Instead of dropping Big Papi, the Yankees picked him up, dusted him off, and probably sent him on a tear for the rest of the season.
David Ortiz, one of the most feared hitters in baseball, entered this threegame series against the Yankees mired in a 1-for-20 slump. In a 7-3 loss last night, Big Papi posted his first four-hit game of the season, including a tworun homer in the first.
“Last week in Boston I felt like 20 guys were playing defense against me and there were three pitchers, and I didn’t know which was going to throw the ball,” said Ortiz.
Now there could be 20 guys playing defense and three pitchers, especially if they’re Yankee pitchers, and it wouldn’t matter. The dominating Dominican is drilling the ball again.
He showed the first signs of coming out of his funk in Tuesday night’s 14-3 Boston win when he went 1-for-4 with a walk and scored two runs. When asked prior to the game how far he was from finding his swing Ortiz quipped, “Like 100 miles away.” Ortiz must have done some serious speeding on the Major Deegan. His first at-bat showed what a terrific hitter Big Papi is. He battled Mike Mussina until he blasted a 3-2 pitch over the right-field fence.
“That first at-bat was just gorgeous,” said Boston manager Terry Francona.
“Confidence is a huge part of the game.
That first at-bat was beautiful.” What’s beautiful is Big Papi’s big paycheck.
He recently signed a four-year, $50-million contract extension. Perhaps the big-bucks deal put some pressure on Big Papi. Perhaps it was just his turn to be humbled by the baseball gods.
Before the series began Ortiz was in the eye of the storm when Post columnist Mike Vaccaro wrote that Yankees pitchers needed to make him uncomfortable at the plate. Ortiz had 15 home runs and 48 RBIs against the Yankees in the last three-plus seasons.
But Randy Johnson, who walked Ortiz on four outside pitches in his first at-bat Tuesday night, never made Big Papi break a sweat. The Mussina pitch that Ortiz homered on was inside, but not nearly enough to make Big Papi uncomfortable.
“You’re not going to hit everything,” said Ortiz. “No one hits everything.
Even Albert Pujols.” Two games against the Yankees and Big Papi, sense of humor and all, is back to being the Yankee killer he’s been since joining the Red Sox. He said he tries not to get overly pumped up for the best rivalry in sports, but that’s like telling a NASCAR driver not to get excited when making the great pass in corner 3.
“I’m still far away,” said Ortiz. “I could use a couple more days like that.”