The Delta House

David Ortiz is a stone-cold freak. Never in my lifetime have I seen someone who consistently comes through in the clutch like Big Papi, except maybe Superman himself. In back to back games this week, Ortiz had a game-winning walk-off hit to beat the Phillies, and each time, you just knew the guy was going to come through when he stepped into the batter's box.

But that isn't even the most impressive thing I've seen this week about David Ortiz. In last night's game against the Mets, he was on first base with two outs in the inning. Manny Ramirez hit a fly ball to left field, a can of corn if ever there was one. Well, the outfielder badly misplayed the ball and didn't catch it. Ortiz, who had been running hard all the way, scored from first base.

This guy is 6' 4", 245lbs and had absolutely no business scoring from first base on this play. Most guys would have been jogging, figuring that the ball would be caught for the last out of the inning. But not Big Papi. He was hustling all the way. Now THAT is impressive.

It is refreshing that players like David Ortiz are stars in the league when all you hear about in baseball these days is steroids, human growth hormones, amphetamines, and, most recently, domestic violence. He has a smile on his face whenever he isn't standing in the batter's box, and is very active in community affairs, both in Boston and the Dominican Republic.

And yes, he speaks very good English.

Finally, I hope that you are enjoying that MVP award that you won last year Alex Rodriguez. Feel free to send it to the player that truly deserved it, and go about the rest of your overrated ring-less career hitting meaningless homeruns when the Yankees are winning 9-1. In the meantime, Big Papi will continue kicking that Yankee ass! Your next big hit will be your first A-Rod!

***Edit 6/29/06 - Alex Rodriguez hit a home run in the bottom of the 12th inning to beat the Braves yesterday afternoon. So I guess that his next big hit will be his second.