David Ortiz

When we looked at our TVs  and saw Tom Caron saying the New York Times has reported David Ortiz being on the anonymous list of players who tested positive for Performance Enhancing Substances in 2003, no Red Sox fan was leaving the TV for the fridge – unless it for a couple of cold ones. 

Continue reading "Say It Ain’t So, Papi…Please?"

David Ortiz is the latest in a fearsome lineup of would-be hall of famers to be dragged under the worn tarmac of performance-enhancing drug speculation. In keeping with the overall theme from my previous, related posts, I would advocate for the lifetime ban of this once-proud slugger (if proven guilty), as I would for any player caught cheating the national pastime. One day, when the smoke finally clears (whenever that day may be), Major League Baseball could be faced with a cold reality: maybe 90% of ballplayers juiced. Maybe Cal Ripken, Ken Griffey Jr., Albert Pujols, Greg Maddux, Rickey Henderson-maybe they all were cheaters.

Continue reading "Initial Reaction to Ortiz Story"

The Red Sox played a great game of baseball Wednesday night, as those of us in the Boston area were able to watch on NESN.  However, there was another fun game of baseball on ESPN 2 for their usual Wednesday Night Baseball game against the Braves and Yankees who were playing at the same time.  I found myself flipping between channels during commercial breaks for the Sox and caught some cool moments.  Meanwhile, the College World Series’ final game was on ESPN between Texas and LSU.  There was an awful lot of baseball on last night. 

Continue reading "Wednesday Night Baseball – Not ..."

urther runners.  Hats off to both of them. 

Now let’s talk some offense:  David Ortiz finally had a multi-hit game where he went 2-3 with a walk and a homer over the monster.  Now that’s the Papi we know and love.  I think he’s back, RSN. 

Continue reading "“Go Crazy Folks, The Red Sox Win This One!”"

Although the Red Sox have dominated the Yanks thus far, many have pointed out that the first two series against the Bombers were “a different Yankees team.”  They did not have A-rod and we have yet to see Sabathia pitch against us.  While we still have yet to see Sabathia, we sure proved that we can beat the Yanks with or without A-rod last night – although it sure helps when AJ Burnett is on the mound and can’t get out of the third inning. 

Continue reading "Sox Are 6-0 Against Yanks for the ..."

Did anyone else get the chills last night as Ortiz’s shot just cleared the center field fence in the fifth?  I sure did.  I kept smiling for the rest of the inning (which was hard not to with all the homers) and even laughed out loud as I realized the team was giving Papi the cold shoulder when he came back to the dugout.  And Red Sox Nation topped it off by giving him one of the loudest ovations of the season, to which Papi answered with a curtain call.  What a great moment at Fenway Park. 

Continue reading "Papi Power - What a Game!"

They’re currently talking on 850 AM WEEI “The Big Show” about David Ortiz and the obvious.  I’ve talked about this before and I’ll say it again, I believe that this is just a slump for Ortiz.  It’s a long one but he’s going to come out of it.  Varitek did the same thing last year and has hit 5 homers and 9 doubles so far this season – not a whole lot, but he hit 13 homers and 20 doubles last season.  He could easily pass those numbers this year.  So like I said, Ortiz is coming back.  No need to worry. 

Continue reading "Well That was a Fast One"

ouple more points I want to make:  1) I think the best thing for Francona to do with the whole David Ortiz situation is to let him have a couple games off.  It’s what he did with Varitek and with Lugo in the past and I don’t know why he doesn’t do it with Papi.  He’s clearly slumping, but at the same time it’s not like he’s always swinging and missing.  He’s been giving the ball a ride and usually when he does this it goes right at the outfielders.  Also it’s obvious his confidence isn’t all there with the amount of check swing’s he has had.  I say give him tonight and tomorrow off and then put him back in the 3 spot on Sunday. 

Continue reading "Boston, you're still my home"

Home plate umpire Jim Joyce gave all of us on the East Coast a start last night after jumping up from behind home plate to issue a warning to both ball clubs in the third.  As it turns out, both clubs were informed before the game even started that the umps would be keeping a close eye on them, according to Lyle Spencer from mlb.com. 

