ANAHEIM, Calif. -- David Ortiz acted surprised to hear that his absence from Sunday's final game before the All-Star break, an 8-6 loss to the New York Yankees, had been the subject of some controversy among the chattering classes.

Ortiz was sent home before Sunday’s game with what manager John Farrell called an upper respiratory infection. But on radio talk shows and social media, some questioned whether Ortiz should have played through the condition, with others suggesting that he had balked at playing first base when Farrell had asked him to do. Farrell insisted that was not on the table, given Ortiz’s condition.

"I don’t care," Ortiz said when told of the hoo-ha. "I was sick. There was nothing I could do about it. When you're sick, you're sick. What can you do about it?

"Do they judge you when you’re sick?" he said to a reporter. "What the [expletive] is wrong with these people? Do you think I want to miss a game against the Yankees? I always want to kick the [expletive] Yankees' ass. I was sick. What could I do? My god.

"Do they know I had a 104 fever that night? They don't know that, right?"