Remember When David Ortiz was Finished?
Remember when David Ortiz was being paraded out of Boston? Remember when everyone said that the beloved slugger’s best days were behind him and that his days with the Red Sox were done? Well, the clutch hitter has answered all his critics and is now the unlikeliest player on the AL roster in the MLB All-Star Game.
There was a time when the title designated hitter did not suit Ortiz because he wasn’t hitting. His hitting was dreadful in April and most of May. Now his career has been revived and is back on track. Red Sox management was patient in letting Ortiz resurge. After all, he has done some amazing things for the team. He is a World Series hero, a clutch hitter and a king of the walk-off home run.
Manager Terry Francona has shown loyalty to his players that helped the Sox win their two World Series titles this decade. Last year, things looked grim when Ortiz was named as one of the 104 players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003. Ortiz insists that he never knowingly took steroids.
Last season, when Ortiz struggled to find his form, as he hit only at .238 average and fizzled out during the playoffs at the beginning of this season, many were starting to believe he was hitting so poorly because he was off steroids.
Ortiz has gotten off to a poor start in each of the last two seasons. It took him until April 23rd this year to hit his first home run. Through his first 50 at-bats, he hit .160 with 19 strikeouts.
Ortiz was simply humiliated as he went from calm to angry as he couldn’t seem to find any solution to his poor hitting.
The 34 year-old slugger hit rock bottom on April 20th. With the bases loaded against Texas late in the game, Francona called Ortiz off the field. Francona had his reasons as the Sox were riding a five game losing streak, struggling to keep pace with the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees in the AL East.
In that game, Ortiz faced three at-bats for 19 pitches and couldn’t put a single ball in play. Ortiz said he understood Francona’s decision: "He did what he had to do." "It's my fault for not hitting. … He was trying to win the game."
On April 30, Ortiz hit a season low .143 average and appeared to be on his way out of Boston. However, since then Ortiz has stormed through the last two months. He won the AL Player of the month award in May as he batted .363 with 10 homers and 27 RBIs. He started June poorly again, going 3-33 before recovering beautifully to bat for .478 and 10 RBI’s in the next seven games. Boston is now creeping in on the Yankees for the division lead and things couldn’t look better for the slugger.
Ortiz doesn’t know how the turnaround happened, but let’s look at it this way. He is a clutch hitter and all clutch hitters perform at their best when they’re in danger. Ortiz’s career was probably down to its last strike in the bottom of the ninth when he suddenly hit perhaps his best homer of all.
Ortiz’s inclusion in the All-Star game, as voted by his peers, is a huge honor for him.
"I really appreciate it, man, that the players think about a guy like myself," Ortiz said.
Ortiz is still regarded as someone who lied about his position regarding performance-enhancing drugs and he has likely not completely cleared his name yet.
Nevertheless, his career has certainly been revived and Ortiz has something to prove. He has the chance to prove that it wasn’t steroids that led to his recent successes, but rather his natural slugging ability, his knack for clutch situations, and most of all his heart.
Ortiz never gave up on himself and neither did the Boston Red Sox. The past couple of months have been a reward for the team for not giving up on their beloved Red Sox hero, Ortiz.
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