BALTIMORE -- After the Red Sox' 7-1 loss to the Orioles Tuesday night at Camden Yards, David Ortiz suggested that the Yahoo! Sports report regarding the team's July 26 meeting with ownership was on the minds of some players heading into the series opener.
The report stated that a group of players "blasted" manager Bobby Valentine in the meeting, with Dustin Pedroia and Adrian Gonzalez serving as the most vocal.
According to the designated hitter, the latest controversy was enough to serve as somewhat of a distraction heading into the game.
"Exactly," Ortiz told WEEI.com when asked if the report was on the minds of some players near the start of the game. "That came out this afternoon about that situation and next thing you know you have guys that have to deal with a baseball game thinking about the [expletive]. That's [expletive]."
Ortiz joined a group of players from the Red Sox clubhouse who appeared frustrated by the seemingly never-ending stream of drama involving the team.
"Things are getting to the point where it's not even about us winning or losing games," he said. "It's just, 'Let me get this guy's mind completely out of the game.' It's not what we're looking for."
Another player voicing his frustration was Cody Ross.
"Enough is enough," the outfielder said. "We're professionals and we're here to play and do our jobs and win ballgames. All the outside and extracurricular stuff comes along with it, but we can't lose sight of our goal. It just gets tiring.
"At this point it's like kicking a dog. What else could they say bad about our team that is going to affect us? Probably nothing, because we've been through so much just during this year."
For more Red Sox news, go to the team page at weei.com/redsox [1].
Links:
[1] http://weei.com/redsox
[2] http://www.weei.com/category/boston/red-sox