David Ortiz blames schedule for Boston Red Sox struggles

Earlier this season, David Ortiz was grumpy that David Price did not receive a suspension after an altercation between the Red Sox and Rays (rightfully so). Then he was mad at the official scorers for not awarding him a hit on a play that could have been called a hit or an error. Now he is complaining about Boston’s schedule, which he believes has contributed to their disappointing season.

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David Ortiz also did not like the gloss on the peanuts wrapper on a recent flight and he said that it is his razor’s fault that his chinstrap beard isn’t looking as sharp as it usually does. The way he is going this season, whining and complaining will be just as big a part of his season as his actual numbers.

As quoted by Rob Bradford of WEEI.com, here is what Ortiz had to say this weekend about the 2014 schedule for the Red Sox:

"“The schedule we have is just unbelievable,”€ Ortiz said. “€œIt’€™s pretty bad, man. It’€™s pretty bad. I’€™m not using that as an excuse, but we’€™re human and we go everywhere to play, right? In my 18-year career I’€™ve never seen that. The schedule is we had to play the last game on the West Coast in a night game and then have to travel. It’€™s pretty bad. You have to do something about that at some point. It doesn’€™t help.”"

You can say what you will about the length of the MLB season. Those of us who love baseball think it’s great, while other might describe it as awful, too long, or even interminable. But regardless of your feelings on the long schedule, it generally sorts the good teams out from the bad teams pretty darn effectively, regardless of tough schedules or other factors.

Let’s consider Ortiz’s Red Sox as an example. They have scored only 301 runs this season, better than only the San Diego Padres in all of baseball and worse than the Houston Astros. Their run differential is -37. So yes, there might be some tough breaks in the schedule, but it is not why they are struggling, no matter what Ortiz says.