So the Boston Red Sox have won the 2013 World Series and are the reigning world’s champions. It took six full games and a brief scare in St. Louis to get them there, but the Red Sox were not to be denied in game six in front of a sellout home crowd at Fenway Park.
And how did they get there? Talent, hard work, good coaching, and Big Papi. David Americo Ortiz Arias was nothing less than sensational during the entire post season this year. He personally pulled a couple of games back from the brink all by himself.
By the time game six had rolled around, the Cardinal pitching staff had grown weary of trying to get Ortiz out so, they started walking him. Just like they used to do with Barry Bonds. Big Papi, as Ortiz is popularly known, hit an amazing .688/.760/1.188 for the series. He hit two home runs and walked eight times.
Ortiz reached base more times in a six game World Series than any other player in MLB history. He has now joined Mike Lowell and Manny Ramirez as the only Boston Red Sox players to win the World Series MVP Award which was began in 1955.
One of the nicknames that David Oritz has picked up over the years is “Cooperstown”. The other is “Senor Octubre”. Well, Big Papi sure turned out to be Mr. October this year and has probably assured that the Cooperstown tag will also stick. David Ortiz is headed to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame at some point… done deal.
Ortiz is a Dominican-American and mostly plays in the designated hitter spot when playing in American League parks. When taking on National League opponents, Ortiz actually has to take the field and play some defense, usually at first base where he does more than hold his own although his teammates are always there to back him up, just in case.
But more than his consistently good performance on the baseball diamond, David Ortiz is a leader. On his team and in his community, Ortiz is the respected voice that fans and players like to count on when the going gets rough
Big Papi is a nine-time MLB All-Star and a three-time World Series Champion. There are not a lot of professional baseball players active today who can make that claim to fame. He has 431 career home runs so far but he ain’t done yet.
