David Ortiz hit a bazillion home runs for the Boston Red Sox, so you’d think somebody like him would be okay with the game trending towards power instead of putting the ball in play.

Apparently not, because in a recent interview with the Boston Globe, Big Papi says he hates the way the game is being played right now:

“To me it’s messed up,” Big Papi said during a lengthy conversation from his home in Miami. “The game has changed a lot. Coaches only want kids to hit home runs and that’s all they practice because they want to get paid.

“We used to want to develop great hitters. Now it’s all strikeouts with some home runs and it’s straight-up [expletive] boring. If you could bet in Vegas that the next hitter was going to strike out, you’d take it every time.”

…

“I struck out 100 times a few times in my career and I was [upset],” Ortiz said. “Now everybody does it. I see kids now taking BP and all they work on is running into a home run. Everybody is swinging out of their ass.

“It’s not good for the game. If there’s a runner on first, you want to use that hole and hit the ball to right field. Then the runner has the opportunity to go to third and can score on an out or even a wild pitch. That’s how I was taught to play.

Do you agree? Is the modern day game “fucking boring?” Is everybody “swinging out of their ass?”

Big Papi struck out 1,750 times in his 20-year career. He also hit 541 home runs, drew 1,319 walks, and won three World Series titles, so while the above quotes are somewhat ironic, there’s no disputing his success, and his words do carry weight. Regardless, he’s not the only one to lodge this complaint, and there’s been an anti-power sentiment brewing in recent seasons. Perhaps a change is on the horizon.