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Tuesday, January 25, 2022

David Ortiz - Postseason Hero, Clutch God, HALL OF FAMER

Sleep tight, you couldn’t count the cost through the night
‘Cause it’s not right, it never was right
Come a long, long
Come a long, long way

The words belong to Simple Minds but they are so true of David Americo Ortiz Arias.  He started as a minor leaguer with the Mariners where he began what would be a career long tradition of whooping Alex Rodriguez, then in a Home Run Derby.  He went to Minnesota where after parts of six seasons he was deemed superfluous and young GM Theo Epstein was encouraged by pitcher Pedro Martinez to give him a shot.  Suffice to say it worked out pretty darn well.  His journey took him from Santo Domingo to Arizona to Wisconsin to New Britain to Fort Myers to Salt Lake to Minnesota to Boston and now, to Cooperstown where he will reside alongside the other legends of the game.  Come a long long way indeed.

The thrills he gave us as Red Sox fans are well chronicled by people smarter than I so I will spare you further praise.  The man who led the greatest comeback in baseball history now will take his rightful place in Cooperstown.  Enjoy it Red Sox fans!

Jose is Absurdly Correct but not Helpful Posted: January 25, 2022 at 06:45 PM | 14 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
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   1. villageidiom Posted: January 25, 2022 at 08:16 PM (#6062499)
SPOILER: I approve.
   2. Jose is Absurdly Correct but not Helpful Posted: January 26, 2022 at 08:34 AM (#6062565)
Despite having season tickets throughout his tenure I only saw 1 of his 17 regular season walk off hits, the home run off Tony Pena in 2009. I saw all three post-season walk offs and I was in Boston Beer Works for one (off Akinori Otsuka in the first of a split admin doubleheader).
   3. pikepredator Posted: January 26, 2022 at 05:34 PM (#6062664)
Definitely putting the Fame in Hall of Famer. Coming through in clutch moments (esp in the playoffs) is the extra mustard that we all remember forever. He's truly one of a kind, the right person in the right place to break the curse, and then some.
   4. The Mighty Quintana Posted: January 27, 2022 at 12:59 PM (#6062742)
One can only hope that Koji is on hand at Cooperstown to jump into his arms afterwards!
   5. Darren Posted: January 27, 2022 at 03:08 PM (#6062763)
Around 2009 it looked like things were winding down for Ortiz. Coming off a 102 OPS+, he's turning 34 and has a career line of 317 HR, 1068 RBI, .282/.377/.545, 134 OPS+, 30 WAR. And I remember thinking, even if he's done, what a nice run he's had: a couple of championships, 5 All-Star games, some monster years. He looks a lot like a Boog Powell, Greg Luzinski, Mo Vaughn career. Sure, it'd be nice if he could have lasted into his late 30s, but it would be greedy to ask for anything more than what we've gotten. Everything after that was such a pleasant surprise.


   6. Darren Posted: January 27, 2022 at 03:12 PM (#6062766)
And let's not forget this:

ZiPS Career Projection for David Ortiz (3/2008)

ZiPS: 556 HR, 1,903 RBIs, .296/.390/.557, 2,620 hits
Actual: 541 HR, 1,768, .286/.380/.552, 2,472 hits
   7. Nasty Nate Posted: January 27, 2022 at 03:31 PM (#6062770)
And let's not forget this:

ZiPS Career Projection for David Ortiz (3/2008)
The best part of that thread is just over a year later when people bumped it just to crow about how right they were for being pessimistic!
   8. jmurph Posted: January 28, 2022 at 09:32 AM (#6062849)
The best part of that thread is just over a year later when people bumped it just to crow about how right they were for being pessimistic!

That is indeed a delightful thread.
   9. Rough Carrigan Posted: January 29, 2022 at 02:30 PM (#6063007)
#5, yeah, but his mediocre 2009 was in large part a result of having some kind of wrist tendon problem.

In the bigger picture, what numbers might he have put up if he hadn't spend those years with the Twins being told to (in his memorable recounting) "Swing like a little #####\"?
   10. Darren Posted: January 29, 2022 at 03:12 PM (#6063010)
The best part of that thread is just over a year later when people bumped it just to crow about how right they were for being pessimistic!


You'll notice that none of us piped up to disagree, though! :)

#5, yeah, but his mediocre 2009 was in large part a result of having some kind of wrist tendon problem.

In the bigger picture, what numbers might he have put up if he hadn't spend those years with the Twins being told to (in his memorable recounting) "Swing like a little #####\"?


Of course, lots of what-ifs. For the wrist, sure, but a) wrist injuries don't always heal the way you'd like and b) he was at an age where a lot of guys like him tend to fall apart.
   11. villageidiom Posted: January 30, 2022 at 02:18 PM (#6063057)
I always cringe when I see an old thread resurrected, thinking I might have said something stupid. And maybe I did, but the stupid thing I said was that Ortiz might not be likely to physically break down just because of age and size, and the results kinda backed me up. I'll take it!
   12. Darren Posted: February 01, 2022 at 01:13 PM (#6063355)
I always cringe when I see an old thread resurrected, thinking I might have said something stupid. And maybe I did, but the stupid thing I said was that Ortiz might not be likely to physically break down just because of age and size, and the results kinda backed me up. I'll take it!


I think you win this one, VI!

   13. dave h Posted: February 01, 2022 at 05:22 PM (#6063409)
I was kinda surprised to see I posted on that thread - I read a lot more than I post. Turns out it was a non commital post pointing out a potential caveat, which was ignored. Very on brand, and not completely embarrassing in this case.

Worth noting that he still didn't make the projection, right?
   14. Darren Posted: February 02, 2022 at 10:35 AM (#6063473)
He beat the doubles total!

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