Major League Baseball executive vice president for baseball operations Joe Torre issued a statement on Friday regarding David Ortiz's actions and postgame comments after the designated hitter displayed displeasure about official scorer Bob Ellis' ruling on ball during Wednesday's series finale against the Minnesota Twins.
"Official scorers have a job to do, and by their very nature, their decisions don't make everyone happy," Torre said in the statement. "But everyone in our game deserves respect. I hope that David will meet that standard going forward, because I don't share the same views that he expressed."
Ortiz expressed frustration after he hit a grounder off the glove of Joe Mauer. The ball rolled away and Mauer was unable to recover and make the play, allowing Ortiz to reach first base. After some deliberation, Ellis charged Mauer with an error. After the inning concluded, Ortiz walked back to the Red Sox dugout while looking up at the press box, where the official scorer sits, and made several thumbs-down motions.
Ortiz publicly articulated his frustration with the situation after the game.
"It's always like that," Ortiz said. "I've been here for more than a decade and the scorekeepers here are always horrible. This is home, man.
"I've got to make it clear," Ortiz said Wednesday. "It's not my first rodeo, man. You know how hard it is to get a hit, man?"
Whether or not Ortiz was fined for his comments is unclear. Torre directly responded to the notion that official scorers should give benefits to the home team.
"Official scorers should never give any benefit of the doubt to the home team," Torre said. "We want their best judgment, based on the rules. We have a process to review the decisions that our scorers make. Even when there are inevitable disagreements, we expect everybody to act professionally and respect the game and the integrity of our scorers."