The Legend of Big Papi
Today, one of our authors gives their personal perspective as a Red Sox fan on the larger-than-life icon that is David Ortiz.
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Pregame Pepper - Big Papi Postseason Bombs
Sit back and enjoy this video montage of every David Ortiz postseason home run. Spoiler alert: There’s a lot of them.
Leading Off
The Legend of Big Papi
By Tyler Maher
It’s been a couple of weeks since David Ortiz was elected to the Hall of Fame. Not much has happened in baseball since then because of the lockout (thanks owners!), so I’d like to wax nostalgic about one of my favorite players if that’s alright with you.
Let me start at the beginning. While the Red Sox have made a lot of questionable signings in recent years (Carl Crawford, David Price, Pablo Sandoval, etc.), inking Ortiz was unquestionably the best. The Minnesota Twins foolishly released him, allowing Theo Epstein to scoop him up at the bargain bin rate of $1.25 million prior to the 2003 season.
It took a few months for Ortiz to find his footing (and regular at-bats) in Boston, but once he did he never looked back. Surrounded by fun-loving teammates such as Kevin Millar, Johnny Damon, Pedro Martinez, and Manny Ramirez, Ortiz fit right in with his big bat and bigger smile.
While Ortiz earned a reputation as a Yankee-killer and finished fifth in the AL MVP race that year, it was in 2004 that he became a baseball legend. After an even better regular season, the man affectionately known as Big Papi came up big during the biggest month of the year – October.
Carrying the weight of a long-suffering fan base on his broad shoulders, Ortiz delivered night after night. He sent the Sox to the ALCS with a walk-off homer in Game 3 of the ALDS, but that was just an appetizer for his postseason heroics against the Yankees. Back-to-back walk-off hits in Games 4 and 5 of the ALCS saved Boston’s season, digging them out of an 0-3 hole and propelling them into the World Series, where they finally put an end to that 86-year curse.
With his place in Red Sox history secure, Ortiz proceeded to cement his legacy as one of the best hitters in baseball history over the next decade-plus. He finished runner-up in the 2005 AL MVP race, belted a franchise-record 54 homers in 2006, and led the Sox to another World Series title in 2007. He wasn’t just a feel-good story anymore – he was a legitimate superstar.
The next half-decade wasn’t as fruitful for him or the team, but he was at the heart of their resurgence in 2013. Surrounded by a completely different supporting cast than the one he’d joined 10 years prior, Ortiz was ready to lead. When the city desperately needed a diversion in the wake of the terrible Boston marathon bombings, Ortiz grabbed the microphone and spoke for them. He then proceeded to lead the Red Sox to yet another championship, willing them to victory with more timely hitting and another dominant postseason performance.
When Ortiz retired three years later, he was still at the top of his game. He left on his own terms after leading MLB in doubles, slugging, and OPS at age 40. He could have kept going, could have kept adding to his already amazing career numbers, but by then he had nothing left to prove.
For 14 seasons with the Red Sox, Ortiz was my hero. He still is, and always will be.
Tyler Maher is a Content Editor for The Game Day who was in the right-field bleachers for David Ortiz’s famous grand slam during Game 2 of the 2013 ALCS.
Extra Innings
“I just swing hard in case I hit it - that’s it.”
- David Ortiz on his home run hitting strategy
"He's bulletproof, as far as I'm concerned. Whether there's a lefthander on the mound or a righthander on the mound, he beats us up pretty good."
- Former New York Yankee Manager Joe Torre on David Ortiz
"You can't say enough about him. Obviously, David [Ortiz], he's a freak. He's like a superhero. He's like that in real life, too, and I think that's why everything about him is so endearing, because he is a genuine person and people here love him, and there's a reason why."
- Former Boston Righthander Josh Beckett