Red Sox
“That made me want to go out for a nice dinner, a big steak.”
David Ortiz made Yankees fans miserable during his playing days with the Red Sox.
But even years after finally hanging up his spikes in 2016, the Hall-of-Fame slugger still relishes any misfortune that befalls the Bronx Bombers.
The Orioles were the latest team to twist the knife against the sputtering Yankees, rallying back on Sunday for a dramatic walk-off win over New York. The final play drew plenty of cheers and jeers from both Boston and Baltimore fans — with ex-Sox outfielder (and current Yankee) Alex Verdugo grievously misplaying a ball hit out to left field by Cedric Mullins.
The simple fly-ball out would have closed out a 5-4 win for New York, but Verdugo misread the ball off the bat – opting to run forward instead of backward as the ball sailed over his head. With Verdugo sprawled out on the turf, the ball harmlessly dropped in — giving Baltimore a 6-5 comeback win.
Speaking to Orioles starts Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson ahead to the 2024 Home Run Derby on Monday, Ortiz couldn’t help but laugh at New York’s latest embarrassing setback.
“Then I watched the Yankees lose. Nothing made me more happier than that,” Ortiz said on FOX. “You guys coming from behind and whoop them. That made me want to go out for a nice dinner, a big steak.”
Verdugo, who was traded by Boston to New York in a surprising deal last December, took ownership for Sunday’s loss.
“I saw it coming my way,” Verdugo told reporters after the game. “I took a step in, and that little step in was enough to beat me. I was just trying to catch up ground that I gave away on the initial step. I was trying to do anything I can to get to it. … I take a lot of pride out there defensively. This one’s on me.”
Verdugo and the Yankees have been slumping for months, with Boston now just 4.5 games back of New York in the AL East.
Count Ortiz — who slugged 53 home runs and drove in 171 RBIs in 243 career games against the Yankees — among those who will be cheering if Boston leapfrogs them in the standings.
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