My personal memory lane is littered with countless highlights of the heroics of Big Papi. A mere mention of the calendar month of ”October” — in any context — can bring flashing images of 2004 to my mind’s eye. His three walk-off hits in that World Series run are branded on the consciousness of any Bostonian who had lived long enough to know the pain of being a Red Sox fan and have the life-investment finally come to happy fruition.
So it was simply excruciating to watch his miserable struggles at the
beginning of last season bring him to the brink of losing his spot on the
team.
We had our first hints of a newly bipolar quality to Big Papi’s performance
back in 2009. After a painfully slow start, Big Papi recovered enough to be
respectable that year, but not enough to foster optimism among Sox fans for
2010.
Entering May of 2010, Ortiz (joining countless others newly-marred by
steroid accusations) stood at .143 with one home run. Yes, thats ONE, four,
three. He was visibly late on most pitches. Feeble popups became the
expectation, on the very offerings through which he used to explode. His
potent, high-finish home run swing was missing in action. No Sox fan wanted
to utter the reality that we all knew. Papi was done. We were simply
clinging to an empty uniform of the man who had once brought us and our team
the euphoric glory we longed for.
Rumor had it that the protagonist in our favorite story was about to exit
stage-right.
Terry Francona warded off an endless barrage of questions about the future
of Ortiz and whether a roster change was needed. While relentlessly
deflecting these inquiries through April, Tito finally gave in during the
first week of May.
Francona confessed, “It’s not going the way we’d like it to. If that’s a
distraction, than we need to figure out a way for it not to be.”
It seemed only a matter of time. There were no other options.
Unless…
Like a phoenix from the ashes, (or some less-cliched symbol of resurrection)
Ortiz abruptly lit the month of May on fire, hitting at a .362 clip while
clubbing 10 home runs with 27 RBI’s.
While glorious to watch, I remained stubbornly skeptical. Surely the
severity of slump in which he had been mired couldn’t be solved by a simple
adjustment that would restore David Ortiz 2010 to David Ortiz, circa 2004.
Wrong again, Adam. Ortiz put up all-star numbers through the rest of the
season allowing him to finish with a .270 average with 32 home runs and 102
RBI’s. Unthinkably beyond the highest expectations of the most passionate
optimist in New England.
Cynic that I am, spring training 2011 rolled around and I had
mildly-optimistic, significantly-reserved expectations for Mr. Ortiz. Surely
2010 was the last gasp of our beloved hero. It’s almost too bad that he
can’t quit while he’s ahead, I thought to myself. Surely he’ll stumble out
of the gate again, and this time he might not recover.
Well, it’s May 10th, 2011. Just over a year ago Ortiz was under .150 and
staring down an involuntary retirement. Today the only question about Ortiz
is whether the bat flip on the first of his two long home runs against the
Yankees this week was disrespectful.
Entering tonight’s contest Ortiz was hitting .324 with 14 home runs and 32
RBI’s.
That this story-line was unfathomable a year ago is an understatement. The
contrast from this time last year is as stark as it is a joy to watch.
I don’t know what to make of it or whether it will last. I do know, however,
that this is one more example of David Ortiz being one of the most
entertaining players in my life time. And I’m fully enjoying the ride.