Continue reading "I'll give you a warning..."

“Good evening folks, hope you’ve had a wonderful Mother’s Day.  It’s Sunday evening and we’re playing baseball at Fenway Park.  Get ready folks – this is gonna be a fun one.”

Continue reading "Beckett, the Bullpen, and Bay make us Believe"

Steroids has officially gone postal.

The list of all-star players who have been revealed to be using steroids: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Andy Pettitte, Jason Giambi, Miguel Tejada, Alex Rodriguez, now.......MANNY RAMIREZ.

Continue reading "Manny being Manny: The Latest twist ..."

Dear Readers (all five of you):

I've been active on my other blog at www.fannation.com, under the username JFro, but I continually forget to publish those posts here. That said, the next five posts should be considered my belated MLB preseason predictions -- a preview, of sorts. There's the top five infields, outfields, bullpens, and starting rotations, and of course The Big Kahuna:

Continue reading "Note about forthcoming posts"

Boston tied the game, and in the 12th inning David Ortiz hit a 2-run homerun to give the Red Sox the win, and hopes of a World Series, though bleak, were still a possibility. Boston would win the next three games in dramatic fashion, and became the first team in Major League Baseball history to win a best of seven series after losing the first three. The Red Sox would go on to face the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. They were no match for Boston or the “Red Sox Nation”. The Sox won the series in a four game sweep setting a record for most consecutive playoff wins, and finally bringing a championship back to Bean-town.

Continue reading "For Love of the Game"

The Yankees have gotten their holiday gifts early this year with starting pitchers CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. I could rant and rave about how Stienbrennerclaus had to spend oodles of cash in order to bring New York some holiday cheer but the fact remains; the Yanks just hauled in the top two free agent pitchers on the market. Now that the Bronx Bombers aren't using Sidney Ponson as their number three man in the rotation we can expect them to once again be pushing towards playoff glory in the dominate A.L. East. As a Red Sox fan I can't help but be upset in losing both these arms so let's look towards the bright side. 

Continue reading "The Death Star was Rebuilt and so ..."

162 games in a season. Important games throughout. A no-hitter. Endless comebacks. Shut outs both ways. Walk Off home runs. Game 7 loss. As much as I hate to say it, the only thing that I can remember about the 2008 Boston Red Sox season is the devastating Game 7 loss to rival Tampa Bay Rays.

Continue reading "2008 Red Sox"

For the last few day the Red Sox looked like a mirror image of the Dodgers.  Dying and quickly being pushed out of post season play.  A finally, a kid from Woodland, Ca battles his way to a two out RBI single and the Red Sox wake up.  Ortiz temporarly breaks out of his slump at the right moment and breathes life back into Red Sox nation.  JD Drew has found a home in Boston and calmly belted one over the right field fence to get the Sox back to within one run.  Drew looked very comfortable at the plate while working Howell to a 3-1 count.  You knew he was going to hit the ball hard somewhere. And he did and Boston will go back to Tampa.

Continue reading "Wow"

I don't know if it's just me, but the playoffs never seem to officially start until the Sox play a game at Friendly Fenway. I mean, I watched the games in LA - or LA of Anaheim, or Anaheim in LA, or Anaheim in LA of California, United States - and came away psyched that the Sox were up 2-0, but it didn't have that playoff feel. It just felt like a road trip to the west coast. Maybe it was the fact that the glamorous LA fans were eating sushi off of asian-influenced rectangle plates instead of toting a steamed dog in one hand and a $7 Coors Light in the other. I don't know.

Continue reading "Feeling Fenway"

w, chap!). 

As dominant as the Red Sox were tonight (the icing on the cake was a David Ortiz RBI single), the Angels were equally bad, making some costly errors and coming up short every time they had a chance to catch a break.  The Angels’ breakdown was also reminiscent of series past, as Vladimir Guerrero’s postseason woes continued.  Although the Dominican slugger had two singles tonight, he made a critical blunder on the base paths that killed any momentum the Angels had. 

