I love Bill Simmons. He’s one of my favorite writers on the planet. Unfortunately, he rarely talks about the Red Sox. He’s a Celtics/basketball guy who writes football on the side.
So you can imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning to an article about David Ortiz. My favorite part:
Red Sox fans refuse to turn against Ortiz. They just can’t. They owe him too much for 2004 and 2007. It’s like turning on Santa Claus or happy hour. Every Ortiz appearance is greeted with supportive cheers, every Ortiz failure is greeted with awkward silence. The fans are suffering just like he is. Only when he left 12 men on base against Anaheim on May 14 did I receive a slew of angry e-mails from back home, but even those tirades centered more around Terry Francona’s steadfast refusal to drop Ortiz in the order. I cannot remember another Boston athlete stinking this long, and this fragrantly, without getting dumped on.
Really, that’s a tribute to what he means to his fans and how delightful it was to watch him play. His career might be over (notice I left the door open; I’m such a sap), but Ortiz has reached the highest level an athlete can reach: unequivocal devotion. Sox fans love him the same way you love an ailing family member. In the end, at his bleakest point, he’s brought out the best of an entire fan base. He has inspired dignity and emotion and loyalty. The fans could have sped his demise (and saved a few games) by booing until Francona benched him. They didn’t. How often does that happen?
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Very true.
I’m one of the pessimists about Ortiz. I think this is the beggining of the end for him. But even if this is the case, I will always gonna have great memories of him. Every career has to end sometime, but Ortiz has achieved something very few have achieved in the history of this team. He will be part of the Red Sox lore forever.
And that’s not a small achievement…
NOW do people understand what I meant by “Is Ortiz really only 33?” (May 14)
In any case, this shows the importance of acquiring a new bat. We don’t need a fillup. Ortiz is dead and we need a succesor.
We need a new big bat, now. Or this season will be lost soon. Thanks to the heroics of Bay, Lowell, and Youk we are somehow still in the fight for October. But we cannot stay competitive in the AL east with an NL lineup.
Move your ass, Theo. Time to move Ortiz to the minors, and get the big bat of the future.
Great article. And I honestly can’t see Ortiz ever going to the minors.
Ortiz ISN’T going to the minors. He won’t accept an assignment and he wouldn’t get through waivers anyway (well….. actually…. be probably would).
I would expect more of a phantom injury or something to get him on a rehab assignment though. And the bat I think the Sox will end up getting will be Huff. I just don’t see anyone else available out there that is worth the money (although I would love to see Dunn).
Take a quick look around the league and you will notice that every team has at least one struggling bat in the order that cannot be immediately replaced. Considering that Papi is not a liability in the field, why not give him the benefit of the doubt and see what happens. Tito has done a nice job of moving Ortiz around in the order so that he can keep current run producers in the 3 and 4 spots. If D.O. goes on a tear and hits .350 in June, while unlikely, it will shut up every person who doubted him in April and May. The guy puts fans in the seats and be honest, every time he gets up to bat with runners on base you’re waiting for him to get that clutch hit. Players go through slumps, and just because we haven’t seen him go through one like this during his time in Beantown doesn’t mean he won’t come out of it. The guy is a five time all star, four time silver slugger, and has finished in the top 5 in MVP voting in 5 of the last 6 years and, oh yeah, was a monumental part of two World Series teams. Even Mo Vaughn didn’t get this kind of treatment. If D.O.’s numbers are down all year consider trading him, but before doing so remember how many people still wear number 34 on the back of their BoSox jerseys.
ok “phantom injury” it is. Call it as you want. I just want him out of the lineup. Don’t care under what “title” you want to send it to the minors…
Why don’t give Ortiz the benefit of the doubt? What have being this two months? we need him to screw the whole season to do something about it?
And Tito has being horrible managing the problem. We have lost many games thanks to his weakness. He need to have more guts and make the moves when the moves need to be done.
(In response to Simmons’ article, I emailed him…here’s what I wrote…everyone who is irrationally writing Ortiz off for the rest of his career should read it as well…)
I just read your piece on Ortiz and it has prompted me to email you for the very first time.
First, to say Ortiz “can’t” catch up to an 89 mph fastball anymore just reeks of baseball ignorance. Just because someone goes through a stretch when they are missing or fouling off what seem to be average pitches, does not mean they have lost the physical ability to hit. The worst slumps, like the one Ortiz is going through, are a combination of mental trepidation and mechanical flaws. But they do not last forever.
The resurgences of the Red Sox’ own Jason Varitek this year and Mike Lowell in ‘06, have shown that bad slumps are a part of the game and certainly do not have to mark the end of a player’s career.
Tek was awful in ‘08, Lowell was awful in ‘05, Delgado was awful in ‘07, Konerko was awful in ‘03….in each case, the player’s bat speed was supposedly gone forever…only to magically return a year later
the truth is, its not all about bat speed…its a lot about how Ortiz is seeing the ball and how he is not swinging with conviction due to his low confidence…
Personally, I think Ortiz will get back to being a valuable hitter. But even if he doesnt, there is more than enough precedence of players bouncing back to cause a rational person to wait before calling Big Papi’s career over…especially in such a public, degrading and senseless way you did in your latest article…
Which brings me to my second point. The real question is, who has fallen off more, Big Papi or the Sports Guy?
I get that its hard to come up with good story ideas all the time, but your reaction to the Manny Ramirez steroid revelation in which you slandered an entire team with no shred of proof or even well-known rumors was irresponsible at best, and reprehensible at worst.
