David Price Please Stay Off of Social Media

Bryan Mauro- Contributing Writer (@threecolorbeard)

David Price is one of the most talented pitchers in baseball. A bona fide top of the rotation starter. Throughout his career he has taken the ball every fifth day, and usually gone out and dominated his opponents. He pitches with no fear, and doesn’t care who is at the plate. He is going to win the at bat. He has a complete and total bull dog mentality about him. This is why it’s so off putting to listen to him talk with the media.
Photo Courtesy of MLB.com

David Price started off on the wrong foot with me a few years ago. I’m sure you all remember the 2013 ALDS: David Price vs. David Ortiz Round 1. David Ortiz deposited a David Price fastball well into the right field seats beyond the Pesky pole. And let’s just say Papi really enjoyed that home run. Fast forward to 2014, David Price decided to “ take matters into his own hands” by plunking David Ortiz deliberately in the , and Papi charged the mound. The comments made by David Price that night were where the line ended with me. He said, “David Ortiz thinks he’s bigger than baseball.” He also had many choice things to say about the fans in Boston and the storied ballpark they play in.

Last year, I was worried about the chemistry of the team, in which David Ortiz was the clubhouse leader, and how they would get along with a superstar pitcher, who clearly had an issue with the people of Boston, as well as their star player. I figured the amount of money the Red Sox were paying David Price, and him wanting to win a World Series, were the reasons he signed with Boston. Otherwise, the signing didn’t make sense to me, given the history of the player vs. the franchise. I, like everyone else, was hoping he would play nice, but had my reservations.

Fast forward to 2016, David Price had an underwhelming year; a year in which he didn’t pitch up to his ability. He got lit up in the playoffs, again. Now, entering 2017 spring training, David Price is experiencing some arm problems, like most pitchers will at some point in their career. The events that have unfolded since then have just added more to the “ David Price is an unlikable ace” narrative.

After getting great news from the orthopedic doctors that his elbow was rare and not like other elbows, he scoffed at the 7-10 day timeline of not throwing. He said he would throw when he was ready and once again in true David Price fashion, he took his parting shots at the media. “If I don’t pitch for 10 days then that becomes the story.” That is in fact the story and it’s quite an interesting one, seeing as how Price is the highest paid pitcher in Major League baseball history, has underperformed, has never won a playoff game, and now is injured. He is also going to part of potentially one of the greatest rotations in the history of this great game.

Still, the saga doesn’t end there. In a bizarre interview with Stan Grossfeld of the Boston Globe, David Price accused the Boston Media of fueling the fire, and making him out to be a bad guy. His reasons being that the media doesn’t know anything about his personal life or his involvement with his foundation Project One Four. It also really seemed to bother him that the only thing the Boston fans cared about was whether or not David Price pitched well.

Photo Credit: ESPN
Well David, on behalf of the Red Sox fans, I am happy to inform you that Red Sox fans love you when you pitch well, and hate you when you don’t. If you would like a more recent example, please see Rick Porcello in 2015. People do care about the type of person you are, but you have done nothing to win us over, other than pitching well. Sometimes. You made comments that compared the citizens of Boston, and Red Sox fans in general, to some sort of vermin, and said Fenway was dump. People don’t forget things like that, especially when things are painted with a very broad brush.

You are
making $217 million dollars, so excuse us for wanting you to perform the duties of your job well. You are a baseball player, who gets paid for what you bring to the table as a baseball player. And we do appreciate your charity, your beautiful dog Astro, your love of Vanderbilt University, and the “ouch button,” because it’s all part of who you are as a baseball player. But, we still expect you to perform, and perform well.

Every summer when the Red Sox take the field, I hope for a World Series run, and I do truly care about the 25 players in uniform, who sort of become like family during the year, even though we have never met. You enter our homes, our lives, and our children look up to you and imitate your every move.

David, when the Red Sox fans want you to pitch well, it’s because we all care deeply about the game you are playing, and expect the players on the field to have as much passion as Red Sox fans have. In my opinion, that is not too much to ask. I assure you that if you help lead this team to a World Series victory, everything will be water under the bridge, but until that point you will need to earn every ounce of respect back from those very same Red Sox fans you berated. Stay off Twitter, let the bad things roll off your back, and just go out and have fun. Let the radio hosts and writers have their say, but if you pitch well and win games not a single one will have anything to say.