Hitting with 12 men on base, David Ortiz went 0-for-7 in Boston's 12-inning loss to the Angels on Thursday.
1st inning: Man on 1st, 1 out - Struck out looking
3rd inning: Man on 2nd, 0 out - Flied out to right
4th inning: Bases loaded, 2 out - Struck out swinging
6th inning: Man on 2nd, 2 out - Struck out looking
8th inning: Men on 1st and 3rd, 2 out - Flied out to left
10th inning: Man on 2nd, 2 out - Grounded out to first
12th inning: Bases loaded, 2 out - Grounded out to catcher
It was easily the ugliest day yet in a dreadful season for Ortiz. In his defense, both flyouts were actually hit well. The third-inning shot was more of a liner than a fly, and the drive in the eighth was caught on the warning track and would have been a double at Fenway. Also, the sixth-inning strikeout was pretty bogus. The Red Sox were called out on strikes 10 times in the game, and as the Orange County Register points out, they had reason to be upset about a few of them.
The other at-bats were generally abysmal, though. The 10th inning grounder was especially pathetic, coming on the first pitch of the at-bat. In the 12th, he swung at a 2-1 pitch that was never in the strike zone. After the count went 3-2, Jason Bulger surprised him with a breaking ball and he hit it about six feet.
This needs to be it for Ortiz as a No. 3 hitter. The Red Sox don't need to bench him, but they need to try batting him sixth for a while, with Jason Bay moving into the third spot and being followed by J.D. Drew and Mike Lowell.
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Francona is more concerned about being loved by his players rather than doing the obvious. He (Francona) would be doing both the Red Sox as a team & Ortiz as a player a big favor by taking the pressure off & dropping him gown about 3 or 4 spots. Papi's had a great run...time & calories are catching up...keep him in, just get him out of the way.
agreed.......seven or eight holer will do...........for now...........
You are seeing the same Ortiz that the twins had for 7 years, the one who wasn't on the juice now maybe everyone will understand why the twins just released him. When ortiz says "he was shocked" about Manny getting caught he wasn't kidding cause he knows how close this is to him now. Dont worry baston fans these are the players that George Mitchell turned his head from because he was drawing a paycheck from the redsuks, there will be more than Manny, much more. Schilling, Ortiz, Lowell just to name a couple, bank on it.
Amen. He is off the juice because his supplier has gone to L.A.
Scott H, for a bitter Yankees fan, your punctuation and grammar are actually rather good. However, as a Red Sox fan I will be the first in line to flame any Sox player who tests positive. However, unlike Pettite, A-Rod, Sheffield and numerous other Skankees, only one player from the Red Sox WS teams has tested positive.
Yeah, u don't win for 90 years and then 2 in 4 years,,,,,,,,,,,,'
THATS THE JUICE BABY........
I think its time the sox just sit Ortiz he's doing more harm in the lineup then good at this point..
STEEEEEERRRRRRRRROIIIIIIIIIIDDDDDDDDDDDS not a yankee fan either...just happy the holier than thau saux are getting exposed
All you people who are crying "Steroids:"
1. Ortiz's decline (if this is what it is) is pretty much in line with a lot of the non-steroid era less-athletic sluggers.
2. Just wait until it's your favorite player. My guess is a solid majority of guys were using. Get used to the idea that everyone was, and maybe we can actually start enjoying baseball again.
Mybe it's juice, maybe not but Papi is a class act on and off the field, unlike the rest of those caught red-handed. For sure though, the Sox need to sit him or move him down the order. Remember all you hateful sycophants out there it's just baseball. Get a life.
Can anybody say Mo Vaughn? I called this about 4 years ago. Ortiz is done.
I am calling it now! 15 years from Longoria will not be worth owning ... it kind of happens to everyone.
I don't see any sign of steroids. He has old-player skills, and he got old. I'm not saying it's not steroids - it might be. That is true about everyone. But his sudden lack of skills is not strange.
You said you don't see any SIGNS, he went from top to bottom just like Brett Boone, His body is Breaking Down Badly, stop being in DENIAL, it is going onand the RED SOX are involved in it,,,,,,,,, LOVED THE LAST LINE......... DO YOU WANT TO BY A BRIDGE ???
Hey, Red Sox ----- It is time, NOW, to have Ortiz ride the pine for awhile, perhaps indefinitely. Whatever the reason, hitting .200, "batting" in a dozen runs and racking up NO HOME RUNS, is a clarion call to take action, right now. His past exploits, while appreciated by the team, do not contribute anything to the current cause. Ortiz is dead weight, now. Remove him from the lineup before this festers and the team hits a losing streak. If that should occur while Big Papi is still in the lineup, then some REAL problems will arise. Sit him down --- NOW.
Ortiz is done, THANK GOD, He crushed us when he needed to. Who knows maybe he gets back on the sauce and REDISCOVER's his swing.. Doubt it but let's see. I'd love to the see the other 100+ names on that list though.
0-7 last night, wow that's bad!
the Mitchell report on STEROIDS, says NO Red Sox used STEROIDS, and yet they are breaking down just like the users,,,,,,, Papi Manny, Veritek Beckette........ more to follow
What...are you serious? Guys get hurt in sports...old guys do not quite as good as when they were young.
Tek is very old and punnishes his body catching more than most teams #1 guy and was never a hitting force, just a little better than he is now at 37 yrs old after 261 games the last 2 years....lot of innings behind that plate.
Papi has had numerous injuries to his wrist, shoulder and knee in the last 2 years and is overweight and getting older so the steroids talk is stupid. The guy was not a muscle bound masher. He was a big round George Forman body type...I guess Geroge was juicing also because he hit so hard....or was it his burly size that generated the power?
Manny is a moron but never broke down and where did Beckett come from. No one has said a word about him and he has always been up and down like many power pitchers in their 20s.
I guess every guy who gets hurt or slows down is on steroids.