don’t talk to us, as hitters, how do you feel about this? You know what I’m saying? Why don’t you come and ask questions first. And then we can get in an agreement. But then you got to do this just because you say so. Oh buddy, it doesn’t work that way. Trust me.”
Ortiz believes the players should be consulted on any rule changes.
“It doesn’t matter what they do, the game is not going to speed up. That’s the bottom line,” he said. “When you argue for a pitch and they got to review it, that takes some time. Is that our fault? No. It’s their fault. But we still got to play the game.
“This game has been going on 100 years. It’s the nature of the game. I don’t care who you are, you’re not going to change it. That is our nature. Pitch comes through, you come out of the box, you go back in it.”
Ortiz is upset because he believes the new rules will affect hitters more than pitchers.
“How about all the pitchers who go around the mound and do all that bull—-,” Ortiz said. “What about that? Why don’t they tell the pitcher, ‘Throw the pitch and stay on the mound. Don’t move.’ If they’re going to do it on us, they should do it on the pitchers, too. We’re not the only ones in the game, you know what I’m saying?”
