David Ortiz, Translator

My youngest brother introduced me to ESPNBoston.com, which I should’ve found on my own. As I’ve stated before, I’m not the biggest fan of ESPN’s baseball coverage or their analysts (sorry, Tito). I prefer MLBNetwork because of their VERY extensive coverage of all things baseball and their analysts (Harold Reynolds, Dan Plesac, Al Leiter, Billy Ripken, Kevin Millar, and I could go on and on).

Last night, my brother was telling me about a report on ESPNBoston.com involving Pedroia and Francona. I checked that out today, as well as the other articles on the website. I am pretty impressed with this blog, and I intend to keep checking back to it.
While on the blog, I came across a story concerning David Ortiz and Vincente Padilla. Padilla is in the hunt for the fifth starting position and has been a successful starter and reliever in the past. However, he does have some “issues” that can make him less than desirable, such as the injury bug getting him (neck surgery, nerve damage, etc.) and some personal life issues (he was arrested in his native Nicaragua for not paying child support for his tenth child). So far, his pitching has been impressed many people, especially those who have written him off.

But this post is about David Ortiz, the translator. Ortiz stood in for translator for Padilla after Padilla pitched on Monday. When the reporter asked Padilla how he liked his translator with the Red Sox, Padilla said something in Spanish, which Ortiz translated as:

He says (hee hee). Tthat he's happy to have a Latin guy because when he was with the Dodgers, [the translator] was Japanese.

I believe having common ground with the people surrounding you is very important for chemistry. After all the reports that were written at the end of the season last year, it was clear the Red Sox were not cohesive enough as a team. It seemed the pitchers kept to themselves, and there definitely were little clicks that stayed together.

Now, not every team is going to appear as together as the 2004 “Cowboy Up/ Idiots” or whatever they called themselves (I believe they called themselves the “Idiots” and Kevin Millar dubbed “Cowboy Up” their official slogan). But, in order to play well on the field, I do think the team needs to “play well” off the field as well. I’m not asking for them to sit around a campfire and sing Queen’s “We Are the Champions” like on “D2- The Mighty Ducks,” but there has to be some common ground.

The fact that David Ortiz, the arguable “star” of the Red Sox team, sat down and translated for Vincent Padilla is a refreshing sign. Ortiz appears to be about the team, and he took time away from himself and whatever else he made had going on to help a teammate with interviews. Whether someone like Bobby Valentine asked Ortiz to do this or not, Ortiz didn’t have to translate anything for Padilla. I’m starting to think that this team may be coming together. Of course, Ortiz also had to put in his own plug during the
interview:

They should give me an extra $10 million for this.

Maybe not an extra ten million dollars, Ortiz, but they should definitely think about this when your contract is up at the end of the year.