And now this Papi story. It just leaves me shaking my head in disgust.
I still enjoy some of your work (the mailbags are the best) but you need to take a step back and rethink what direction your career is headed with these sensationalist articles.
You are quickly becoming the TMZ of the sports journalism world i.e someone to never, ever, ever take seriously.
And that’s a shame.
And M.A.G…I dont think you could be more far off in your take of this situation…
the minors? really?
People with grown, mature, serious baseball sensibilities realize that the upside of getting Ortiz back to being productive is too great for the Sox to throw up their hands and get rid of him after 2 months
you epitomize the typical sky-is-falling Boston fan that makes the rest of us look bad
before I sign off for the night, Id like to pose this question…should the Rays release BJ Upton because hes been about as bad as Ortiz so far this season?
sure Upton is younger, but if a bad stretch for 33yr old superstar Ortiz convinces you thats hes finished, why doesnt a similar stretch convince you that Upton is maybe not as good as once thought?
the truth is, slumps happen, even really bad ones…and Ortiz will come back strong…at that point, I hope more people will step forward and admit they are jackasses for the way they are treating him now…..Hopefully more than the disappointly low number of jackass admissions that have been offered regarding Varitek’s resurgence…
The Finns and Masserottis of the world should stop with the “Oh My GOD Varitek’s resurgence is SO AMAZING! who couldve seen it?!?” and offer more of “I admit I was a complete clownshoe for insisting that Tek was done being a useful player”
bc the truth is smart people realized Tek would experience at least somewhat of a bounce back year in 09
peace out
GO SOX!
Dante. I’m speechless. You are my hero. The media and bloggers are crucifying David Ortiz, contributing to his lack of confidence, exacerbating every small failure . . . and neglecting to acknowledge any small successes, like his recent hits, and how hard he hits the ball right into the gloves of opposing players.
The only place to put Huff or Dunn is to replace Papi. I am not ready to replace one of the best DH’s ever to play the game any more than I am to replace Lester or Beckett for their slow starts.
Is he killing us? Frankly, no! He hasn’t helped, but every hitter in this lineup with two exceptions started off slow, grounded into double plays, popped up and out; Sox error rates have been atrocious; starting pitching was awful. Yet, we remain a winning team in the heavyweight division and one of the top in baseball. We can certainly wait for the Big Guy to figure it out, and support him in the process. Think of the rewards when he breaks out.
Considering all of what is happening so far this season i think it is remarkable that the RS are contending at all… except for that 10 (?) game winning streak a while back it hasn’t felt like a “team”, really. There are a lot of folks being inconsistent on both sides of the plate so all in all i am a happy camper that we are upside at all. I get stomach churns but imagine what Tito goes thru ( hell, when i see him rocking in the dugout i make politically incorrect comparisons…). Francona has done Boston a world of GREAT, along with other heroes ( Papi big amongst them). I agree with the folks who are calling for a retreat on the doomsday proclamations. Varitek pops out easily ( Dante, i think i love you!) as well as a few others as cases for patience and fortitude… i am not ready to demote Papi in any way, shape, or form. Last time i watched he is still getting good at bats and drawing pitches. i think he is helping set up other hitters. Yes, sad to watch right now, but when he roars back to life, watch out!!!
Papi is still is getting good at bats and drawing pitches? really? Well, evidently we are not seeing the same games. Because what I see night after night is the worst DH in all baseball being dominated for even the most mediocre pitchers. What I see is a guy who is hurting the team.
When I mentioned the minors, I was triying to say poletily that I want him out of the team. Nobody is gonna trade for him, and he is a 10/5, so what else can we do? The best chance for Papi is down there. Maybe in the minors he can work on the basics and get his swing back, without pressure. At this point, this looks like the best option for him.
Apparently this is heresy for some people, but I just want the best for the team, and he is not the best for the team. We are in the position of acquiring a new big bat, and I don’t want to waste the oportunity.
Yeah it will be beautifull if players where all immortal, and never decline. Ted Williams could still be the star of the team. But the reality is every player has to go eventually, even the ones you like the most. Personally, I think is best for a player to retire in time and with dignity, than the opposite. At this point I’m not even convinced Ortiz is really 33.
So, you think Ortiz will rebound? Well, I hope you are right, but excuse me if I don’t want to gamble the whole season in your bet.
Let me preface this by saying that I am a yankee fan (I assume most on this thread support Boston.) However, I pride myself in being honest and lacking subjectivity. That being said I would like to share some of my thoughts on “Big” Papi.
As a three or four hitter he is hurting the team. It is not just the one homerun, but the 186 batting average that are just over the top. That being said, if he can get a couple of hits and regain his confidence he could be a decent 6 hitter.
Red Sox fans are indebted to Ortiz because he literally did the impossible for you guys. But, having him as a top of the order guy will help no one, not the redsox or Ortiz.
As for steroid allegations–there is absolutely no proof. However, as we learned from Pettitte and Clemens, if your best friend is taking it you probably are too. With Manny’s suspension you cant help but suspect ortiz of juicing, but luckily for him you cant prove it either.
No matter what happens Ortiz should be remembered for his extraordinary run between 2004 and 2007.
If Ortiz finishes the 2009 season with a BA around .200 and less than 10 homers, then I would agree that its probably time to move on…(though at that point, i still wouldn’t be surprised to see him have a mini-comeback with another team)
I’m just not ready to throw the guy overboard after 2 months, however bad he’s been.
GO SOX!
To everyone that commented here:
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Regards,
Everyone Who Knew Ortiz Was Juicing