Ortiz On Way To Cooperstown

Holt and Pedroia congratulate Ortiz on his big three-run homer (Concord Monitor)

David Ortiz swatted the 450th home run of his career last night, a three-run bomb into Yankee Stadium's right field bleachers off Chase Whitley. By scoring Brock Holt and Dustin Pedroia, it gave Boston a 4-0 lead at the time in a game the Red Sox would go on to win 8-5.

The 25 year-old Whitley, a rookie making his first career start against the Boston Red Sox, became a footnote to history. To his credit, he got the best of Ortiz in their first meeting by getting him to bounce into an inning-ending double play. The second time around, though, Ortiz took him deep, making Whitley the 307th pitcher Ortiz has homered off. It was also his 41st against the Yankees and 52nd three-run shot

Papi's prodigious blast snapped a three-way tie for 37th place on the all-time home run list with Jeff Bagwell and Vladimir Guerrero, both contemporaries of Ortiz as well as deserving Hall of Famers. Among active players only Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Albert Pujols, and Adam Dunn have more, and Ortiz figures to pass Dunn shortly (Papi needs only two to tie Dunn, which he could do tonight).

And while Ortiz's numbers are down compared to what they've been the last three seasons, he's still having a good year at 38 and is on pace for another 30 homer, 100 RBI season (his eighth if he can reach both benchmarks). He might also be an All-Star for the tenth time, as he's currently outpolling every DH not named Nelson Cruz. The Red Sox might be struggling, but Ortiz's march towards Cooperstown continues.

Ortiz's Hall of Fame case is very polarizing, primarily because he's done most of his damage as a full-time designated hitter. Paul Molitor and Frank Thomas's inductions notwithstanding, people have been very harsh towards and critical of DHs when it comes to Cooperstown, and evaluating their batting statistics in general. Many feel it's appropriate to hold them to higher offensive standards because they don't contribute on defense. Others, who I assume for the most part are National League fans otherwise known as baseball "purists," dismiss their accomplishments altogether because they were one-dimensional, incomplete players.

Well, so are a lot of players who play the field (Willie McCovey, Harmon Killebrew, Ted Williams), and they actively hurt their team by doing do. I don't think it's fair to hold that against Ortiz, who would (and has) play(ed) the field when needed. Where he plays is the manager's decision, not his.

I don't even think it's fair to compare designated hitters to relief pitchers, both of whom have been deemed "specialists" akin to football's punters and special team players. Relievers throw one inning every other game, while DHs get three-to-five at-bats per game. Designated hitters have much more of an impact over the course of a season and a career than relievers do, which is reflected in their superior WAR figures. An elite hitter is much more valuable than an elite reliever or closer, and yet people seem to have no problem with relief pitchers going into the Hall of Fame.

So yeah, I think it's ridiculous that Edgar Martinez, one of the greatest hitters of all-time, still hasn't gotten the call 10 years after his retirement. I can only hope voters are more receptive to Ortiz (but, due to his PED-history, probably won't be), because he is also a deserving Hall of Famer in his own right.

The two keys to a Hall of Fame career are longevity and a terrific peak, and Ortiz has both. From 2003 through 2007 he was the American League’s best hitter, ranking first among AL players in doubles, walks, RBI, and OPS, second in home runs and third in the FanGraphs version of Wins Above Replacement (despite contributing nothing in the field or on the bases). Big Papi batted .302/.402/.612 over this five-year stretch, averaging 42 home runs and 128 RBI per season and finishing in the top five of MVP voting every year.

After a few down (but still good) seasons, Ortiz re-claimed his status as one of baseball’s best hitters, batting a combined .311/.401/.571 from 2011 to 2013. Even at 38 he seems to have plenty of juice left in the tank, and if that is indeed the case then several milestones, such as 500 home runs, appear to be in reach.

As for longevity, Ortiz has sustained his greatness for more than a decade and compiled some very impressive career numbers along the way. The nine-time All-Star just recorded his 2,000^th hit and 500^th double last year and continues to climb the all-time leaderboards. He ranks in the top-50 in slugging percentage, OPS, doubles, home runs, extra base hits, and AB/HR ratio.

Strictly based on his regular season body of work, Ortiz already has a compelling case for Cooperstown, and there are a host of other factors that strengthen his case even more.One of the best clutch hitters of all-time, Papi deserves extra credit for his legendary postseason heroics that spurred Boston to a trio of World Series titles since he joined the team in 2003. His three walk-off hits in the 2004 postseason come to mind, as do last year’s game-tying grand slam against Detroit in the ALCS and World Series MVP performance versus the Cardinals. His name is plastered all over the postseason leaderboards, hardly a surprise given that the man they call “Senor Octubre” always seems to rise to the occasion.

Ortiz has been exemplary off the field as well, embracing his status as a local legend and role model in the community. He founded the David Ortiz children’s fund in 2007. The following year, he released his own charity wine label (with all proceeds going to his children’s fund) and received UNICEF’s Children’s Champion Award. In 2011 he received the Roberto Clemente Award, given annually to the player who “best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual's contribution to his team.” A leader on the field and off, Ortiz finished third in Boston’s 2013 mayoral race with 560 write-in votes.

Lastly, Ortiz deserves to be recognized as one of the best designated hitters in baseball history. His seven Outstanding Designated Hitter Awards and six Silver Slugger Awards are tops for a DH, and The Sporting News named him “Designated Hitter of the Decade” from 2000-2009. With the most hits, home runs, and RBI by a DH, he’s reached heights that no other designated hitter has.

Ortiz’s offensive numbers aren’t otherworldly, especially for someone who rarely plays the field and is a liability on the basepaths, but they’re still Hall of Fame-caliber. As one of the best hitters, Red Sox players, designated hitters, and postseason performers of all-time, Ortiz has done more than enough to merit induction. It seems his teammates were on to something when they bestowed a new nickname upon him last year: “Cooperstown.”

