David Ortiz has spent almost half of his life in Major League Baseball. He's clobbered 475 home runs, been to nine All-Star games, and could very well have a plaque in Cooperstown a decade from now.

At Kauffman Stadium on Saturday, however, the 39-year-old felt he wasn't given the respect he's earned when he was ejected in the seventh inning by home plate umpire Bruce Dreckman following a contentious at-bat.

After the game, Ortiz voiced his displeasure with what he perceives as a growing tension between players and umpires.

"All I have to say is that this situation between players and umpires is getting to a ridiculous point," Ortiz told reporters. "And it's because it seems to me it's more of a feeling than reality. I'm an 18-year veteran in this league and when I was coming up it seems like you deserve respect because of that. But it seems like it doesn't work that way anymore."

Ortiz, whose .719 OPS this season represents his lowest since becoming a full-time player in 2000, took exception to a pair of strike calls from Dreckman during his seventh-inning at-bat against Kelvin Herrera. Though Ortiz ultimately singled to center field, he continued to exchange words with Dreckman from first base, leading to his second ejection of the campaign.

"Growing up in my house I was teached that if you don't respect me I don't respect you, you know what I'm saying? That's how I am. That's life," said Ortiz. "You call two bad pitches on a guy that throws 100, what do you want me to do? It was pretty obvious that those two pitches were pretty bad. Not only that, I look at you, you look at me, and I tell you the guy doesn't need help and you keep giving me signals. I finally give up on you and you throw me out of the game for that? I don't know."

Ortiz also lamented how the strike zone has expanded since he debuted with the Minnesota Twins back in 1997, putting hitters in unfavorable counts with increasing regularity. Interestingly, however, Ortiz has seen his lowest percentage of first-pitch strikes (51.5 percent) since 2010 this season and actually owns a respectable .724 OPS in 0-2 counts thus far.

"I mean man this (expletive) game has changed so much," he said. "Nothing is new to me, you know what I'm saying? This is like, I mean, everybody keeps saying he's old, he's this, he's that, that's why he doesn't hit anymore. All of a sudden I was being one of the best strike zone hitters to being one of the worst. So from day to night, it doesn't work that way. It feels like every time you go into the box you have two strikes already. You can't hit like that, period. You can't hit like that. I'm facing a guy that's throwing 100 mph and you're going to give him two pitches. How am I going to hit?"