Rays pitcher Chris Archer is not backing down from his dumb criticism of David Ortiz's bat flip from Sunday's game. And this time, like a true Salty Old Baseball Man, Archer is name-dropping poor Hank Aaron to make his point.
Yesterday, Archer was asked if he still stood by his postgame comments from Sunday, in which he accused Ortiz of thinking himself "bigger than the game" after Ortiz pimped a third-inning homer off Archer. His response was annoying:
"I never saw Hank Aaron flip his bat," Archer said Monday. "I'm not comparing the two, but they're obviously in the same class of players as far what they accomplished." "I guess different people have different ways of reacting," Archer added. "That's just who he is."
"Do I regret saying the truth? No," Archer said. "Agitated is not right word. Angry is not the right word. He pimped a home run off me. Not mad, just speak the truth."
Chris Archer, who is 25 years old, has apparently watched every single one of Hank Aaron's 755 career home runs and determined that the legendary slugger never once flipped his bat.
Here's the really dumb thing about this, though. Chris Archer is no stranger to showboating himself! Here he is escaping a bases-loaded jam during a game against the Red Sox last June:
That's a full-on stare down and a bicep kiss! I can only imagine how 2013 Chris Archer would explain his obvious lack of respect for the game to 2014 Chris Archer. Maybe David Ortiz, who was asked yet again to respond to Archer's umbrage, can help him out:
"That's what happens when you're good, man," Ortiz said. "I don't know what to tell you about it. I've been doing this for years. If you don't like it, stay away. You're not going to stop me doing what I do. I try not to stop anyone from doing what they do. It's part of the game. It is what it is."
When you're good, like David Ortiz is, you can flip your bat after hitting a three-run home run in the third inning. When you're good, like Chris Archer is, you can channel Colin Kaepernick after escaping a jam in the fourth inning. That rule seems much easier to follow than whatever twisted, made-up guidelines baseball to conjure up in their heads.
[AP | Boston Herald]