David Ortiz is on the brink of 500 home runs, but what does it matter?
COMMENTARY
The best thing David Ortiz can do is wrap this whole thing up as quickly as possible.
The Red Sox slugger hit his 26th home run of the season on Wednesday night during Boston’s 6-4 win over the Cleveland Indians (1-0 in the Dave Dombrowksi ERA), and his quest for 500 career home runs, a landmark that he’s on pace to reach by the end of this moribund baseball season in Boston, remains a reality.
The designated hitter is only eight away, you know, from reaching the plateau and joining 26 other players in the somewhat-exclusive club.
Yay?
The Sox are destined to finish in last place, again, for the third time in the last four years, but not before the team will inevitably try to squeeze some manufactured joy out of a season that has already cost general manager Ben Cherington his job, and perhaps soon will put manager John Farrell out of work as well.
At 39 years old and with a resume incomparable to any other player who’s played in the Fens, you could argue that Ortiz has earned this, a chance to hold the attention of Red Sox fans as the New England Patriots prepare to defend their crown — with or without their quarterback.
But what’s all the fuss? Five hundred home runs don’t exactly mean what they did back before the rampant use of performance-enhancing drugs pretty much assured that baseball’s long-respected list of accomplishments was rendered moot by a cartoon circus of sultans. Of the more than two dozen guys who have done it, 10 have reached the mark since 2000, including Barry Bonds, who slugged a record 762 homers in eclipsing Hank Aaron’s long-standing record of 755.
In the 20 years that preceded, only three joined the 500-home run club (Hall of Famers Eddie Murray, Reggie Jackson, and Mike Schmidt). From 1960-80, eight players hit the milestone (Aaron, Willie Mays, Frank Robinson, Harmon Kilebrew, Mickey Mantle, Willie McCovey, Ernie Banks, and Eddie Matthews). All eight are enshrined in Cooperstown.
Yet, over the past 15 years, Frank Thomas (521 home runs) is the only player to have hit the plateau and be granted admission into the Baseball Hall of Fame, an apparent acknowledgement of the fading importance of home run totals.
Still, there’s the prevailing theory that hitting the mark will help Ortiz’s own Hall of Fame odds, an induction that would make him only the second full-time designated hitter (Thomas, 2014) to make it to the Hall. It probably will, but not as much as the three World Series titles he helped lead his team to, as well as an uncanny ability to come through in clutch situations should speak for his cause. His performance in Boston has been impressive enough for Hall of Fame voters to turn a blind eye to the suspected use of performance-enhancing drugs. Ortiz, once upon a time, told us he’d get to the bottom of it. While steadfastly denying being a cheater, Ortiz has been acknowledged as one of the most prolific power hitters of all time.
Then there’s the significant level of catering to Ortiz that this pursuit contains. He’s already triggered his $11-million contract option for 2016 with his 425th plate appearance of the season last weekend, but it’s not exactly a rogue theory to suggest the Red Sox can field a stronger lineup without him as the DH. Hanley Ramirez has been an unmitigated disaster as a left fielder, and a switch to the designated hitter spot would both free up first base should Pablo Sandoval move across the diamond, as well as give left field to Mookie Betts or Rusney Castillo moving forward, flanking the incomparable defense of Jackie Bradley, Jr. in center.
Ortiz’s recent power surge is impressive, eye-opening even, with 11 home runs in 30 games since last month’s All-Star break. But this is a guy who also had a mere six through the first two months of the season, when his lack of production helped the Red Sox fall into a $167-million hole. The guy was hitting .219 on June 9. Since the All-Star break, likely fed up over criticism that he “sicked out’’ in the finale of a three-game series against New York prior to the Midsummer Classic, Ortiz is hitting .358 with a 1.141 OPS.
“I’m not really trying to accomplish any personal thing,’’ Ortiz said after Boston’s 14-6 loss in Miami last week. “I’m just trying to play the game the way I’m supposed to play it.’’
Hey, we’re along for the ride, whether you like it or not.
Ortiz is a Hall of Famer without hitting an arbitrary number. But this feels like it could have Tim Wakefield’s chase for 200 wins all over it once again, a slow trot to a landmark achievement that, in the end, means very little in the grand scheme of David Ortiz’s major league career.
Pictures: This is what Fenway Park used to look like
[bdc-gallery id=”115689″]
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com