Not only on the field but in with his relationship with David Ortiz, one of the most influential players in the game, a player greatly respected by his peers.
Ortiz said Thursday he was deeply upset when Rodriguez’s lawyer went on ESPN radio in January and said of past PED use in baseball: “I’m not going to start naming all the other players, but some of them are God-like in Boston right now, and people seem to forget that.”
The lawyer, Joe Tacopina, later said he was not talking about Ortiz, but the damage was done.
“I was angry,” Ortiz said Thursday of the lawyer’s comment.
I asked Ortiz if he and Rodriguez are OK with each other now nearly 11 months later, and Big Papi, a man who wears his heart on his sleeve, answered: “I haven’t talked to him since.”
That tells you all you need to know about the fences A-Rod must try to mend as he comes back from his full-season suspension. The two stars often would talk at length on the field before Yankees-Red Sox games.
Ortiz was speaking at his annual Celebrity Golf Classic, an event that raises money for the Ortiz Children’s Fund, which gives children in need access to critical care. Rodriguez was one of the players attending last December, but is not there this time around.
As for all the on-field challenges A-Rod is facing, Ortiz, 39, was blunt.
“We’ll see what happens, I wish him the best,” Ortiz said. “We’ll see how strong he can come back and do his thing.”
Rodriguez is going to be 40. Can he still play?
“We are about to find out,” Ortiz said. “I’ve seen players taking a year off and it’s fine, you get away with it, but at our age, taking a year off is not the easiest thing for you to come back and be at the highest level when the last year he played [2013] wasn’t all there because of injury, so we’ll see what happens.”
These are interesting times in the AL East. Ortiz said he is “hopeful” the Red Sox will be back on top in the division after adding some “thunder” with the free-agent signings of Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez, but cautioned, “If we get some pitching.”
“I’m not getting any younger, we need the [younger players] to come in and take things personally,” Ortiz said of Ramirez and Sandoval. “I’m familiar with their careers, and they are great kids. In baseball you never stop learning, I could learn some things from them and they could learn some things from me.
“Ownership went out there and got two good players, they are trying,” Ortiz added. “We’ve got some thunder, but it’s not only offense, you’ve got to try to get pitching and they are trying.”
The Yankees have been quiet on the free-agent front, and Ortiz has noticed.
“The thing is they gave a lot of longer [contracts] last year,” he explained. “It doesn’t seem like they have much room unless they trade someone and I understand that.”
Talking of the Blue Jays’ big moves, adding Russell Martin and Josh Donaldson, he noted: “Our division is trying to get better. It seems like it is going to go back to what it used to be, getting stronger and stronger.”
Added Ortiz, “We need pitching, hopefully we get [Jon] Lester back. During the season we talk a lot. He loves Boston, if I’m the Red Sox I would do whatever it takes to [get him] back. He was devastated when he was traded. It’s time for us to step up and make the guy happy.”
The Orioles’ loss of Nelson Cruz to Seattle changes the AL East, Ortiz said. “Nelson Cruz was a difference maker. Those numbers he put up, if the Yankees had him, they win the division. If we had him, we probably be in the playoffs. But he’s not there any more. A lot of teams have one-run games and those 40 home runs make a difference, I know Seattle is trying.
“The Yankees always come up with something crazy,” he added. “So,” he said to Yankees fans, “don’t lose your faith.”
Ortiz had wonderful words for the retired Derek Jeter, saying it will be strange not to see him in a Yankees uniform.
“That’s my boy,” he said. “I got to get DJ here, he’s good people, he is out there with his foundation doing wonderful things. … It’s so important to help these kids because you are saving a life, a life where a kid can grow up to be a president, entertainer, somebody special, that’s our future. It means a lot when people come to this event to help save a life.”