Continue reading "Same as it Ever Was"

I went to Fenway for the first time in a dog's age the other night and watched the Sox lose to Cleveland on a series of Jed Lowrie missed-opportunities. While the outcome was unfavorable, Fenway has not lost any of its charms or ambiance. Allow me to paint a quick sketch, if you will..

Continue reading "Thoughts on Fenway..."

The first relates to David Ortiz, and his uncanny ability to produce the most when times are most desparate. The Sox are about to enter the postseason with JD Drew having four more at-bats than me since mid-August and with Mike Lowell looking like he needs a walker to get around, not to mention with Josh Beckett battling what can become one of the most nagging and lingering injuries in sports (the dreaded oblique). And yet my feelings of doom are assuaged slightly by the fact that the big man has been tearing the cover off the ball lately.

Continue reading "After my bedtime"

The Red Sox didn't back down though, despite being down 5-0 early. They cut it to 5-1 with a David Ortiz RBI single, and then 5-3 with a Jason Bay 2 run 2 out homerun. Jon Lester, luckily would settle down. He didn't allow a run over the next 5 innings, finishing with a decent line, 7 innings 5 earned, but he was on the hook for the loss as his offense couldn't get him anymore than those 3 runs.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/21 (2nd time's the ..."

They got a 4th inning solo shot by Senor Clutch, David Ortiz, his 2nd of the night and 21st of the season. Unless he gets 9 more homeruns in the next 10 games, this will be the first time since his Minnesota days, 2002, that he didn't have 30 homeruns. Unless he gets 16 RBIs as well, it will be his first sub 100 RBI season since that same season, 2002, in what has been a down year plagued by injuries for Ortiz.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/18"

Keep the faith.

Post game notes:

-David Ortiz:  Big Papi scored all the RBIs for the Sox last night, hitting two home runs.  Funny how this came right as sports analysists were pointing out how Papi’s swing has not been the same as of late.  Hopefully he can keep this up, seeing as we have so injuries, as mentioned before. 

Continue reading "Signs of Change"

However, they came out firing tonight. They had four runs in the first, off of homeruns from David Ortiz and Mike Lowell. After getting seven more in the fourth, including homeruns from Jason Bay, Kevin Youkilis, and Jason Varitek, they had a commanding 11-1 lead that they would not give back.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/15"

Lost in the shuffle of Matt Cassel beating Brett Favre in the most hyped Week 2 game in years around these parts on Sunday afternoon, Jon Lester continued his march toward becoming a truly elite pitcher by outdueling a man largely respected as perhaps the best hurler in the AL, in a game the Sox needed to have. Any question marks that surrounded Lester at the All-Star break have been officially converted into exclamation points. In fact, pencil him in for Game 2 right now - it doesn't matter who we are playing or what Daisuke's record ends up being ... Lester's earned the spot right behind Beckett in the playoff rotation.

Continue reading "Q & A ... well, at least some Qs"

After getting another run in the 8th, as Kevin Youkilis hit a sac fly to drive in David Ortiz who was standing on 3rd after hitting his 1st triple of the season, they lead 4-1. Leading by less than 3 with an inning to go, the Sox handed to ball to their closer, Jonathan Papelbon. Papelbon blew a save earlier this week against Tampa, but also had a perfect 3 out save yesterday against the Jays. This time, the job was shaky, but he had room for error. He did surrender 2 runs to the Jays in the 9th, bringing his ERA up to 2.11, but he got the job done as he got the save for Jon Lester, and the Red Sox won their 88th game on the season.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/14"

The Red Sox got to Edwin Jackson early, scoring 3 in the first off of a David Ortiz RBI double, a Kevin Youkilis RBI single, and a Jason Bay RBI solo homerun out into the sellout crowd. That would literally be all Jon Lester needed. If you were a fan of many runs being scored, you should have just shut the TV off after the first. Lester didn't give up a run in 7 and 2/3 shutout innings. Jackson regrouped after that rough first and didn't give up a run throughout his next 6 innings of work, to finish with a 4.06 ERA. However, the damage had been done. Lester was relieved by Papelbon, who got the 4 out save, his 36th of the year and the Red Sox took game 1 3-0 and moved within a half game of the Rays, with a chance to overtake them tomorrow.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/8"