Red Sox Mount Rushmore

Williams and Yaz were easy choices for my Red Sox Mount Rushmore

Since Derek Jeter's announcement, there's been some talk about whether or not he belongs on the Yankee version of Mt. Rushmore. Is he one of the four best and most iconic Yankees of all-time? It's close, but I'd say his fifth-best, with Yogi Berra right behind him. Jeter's got nothing on Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, all of whom compiled more bWAR and won at least one MVP award.

But that got me thinking: who would be on the Red Sox Mt. Rushmore? Ted Williams, of course, and Carl Yastrzemski is a no-brainer. What's more, they played their careers back-to-back, with Yaz debuting the year after Williams retired, so together they cover nearly 50 years of Boston baseball (1939-1983).

Figuring out the last two spots was much tougher. After last year, I feel like David Ortiz definitely deserves to be there. He's the only surviving link between Boston's trio of millennial champions, and his dazzling postseason success has helped make him one of the most important Red Sox to ever put on the uniform. In particular, his role in orchestrating Boston's epic comeback versus New York in the 2004 ALCS will never be forgotten.

So who gets the last spot? Part of me wanted to choose a pitcher, but how do you pick between Cy Young, Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez? I'm not sure that you can. The fan in me wants Nomar Garciaparra, but six spectacular seasons isn't enough. There's an argument to be made for Johnny Pesky, who gave more to the Red Sox than any other person on this earth, but as a player his accomplishments fall a bit short.I considered a bunch of guys from the 1970s and '80s--Jim Rice, Carlton Fisk, Wade Boggs, Dwight Evans and Luis Tiant--but came to the conclusion that they weren't up to snuff (Boggs was closest). I also thought about some of the Depression-Era stars like Lefty Grove, Jimmie Foxx, and Joe Cronin, only to decide against them as well.

Besides, I thought it was important to have someone representing Boston's first baseball dynasty, when they won five of the first 15 World Series including four in a seven year stretch from 1912-1918. One would be justified in choosing Babe Ruth, but his Red Sox career can't hold a candle to his Yankees one. Duffy Lewis and Harry Hooper were great outfielders, but not quite what we're looking for.

In the end I decided I wanted Tris Speaker to represent the glory years. Until Williams came along, Speaker was without a doubt the best position player in franchise history. He batted a Boggs-ian.337/.414/.482 in his nine seasons with Boston, good for a 165 OPS+ during the heart of the Deadball Era. In addition, the Grey Eagle was a tremendous center fielder and fine baserunner, ranking second in franchise history in stolen bases. He's one of just three Red Sox (Williams and Yastrzemski are the others) to have multiple ten-win seasons with the club, one of which was his 1912 MVP season that coincided with Boston crowning its new park with a World Series championship.

That Speaker was traded just five days after his 28th birthday, when he hadn't even reached the halfway point of his Hall of Fame career, is second only to the infamous sale of Ruth on the scale of Red Sox personnel mistakes.

Questioning Ortiz

Longtime Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy made waves last week when he questioned the validity of David Ortiz's hot start. Shaughnessy has since caught his fair share of flak for insinuating that Ortiz is using performance enhancing drugs, especially since he did so without any hard evidence to back up his accusations.

But was what Shaughnessy did wrong? I don't think so.

Everyone seems to forget that Ortiz's name is on the list of players who tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. Whereas unlikable players such as Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Alex Rodriguez have constantly been forced to answer to their past mistakes, Ortiz's murky history has been more or less swept under the rug.

That history is particularly relevant given his recent career trajectory. Ortiz struggled mightily in the first two months of 2009 and finished the season with a .238 batting average, nearly 100 points lower than the .332 mark he posted two years before. In 2010 he endured an equally painful start and struck out a career-high 145 times. Though still a great hitter, Ortiz was in his mid-thirties and clearly appeared to be a player in decline.

Then, in 2011 at the age of 35, Ortiz re-established himself as one of the game's dominant offensive forces. By slimming down, cutting his strikeouts in half and improving his performance against lefties, Ortiz rebounded to bat .309/.398/.554 with 29 home runs and 96 RBI (I'm still mystefied as to how he failed to receive any MVP consideration). The following year he was on his way to even bigger numbers when a torn Achilles derailed his season, limiting him to just one game after July 16th..

The same injury cropped up again this year and sidelined him until April 20th, but the combination of injury and missed time didn't stop him from pounding the ball upon his return. In his first 13 games back, Big Papi batted .440/.473/.840 with 17 RBI and a dozen extra base hits. He looked like the David Ortiz of old, hitting the ball with authority to all fields, driving in runs, and anchoring the heart of Boston's order.

Though Ortiz's torrid start to the season was unexpected, that does not mean it was without precedent. As Gordon Edes pointed out, Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams both raked under similar circumstances. Ortiz is hardly the first player to perform so well at such an advanced age, either. Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, and Frank Robinson were still studs in their age 37 seasons. Furthermore, it makes sense that Ortiz is aging gracefully as he's spent most of his career in the DH role, thus avoiding the wear and tear that results from playing the field on a daily basis.

Still, Shaughnessy was fair to wonder whether Ortiz is getting outside help. The steroid era has conditioned baseball fans to suspect everything and trust nothing. Everyone's burned too many times to simply accept a great story at face value. Baseball is much cleaner than it was ten years ago, but PEDs are still a problem. It would be naive not to acknowledge the possibility that Ortiz, who's used them before, could be juicing again.

PEDs are part of his story. They're part of the game. It's a touchy subject but, whether we like it or not, someone had to bring it up.