Comments on: David Ortiz: Regular-season Hero, Post-season God

By: Nick Kapur

Nick Kapur — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 14:53:11 +0000

It’s true. I won’t deny you that pleasure, because fair is fair.

By: Sarah Green

Sarah Green — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 12:06:50 +0000

Nice, Kapur. Real nice little loophole you left for yourself there. Nonetheless, if you get to call Papi a god, I get to call A-Rod an ass-clown. It’s only fair.

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By: Nick Kapur

Nick Kapur — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 04:23:22 +0000

Sarah, you will notice that I never said anything in my post about *why* David Ortiz is doing so well. I simply noted that he is doing really well, which is objectively true.

If people had just noted that A-Rod was performing below expectations in the playoffs of late, I would have been fine with that. But it was when people began trying to suggest reasons *why* based on arguments about his mental state, that I had to object, because I just don’t think we have enough evidence to say either way.

I mean, it’s vaguely possible that A-Rod could have some sort of playoffs-only mental block, despite his numerous clutch hits this past season, I don’t think two at-bats against Paul Byrd are enough to say that with any conclusiveness at all.

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By: Pete

Pete — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 20:51:53 +0000

Why is he better in the post-season than anyone else of late?

It’s simple, because he’s the full-time DH, and sits his ‘Big Pooper’ on the bench all season more than anyone else involved in the playoffs.

He’s the most rested man in baseball! Why wouldn’t he do well in October? ;-)

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By: Sarah Green

Sarah Green — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 15:21:18 +0000

Wow, Nick, the middle name! You must be in full-throttle Papi-love mode. It’s okay, I spend a good half of the year in that mode. (And then, in the offseason, if ever my heart needs lifting, I just think of Ortiz. This usually makes me happier, but still a little wet-eyed, like a moving country song or an AT&T commercial.)

Nevertheless, Manny’s numbers are just as awesome and deserve our attention as well. Plus, Manny missed some 24 games at the end of the season and has still come back like wildfire: in 18 plate appearances, he’s batting .500 with a .722 OBP, with 8 walks, 5 hits, five runs scored, 7 runs batted in, and 2 homers. His SLG is a cartoonish 1.100 and his OPS is a freaktastic 1.822. And he even had two amazing catches last night! Looks he wants to add another World Series MVP to his collection.

But Nick…one quibble. How come you are willing to acknowledge that Ortiz since ‘04 is a postseason deity, but you say that A-Rod’s suckage in the same period is just due to a “small sample size”??

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