Early 2nd inning RBIs from Alex Cora and Coco Crisp gave the Sox an early 2-0 lead. A David Ortiz two run shot, his 18th, in the 5th pushed it to a 4-0 advantage. 6th inning RBIs from Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia, as well as a 7th inning solo shot from Jason Bay, his 27th, made it a 7-0 lead.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/7"

: The Red Sox lineup, circa April 2008
CF - Jacoby Ellsbury
2B - Dustin Pedroia
DH - David Ortiz
LF - Manny Ramirez
3B - Mike Lowell
RF - JD Drew
1B - Kevin Youkilis

Continue reading "Law and Order"

struggling to hit .220, that Kevin Youkilis would be the team's most feared power hitter, and that David Ortiz would miss the bulk of the first half with an injury - I'd probably have predicted that the Sox would finish fourth in the American League East.

Continue reading "Not Exactly How They Drew It Up - ..."

rough seven innings (giving up 4 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, and striking out five)?  Or maybe it was David Ortiz who doubled twice, driving in a run while scoring two. 

Needless to say last night was a great team effort by the Sox.  It’s victories like these that make us look playoff ready.  I wouldn’t say we are, considering how many injuries we have going for us, but it sure gives us some breathing room when we play better baseball. 

Continue reading "Game 1 - Sox win"

  I picked up on this one late; like into the 7th inning, and the Boston Red Sox were down 15-14. 15-14!???!!!. What the heck had I missed? Well, for one thing, a 10-run first inning for the Sox that included two homeruns by Ortiz, an 8-run 5th inning for Texas, followed by a 5-run 6th inning that put them ahead and set the stage for what could easily have been the most embarrasing Red Sox loss of the year. As it turned out, thanks to Kevin Youkilis, it was a 19-16 win that temporarily inched them one-half game closer to the Rays, who were in the process of a minor struggle versus Oakland when the Sox concluded their 4-hour marathon.

Continue reading "Boston Red Sox in an (almost embarrassing) ..."

On the NESN pregame show, an interview was shown of Francona saying that Ortiz's wrist clicking is very "normal" and will not lead to further injury.  This has to be a huge sigh of relief for RSN.  Ortiz will bat his usual third spot in the line up.

Continue reading "Ortiz's wrist "clicking" - nothing serious"

I forgot to mention in one of my earlier blogs that Jerry Remy mentioned in his pregame report that the Royals were not going to be an easy team to beat.  This is the opposite of what I said at the end of my post after we swept the A's.  It looks like the Remdawg was right (as he usually is).  Meche really shut us down for 6 innings, allowing only  4 hits and two runs.  He didn't look too good in the first inning, as the Sox scraped up a pair of runs, but he got down to buisness after that. 

Continue reading "Why can't we win on the road?!"

are not functioning properly, the result would be a precipitous drop in your batting average (think David Ortiz and his knee, circa last year) and a resulting drop in your stolen bases.

It's just a theory, obviously. Mine eyes have seen no evidence that Ellsbury is ailing other than his statistical struggles. But we've seen players - and teams - hide injuries to keep from letting the media put more pressure on a young player. It wouldn't be the first time. Maybe his hamstring is sore, maybe his quad is tight, maybe his ankle is tweaked ... who knows. But the Red Sox wouldn't be reinventing the wheel by keeping it quiet.

Continue reading "Stop Sign"

As I expected, Richie Sexson was signed by the one team in major league baseball who signs every single castoff, just in case he might turn it around in pinstripes: the Yankees. The temptation of that short porch in Yankee Stadium right field, combined with Sexson’s power potential, was too tempting to the team that claimed Jose Canseco off waivers in 2000, just to be sure he didn’t go to a division rival.

