Yep, someone took David Ortiz’s “no respect” comments out of context

When I was looking at the quotes from that David Ortiz article this morning I just knew someone would take the “I don’t get no respect” part out of context and make it look like Ortiz was going on a “me, me, me” rant. That someone was Kirk Minihane of WEEI:

I sometimes wonder if David Ortiz is legitimately delusional ... [his greatest hit] has always been the no respect card. He’s played it time and time again over his career with the Sox and broke it out for another spin on Monday night ... The Sox have won nine of 11 games since the meeting and it sure seems that Ortiz would like a couple of attaboys for showing a little initiative ... Maybe he’s a leader on this team and maybe he isn’t, but he’d be best served to keep hitting and leave his greatest hit on the shelf.

In context, however, it was pretty clear that the exact opposite was true. He was surprised and not pleased that the story of the closed-door meeting he held got out. He said “I don’t give a [expletive] about anybody knowing what we talk about, No. 1. And No. 2, I don’t give a [expletive] what they call leaders.”

That he then went on to talk about the curious nature of what people consider leadership in Boston does not make him an attention-seeker. Rather, it seems like he’d not play the game at all if he had the choice, but if asked, sure, he’s gonna say what he thinks about it.

But if all people get from his comments are “I don’t get no respect,” he probably shouldn’t bother saying anything at all.