BOSTON - David Ortiz's anger shifted from third-base umpire Jerry Meals, to home plate umpire John Tumpane, to . . . Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer?
Oh yes.
It all started on Sunday, when Palmer, who pitched 19 seasons for the Orioles from 1965 to 1984, Tweeted out his dislike for Ortiz's checked-swing tirade that led to an ejection in the fifth inning.
Palmer, now a member of the O's television broadcast team, then tweeted:
FINALLY Ortiz gets tossed #disrespectful #zipitOrtiz @Orioles @masnOrioles
— Jim Palmer (@Jim22Palmer) April 19, 2015
He doubled down on Monday, tweeting out:
O's fans: Marathon day in Boston what's the over under on Ortiz going 9? #finishwhatyoustarted @masnOrioles @Orioles
— Jim Palmer (@Jim22Palmer) April 20, 2015
Ortiz clearly saw the tweets -- at least the one from Sunday -- and when asked by ESPN about it, was not going to #zipit. He was fired up.
"That's how he wants me to respect him? It's not going to happen," Ortiz lashed out.
Ortiz also said the two didn't have any issues in the past.
"Actually I thought that was one of my guys," Ortiz said of Palmer. "All of a sudden now he's killing me, huh? I guess everybody that wants to get famous or make some noise come to Papi, right?"
The Red Sox will travel to Baltimore this weekend, where the two can . . . hash things out.