David Ortiz's War on Umpires

Over on The Situationist--which was recently named Best Social Psychology Blog--Jon Hanson and I have a piece entitled "What's Eating David Ortiz?" that you may find interesting.

Our piece offers a psychological explanation for why Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz--described by some as the greatest clutch hitter in Red Sox history--has become so acrimonious in his relationship with umpires this season, a season in which Ortiz has played well, but has lacked the flair for the dramatic that has signified his Red Sox career.

We contend that his frequent questioning of calls relates to a particular set motivated attributions that leads him to explain his less heroic performance in a way that doesn't compromise the hero disposition that he’s been enjoying but still explains his cooling bat (even though, in truth, his cooling bat better reflects the statistical flukiness and fortuitous circumstances of his past clutch hitting).

We hope you check out our piece on Ortiz. You might also like our post, "The Magic of Jonathan Papelbon's Knuckle-Knock."

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