BOSTON -- The official 2014 Boston Red Sox team photo will require the services of a skilled photo editor.
When the entire team assembled for a photo Thursday afternoon in front of the Green Monster at Fenway Park, designated hitter David Ortiz was nowhere to be seen. He also missed the picture taken in the stands with the club's front-office personnel.
Ortiz did hustle out of the clubhouse in time to appear with his teammates sitting among the club's ushers and other park personnel.
"I can assure you,'' one club executive said, "David will be in the team picture."
Ortiz is not exactly breaking ground by missing the team photo. There have been other players in the past who have had to be Photoshopped in. Asked about his whereabouts, Ortiz said he was tending to some family business at home. He was not in Thursday's starting lineup. Newcomer Allen Craig, fresh off the disabled list, was serving as designated hitter.
And if David Ross is a barometer, nobody was very upset, either.
"He can do whatever he wants,'' Ross said. "He's won three World Series titles, he has 30 home runs. Anything he wants.''
There was one other notable absentee, too, from the front-office shot: principal owner John W. Henry. More photo editing?