David Ortiz may pay out his salary in fines, as he does not like the “one foot in the box” rule:
Someone told Ortiz the proposed penalty for stepping out of the box was a $500 fine. Would he prefer just to pay the money?
“Well, I might run out of money,” he said. “I’m serious. I’m not going to change my game. I don’t care what they say. My game, it’s not like I go around and do all kinds of stupid s—. But I have to take my time and think about what that [pitcher] is going to do next. I’m pretty sure every single hitter at this level is on the same page.
“They put their rules together, but they don’t talk to us, as hitters, how do you feel about this? You know what I’m saying? Why don’t you come and ask questions first. And then we can get in an agreement. But then you got to do this just because you say so. Oh buddy, it doesn’t work that way. Trust me.”
Maybe Ortiz just needs to think faster, and stop trying to prove Yogi Berra wrong.
I do agree with Ortiz that the rules won’t work. If they want to shorten games, shorten the commercial breaks and hope advertisers bid up the remaining space. With sports being the one last bastion of solid TV revenue, now’s the time to try that.
At $500 per infraction, David will have to get fined over 32,000 times next year to drain his salary. Hm, I wonder whether the fines are tax deductible. They seem like a legitimate business expense.
Rosenthal tweeting: Player can be suspended for just cause on his 6th offense if he displays ‘willful disregard.’
1st violation is a warning, next four triggers series of progressive fines.
Looks like Farrell will need his very best communication skills to have Ortiz rethink his stance!