Fondly referred to as Big Papi, David Ortiz became a beloved figure in Boston for his prodigious power during the Boston Red Sox's two World Series runs. However, in the past couple of years, Ortiz and Boston have been a lightning rod for criticism due to some slow starts.

That criticism has taken a toll on Ortiz, as the team has often been cited as a squad without a true clubhouse leader. Following Boston's Monday night win, which got the team to .500 for the first time this month, Ortiz took umbrage with that assertion.

"I'm the kind of [expletive] who worries about winning games," Ortiz told ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes after Monday's 8-6 win in Baltimore. "I'm a winner. I hate losing. But what I do, I don't do for everybody to know. I do it for us to get better and the trash talking out there to stop."

Ortiz was set off by a question about a team meeting he called May 11 in the wake of a golf outing pitcher Josh Beckett took while nursing an injured shoulder.

"Who told you about that meeting?" Ortiz asked reporters Monday night.