Continue reading "Sexson a Yankee; LaHair a Mariner"

y Ramirez is one of the most dedicated and studious hitters in the game today.

Like his teammate, David Ortiz, Manny meticulously studies his every at bat and is constantly researching his opponents to gain the biggest possible edge against them for game day.  Manny works hard on refining his swing, and he's always putting in extra work to keep his picture perfect stroke as refined as possible.  Nobody sees Manny's constant study or his unending search to perfect his own swing, but a seasoned observer with a keen eye can tell you that Manny couldn't possibly have come as far as he has without a considerable amount of hard work.  If you really think about Manny, his swing, and his style as a hitter, it becomes plain to see that he got where he is as a hitter through hard work and practice, not by simply relying on his natural talents.  Manny is so disciplined compared to some of the raw hitting talents in this league (for instance, Vlad Guerrero), that he couldn't possibly have been so blessed with natural hitting abilities. 

Continue reading "Just Hit"

           Hey, Sox Fans, how’s it been goin’? Been a while. . .

            I’ll be honest with you, following the Red Sox on a daily basis can turn into a full-time job, and this doesn’t even include the other teams you tend to watch as they jockey with the Sox for position. Just got out of the habit of writing about them.

Continue reading "The Boston Red Sox at mid-season ..."

He plucked David Ortiz from the Twins, filled third base with Bill Mueller and Mike Lowell (two of the classiest dudes ever to wear a Sox uniform), and stocked the pitching staff with young arms. He also traded for Curt Schilling and built two World Series winners. But for whatever reason Epstein keeps coming up with an E-6.

Continue reading "No short answer"

At the mid-point of the '08 season, when many players are being lauded for their first-half accomplishments, I think it would be a disservice to the deserving fumblers around the league not to recognize their remarkable level of ineptitude.

Continue reading "Baseball's All-Underachieving Squad"

So can we please talk about Jason Giambi's mustache for a second? First the guy admits to wearing a gold thong when he needs to break out of a slump (it's hard to imagine that's all he's "breaking out of" in that kind of attire). And now he goes ahead and grows a full-out, mid-80s, Magnum PI mustache. Add these two nuggets to the fact that he's one of the 3 sweatiest humans on the planet, and that he's a New York Yankee, and you have the grossest person in America. Ever. Period.

Continue reading "Now playing first base for the New ..."

eader in home runs.  Something no Red Sox fan would've ever considered since Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz are also in the lineup.But while JD may have added another home run to his 2008 t

Continue reading "JD Back with a Bang"

So there I was, lounging on the couch with my dog, half-way paying attention to Kevin Cash's eighth-inning at-bat Wednesday night. Half-way paying attention, you see, because Cash's last 40 or so trips to the plate have resulted in something of a similar outcome - ugliness. Obviously nobody is expecting a 40-40 season from a back-up catcher, and he continues to do what he was brought here to do - catch Wake - but his swing hasn't exactly been drawing comparisons to Griffey, Jr. of late.

Continue reading "Catching A Break"

So David Ortiz is going onto the 15 day Disabled List. The team expects him to be out for about a month. It doesn’t look like surgery will be necessary. This isn’t going to be that big of deal for the Red Sox. Sure it hurts to lose Big Papi, the Major League leader in RBI over that past 5 seasons, but Boston can manage for a month. Afterall, Ortiz played so poorly for the first month of this season that he may as well have not been in the lineup and the team did okay. Sure it hurts not to have his leadership around, but the Red Sox still have enough offense that they’ll be able to get by. Everything will be just fine.

Continue reading "Injury to Ortiz is Bad News for Boston"

o, the worst news came after the game when Red Sox Nation heard that our beloved designated hitter, David Ortiz, has a partially torn ECU tendon sheath which will place him on the&nbs

Continue reading "It's All Bad"

b maybe we can find the chink in the chain.Offense: When the two main sluggers of Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz are not performing others like Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Lowell and yes, even sometimes J.D. Drew, can perform. Just the other night J.D. Drew was clutch against the Minnesota Twins by knocking a RBI double center field.  Offense is not the problem.

