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Ortiz comments distract self

Boston Red Sox slugger and MVP candidate David Ortiz is famous for his hard hitting and walk-off homers. However, this week Ortiz himself seems to have been the one hit. The New York press presented Ortiz`s remarks about the American League MVP race as if the slugger said New York Yankee Derek Jeter does not deserve to win. He was portrayed as selfishly campaigning for himself while downplaying Jeter.

In a pre-game appearance on Sunday, Ortiz alluded to voters` bias against designated hitters, then said of Jeter, "But they`ll vote for a position player, use that as an excuse. They`re talking about Jeter a lot, right? He`s done a great job, he`s having a great season, but Jeter is not a 40-homer hitter or an RBI guy. It doesn`t matter how much you`ve done for your ball club, the bottom line is, the guy who hits 40 home runs and knocks in 100, that`s the guy you know helped your team win games."

Ortiz has since clarified his words, and blamed the media for misrepresenting him. "What is this [expletive]?" he said. "That`s not me, bro. That`s not what I`m about. This makes me look stupid." The media blowout seems to have distracted Ortiz, who grounded into a double play in his first at-bat Monday night before flying out on three other at-bats. He was also walked once in the fifth inning in the Red Sox win over Baltimore.