Red Sox's Ortiz believes he's earned the right to pimp home runs

Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz firmly believes when you've been around the league as long as he has, you've earned the right to add a little more flare to your home run celebration. 

"The way that works, basically, is how much time you have at this level," Ortiz told Steve Buckley of the Boston Herald. "If you've got two days in the big leagues, I don't agree with you doing crazy stuff out there. But you have 19 years in the big leagues like I do, you can do whatever the hell you want - because you’ve earned that."

A veteran of over 2,100 major-league games and sitting 34 home runs away from the elusive 500 mark, Ortiz thinks the fans come to the park expecting a little showmanship. 

"The bottom line is, it's not that bad," Ortiz said. "It's part of what people come and want to see. People want to come to the field, and the power hitters, they want to watch them hit homers."

Ortiz has drawn the ire of a number of pitchers over his career, but arguably none more so than Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Chris Archer last July. 

''I never saw Hank Aaron flip his bat,'' Archer said following the game. ''I'm not comparing the two, but they're obviously in the same class of players as far what they accomplished.''

While opposing pitchers may hate Ortiz's theatrics, one of his own has no problem with it. 

"If you've earned the right to pimp a home run, you can pimp a home run," right-hander Clay Buchholz said. "And David Ortiz has earned the right to pimp a home run if he wants to."