Continue reading "What else can the Red Sox do?"

s and being more (intelligently) aggressive on the basepaths, Boston is providing Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz with more and more opportunities to do what is expected of them. 2008 and could b

Continue reading "The Go Go . . . Red Sox?"

p;and are on a losing streak. It is still April and the Sox have been the walking wounded with David Ortiz, Mike Lowell, and Daisuke Matsuzaka out with injuries. These injuries will pass just like the Old Towne Team's losing streak. Let's be patient and not worry just yet

Continue reading "Injury-Riddled Red Sox lose again"

p;and are on a losing streak. It is still April and the Sox have been the walking wounded with David Ortiz, Mike Lowell, and Daisuke Matsuzaka out with injuries. These injuries will pass just like the Old Towne Team's losing streak.

Continue reading "Injury Ridden Red Sox lose again"

p;     The Associated Press has just reported that the Boston Red Sox jersey of David Ortiz buried under Yankee Stadium earlier this month has sold for $175,100 in

Continue reading "Jimmy Fund Charity gets 175 K for ..."

d the field with more authority and sooner or later Mike Lowell will come off the disabled list and David Ortiz will snap out of his funk and the offense will be back to hitting on all cylinders.

Continue reading "Red Sox Should Feel Good About The Season So Far"

You'd lose all that good will.

Johnny Pesky, with an assist from David Ortiz, ran the Championship flag up its pole and it was time to play baseball.

And the Sox evened their record at 4-4. Eight games in the book; .049382716049382716049382716049383 % of the season (isn't it odd how those middle numbers 93827 & 1604 repeat?).

Continue reading "The Boston Red Sox; faltering in ..."

aying against a team even more anemic offensively or else they could be 1 and 3 instead of 3 and 1. David Ortiz, the biggest bat of them all, went 0 for 11 before coming alive in the fourth game. Take heart Sox fans, Ortiz (who is hitting .188) and Mike Lowell (.133), last season’s leading run producers, will not finish the season batting below .200.

Continue reading "Red Sox Hitters Just Need to Find Their Rhythm"

           If you’re a baseball fan (any team), you know better than to get excited about the results of any single series of games. If you’ve been a Boston Red Sox fan for longer than (say) 10 years, you know better than to get excited about almost anything until (say) mid-September (and even then. . ).

Continue reading "Don't get too excited. . .but the ..."

z or Miguel CaberaSS Carlos GuillenC Joe MauerOF Tori HunterOF Grady SizemoreOF Magglio OrdonezUTIL David OrtizSP Josh BeckettSP John LackeySP Justin VerlanderCLOSER Jonathon Papelbon

AL BATTING CHAMP

Continue reading "2008 Major League Baseball Preview: ..."

nst the A’s in Oakland and then a three game series in Toronto before the home opener.

Will David Ortiz Still be Feeling the Effects of Off-Season Knee Surgery?

Ortiz played all of last season on a balky right knee that clearly affected his power numbers, though he still managed to post a career high batting average. Last November he had arthroscopic surgery on the knee to clean it out and is expected to fully participate in Spring Training. Certainly the Boston medical staff will keep and eye on him and make sure he doesn’t reaggravate the knee. The is little doubt Ortiz will be ready for opening day, but will it take some time before the power returns to the level to which we have become accustomed?

Continue reading "Boston Red Sox Spring Training Stories To Follow"

With all indications that the Boston Red Sox will hit the field in 2008 with the exact same lineup as they did last October, I thought I'd take a look at that 2007 team and see just what the package consisted of.

Continue reading "If the Boston Red Sox were a 'single' ..."

He only stole two bases (one less than David Ortiz, for heaven's sake), so it doesn't seem likely that we'll be seeing him tearing up the base paths, any time soon.

His average of .296 is tied with Manny's and a notch above Kevin Youkilis (.288); not bad company at all. On-base percentage (.353) is right between Varitek and Coco; again, not bad company. Can't say much for his slugging percentage, though (.393), which puts him in the company of Alex Cora and Eric Hinske.

Continue reading "Casey at the Bat"