MLB NEWS

Rays’ Archer not backing off comments about Boston’s Ortiz

The Sports Xchange

July 29, 2014 at 3:25 am.

Jul 27, 2014; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz (34) reacts at home plate after he hit a three-run home run during the third inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

ST. PETERSBURG — One day after delivering the latest parting shot in the growing Rays-Red Sox rivalry, Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Chris Archer insists he’s not mad at Red Sox DH David Ortiz.

But it doesn’t mean Archer is backing off his comments.

“Do I regret saying the truth?” Archer said. “No.”

Archer criticized Ortiz for showboating after Sunday’s three-run homer, with the veteran slugger flipping his bat and trotting around the bases. Archer echoed left-hander David Price’s previous suggestion that Ortiz sometimes acts like he’s “bigger than the game.” Ortiz responded that Archer hasn’t been in the league long enough to complain about it.

“I heard what he said, and my immediate thought was you’re never too youthful to tell the truth and say things how you see them,” Archer said before Monday’s game against the Brewers. “‘Agitated’ is not the right word. ‘Angry’ is not the right word. He pimped a home run off me. I mean, I’ve gotten excited before, and they blow that out of proportion too, saying that I kissed my bicep (during a start against the Red Sox on June 12, 2013). Man, but honestly, I was in the infant stages of my career then.

“People say, ‘You should act like you’ve been there before.’ At that time in my career, I had never been there. At that time in my career, I had never been there. So I think we all know that’s how he plays the game. I don’t take back what I said, but what I said was true. I never saw Hank Aaron flip his bat. I’m not comparing the two, but they’re obviously in the same class of player as far as what they’ve accomplished. But I guess different people have different ways of reacting. I mean, that’s just who he is.”

Archer did think that his comments were blown out of proportion; he was mentioned on the ticker of national television shows and a hot topic on ESPN’s First Take Monday morning.

“It’s funny because I would have never mentioned it if I didn’t get asked about it (after the game),” Archer said. “To me, I wasn’t (griping). I was just saying how it reiterated what’s already been said and how I didn’t understand why you feel like you have to do that.”

Archer said he didn’t even see Ortiz’s celebration during the game, watching it only after the game. But his teammates supported Archer’s comments.

“That’s what (Ortiz) does — showboats every time he hits a home run,” righty Alex Cobb said. “It’s something that you deal with in certain ways. If you take offense to it, then it’s up to you to kind of try to manage your emotions and get through the game and deal with it on other terms.”