FORT MYERS, Fla. David Ortiz arrived here on Tuesday as scheduled, not there was ever any doubt about that. He has never been Manny Ramirez, seeing how much he could get away with just for the fun of it. He has never been Roger Clemens, seeing how long the Red Sox could look at his vacant locker before making another unscheduled bank withdrawal. <\/p>\n
Everybodys definition of what makes a player a Hall of Famer is different, but Ortiz fits almost every one of them, especially the intangible ones. At some point in his Red Sox career, perhaps after his incomparable offensive performance in the 2013 postseason, he crossed the invisible line to iconic. <\/p>\n
As was seen on Tuesday, Ortiz no longer simply makes appearances. There are now Ortiz sightings, fans whispering, I think thats Big Papi to whoever is close by. As word got around the JetBlue Park fields that Ortiz was in the batting cages, a crowd gathered there just to catch a hurried glimpse of him. <\/p>\n
When he moved from the cages to Field One, towel over his head, many in the crowd went with him keeping a respectful distance and when word got around that Ortiz would be taking swings in public, it was as if the Red Sox had posted a free clam rolls sign over that way, what with all the scurrying to get a closer look. <\/p>\n
Ortiz didnt answer questions about how he feels with one of those, Im in the best shape of my career responses, since he didnt answer questions, period. His prefab press conference is scheduled for today. <\/p>\n
John Farrell didnt exactly say that Ortiz was in the best shape of his career, but came close with, He looks like hes in great shape. Hes a full go. <\/p>\n
Ortiz is the second-oldest player on the Red Sox roster at 39 and will not turn 40 until Nov. 18. That makes him about seven months younger than Koji Uehara, and it may also say something about the Sox that their best reliever and best hitter are the oldest players on the roster. <\/p>\n
Ortiz was born two years after the American League adopted the designated hitter, and the time has passed where Edgar Martinez can be compared with Ortiz as the best ever, if only because his playoff performances dont match up. <\/p>\n
Martinez was a solid DH until he retired in 2004 at age 41, batting .263 with 12 homers and 63 RBIs. A year earlier, Martinez batted .294 with 24 home runs and 98 RBIs. <\/p>\n
Last year, Ortiz had his best season since 2006 with 35 home runs and 104 RBIs. He heads into this year with 466 career home runs and an identical performance would put him over 500. <\/p>\n
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Red Sox icon David Ortiz 'a full go' for camp<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" FORT MYERS, Fla. David Ortiz arrived here on Tuesday as scheduled, not there was ever any doubt about that. He has never been Manny Ramirez, seeing how much he could get away with just for the fun of it Continue reading