Tag David Ortiz

Praying for Papi

Danny Vinik 2 Comments

Now, I’m a Red Sox fan so of course I’m rooting for David Ortiz to come around at the plate, but I keep asking myself, who doesn’t want Ortiz to find an end to his struggles?

Yankee fans? Probably as well as the rest of the teams’ fans in the AL East, but watching the lovable giant groan and pout after each at bat is grueling to watch. Listening to his sad comments after the game makes it even more painful. After the worst game of his career where Papi went 0-for-7 with 12 men left on base, he commented to reporters “Sorry guys, I don’t feel like talking today. Just put down, ‘Papi Stinks’ “.

Who doesn’t hear that quotation and just feel bad for the guy? If you’re a reporter dying to get a remark from Ortiz, you hear that and you walk away. Who is going to annoy Papi when he is just depressed? Anger is one thing, but once that anger turns into just sadness, human sympathy takes over.

The smile of David Ortiz is one of the most recognizable things in sports. He’s the happy, smiling, always-there-for-you big man who eats opposing pitchers alive. Well the latter part of that statement is already gone, but amazingly enough, that smile has endured.

Ortiz has remained engaged. He still views video of himself between at-bats in the clubhouse. He hugged Manny Delcarmen after his two scoreless innings, and after Mike Lowell crunched a double, his third hit of the day, off the Wall in the eighth inning, Ortiz was the first Red Sox player to greet him in the dugout (Boston.com – Extra Bases Red Sox Blog)

His personality is amazing that even in the worst of times, he is still the biggest cheerleader on the team. Just look at the reaction when Papifinally hit his first home run of the year. The dugout erupted. The fans erupted. He was mobbed by teammates and hugged by everyone who could get to him. This team loves and needs Big Papi. Continue reading “Praying for Papi” →

Bye Bye Manny

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The Major League Baseball Trade Deadline seemed to have passed at 4 pm yesterday without any blockbuster deals, but then all of a sudden, reports started coming in that Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez had been traded to the Dodgers in a six-player deal. So much for no blockbuster deals. While Manny goes to Los Angeles, the Dodgers shipped out prospects Andy LaRoche and Bryan Morris and the Sox sent Craig Hansen and Brandon Moss to Pittsburgh. In return for all that, the Red Sox got left fielder Jason Bay from Pittsburgh. So that’s the trade, but what does it all mean?

It means the Dodgers just became the favorite in the NL West. It means the Red Sox finally unloaded Ramirez, though it took two prospects and $7 million dollars for any trade to work. It means the Pirates got four valuable prospects and shed salary at the same time. It means everyone wins, though some more than others. Let’s begin with the Sox, who just traded one of the best players in baseball. How can this deal possibly make them better? Continue reading “Bye Bye Manny” →

MLB All Star Starters

Danny Vinik 3 Comments

The Major League Baseball season is nearing its midpoint and with that comes the 2008 All Star game in Yankee Stadium. With fans voting for the All Star starters, the game many times turns into a popularity contest with deserving players not voted in as starters. Here are those American League players who should be starting at the 2008 All Star game:

Designated Hitter: I find it funny this year that there are no designated hitters have good years. I will give the nod to David Ortiz (though he is injured) with his 13 home runs and 43 RBI, but his .252 batting average makes him a non-ideal candidate. Of the 6 players qualifying for DH, only Hideki Matsui has a batting average above .265, but Matsui has only 7 home runs and 34 RBI, hardly an All Star caliber season. No DH is slugging above .500, so with the lack of talent at DH this year, I select Ortiz as he is the most balanced player amongst designated hitters.

Catcher: There aren’t very many candidates in the AL for starting catcher, but it has to go to someone. With a .332 batting average and .417 on base percentage, Joe Mauer is my choice to start at catcher. He has only 2 home runs and 27 RBI, but no other American League catcher stands out. Mauer has made only 2 errors at catcher all season and has thrown out 34% of runners. Continue reading “MLB All Star Starters” →