In 1938, enroute to a second place finish, 9.5 games behind NYA, Jimmie Foxx of the Boston Red Sox hit 50 home runs. That year, The Beast had the biggest home run year by any Red Sox player, ever. Ted's best: 43 in 1949. Yaz': 44 in 1967. Rice had a season of 46; Mo Vaughn a 44; Manny's hit 45; Rico hit 40 once; Freddie Lynn made 39. Great hitters, all. Impressive sluggers. Then there's Papi. 47 last year, 41 in '04. So, we expected big things this year. Very Big Things. We haven't been disappointed--at least not with David Ortiz.
Papi tied Foxx last night; he didn't waste any time bounding ahead. Tonight, in the first inning, off the game's best in Johan Santana, Ortiz creamed one over Williamsburg's bullpens, into the stands. It was a great, majestic shot. The kind that the writers describe Ruth blasting. The staff of Johnny Brusco's Pizzas and Subs earned my undying gratitude by figuring out where to find the mysterious ESPN2 just in time for their patrons to see the history unfold.
A big man (and that's an inadequate description of Mr. Ortiz) just isn't supposed to be able to pull his hands in and get a full swing on a ball just off the plate inside. Papi does, regularly. Left handed batters aren't supposed to fare well against southpaws. Papi does. And this wasn't just any lefty--this was Johan flipping Santana. He's going to win his second Cy Young in just a few weeks. Best pitcher in the American League. David got him.
For good measure, he extended his record to 52 in the seventh off of Matt Guerrier.
The Sox are in second place, 10.5 games behind NYA after tonight's action. Seems some things never change. The season has proved a disappointment in many ways, especially when the expectations were so high early on. David Ortiz has single-handedly ensured that when Sox fans think of 2006, some of the memories-52 or more of them-will be spectacular!
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