So I cruise on in to my local SBUX this morning for my grande bold, and happen to see a Boston Globe lying on one of the tables. I’m immediately arrested by the screaming headlines and massive above-the-fold image of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, circa 2003, both pointing skyward. Steroid Scandal Hits Home; Shaughnessy: Cheating Takes the Juice Out of Sox Turnaround; For Legions of Fans, a Magic Spell Is Broken.

Inside, there’s a Globe editorial (Say It Ain’t So, Papi) and a Bob Ryan column (Another Big Hit). The website has a slideshow of David’s career and a graphic of his stats. Nick Cafardo even suggests that a Roy Halladay blockbuster is what the team needs now to “move on” and change the media storyline.

Well, I’m sorry, but I find this all a little disgusting. Ortiz was using steroids? I’m shocked, shocked. Today’s Metro column is, hopefully, a breath of fresh air to those who find all the sturm und drang in the Globe a little ridiculous.

(For a more complete rundown of the media ululating, I suggest this roundup from Boston Media Sports Watch.)

It sure seems like David Ortiz has broken whatever horrible curse had been placed upon him for all of April and May.

After two months in the sidecar, Papi seems to be back in the drivers seat.

On the last day of May, Ortiz’s fall into the depths of utter despair cratered out at a batting average of .185.

Then the calendar turned to June, and since that time, Ortiz has posted a slash line of .303/.395/.606 for a dazzling 1.001 OPS.

How quickly things change.

But as I suggested in a post back in early May, there was pretty much nothing discernably wrong with Ortiz’s peripherals, suggesting that this incredibly long 60-day slump was really nothing more than that – a long slump. And Ortiz’s performance so far in June certainly seems to bear that out.

David Ortiz finally hit a dinger. I don’t think words can quite do justice to the response in Fenway. But they say a picture’s worth a thousand words — so when that ball got out, this is approximately what happened in Boston:

David Ortiz is off to yet another terrible start this year.  He had a terrible first month last season too, when he batted .198 with a .300 OBP and 5 homers in April, and is off to an even worse start this year, with an April batting average of .230, an OBP of .290, and zero homers.

It got so bad that manager Terry Francona actually sat down with Ortiz and told him that the team would not give up on him no matter how much he struggled: “Francona told him they were in it together, that he needed to relax, and that this team would succeed or fail with him.”

So what exactly is wrong with David Ortiz? Last season when he sucked it up in April, it was really just an illusion created by abnormally bad luck with BABIP, as Ortiz had a ridiculously low .192 BABIP in April 2008. But BABIP is definitely not the cause this time: Ortiz’s BABIP so far this year is a healthy .295

Injury doesn’t seem to be the culprit, either, as Ortiz seemed fine in spring training, when he posted a robust line of .313/.395/.625 with 3 homers in twelve games, and swears up and down that his wrist feels 100 percent.

Rather, the answer seems to be that Terry Francona is right, that Ortiz is pressing and needs to just “relax.”  The numbers show that Ortiz is swinging at many more at pitches outside the strike zone than usual (28% vs 18% career), and he is making more contact with pitches outside the zone (61% vs 48% career), meaning he is doing pitchers a big favor by “extending the zone” and also sacrificing power to make greater contact with bad balls.

In the case of both swings outside the zone and contact outside the zone, Ortiz’s numbers have been remarkably consistent over his career, with year-to-year swings confined to within a percentage point or two, so the numbers so far this year are quite anomalous.

The good news is that with this one exception of his plate discipline, Ortiz’s other peripherals all seem to be in perfect order. This means that Ortiz is probably not hurt or otherwise majorly broken. If he can get his plate discipline back in line and start “waiting for his pitch” a bit more, he should be fine.

It’s a gorgeous late-summer day (at least it is here in New England) and you, young sir (or miss) should be playing outside. But since you’re not, here’s a fresh roundup of links:

Shaun Marcum has been optioned to Triple-A Syracuse, swapping roster spots with lefty John Parrish. I figured it was a chance for Toronto’s future No. 2 to recover from his recent struggles and get ready for next year. But no: J.P. Ricciardi is positioning the move as a chance to get Marcum right so that the Jays can make their–excuse me–playoff run. Toronto is 12.5 back in the division and 8 back in the wild card.

Red Sox hurler Clay Buchholz was also recently optioned to the minors–but to Double-A. The Eck says we won’t be seeing The Buck any time soon.

In other AL East-playoff-hunt news, Rays fans are pissed that despite holding a 4.5 game lead over the Red Sox going into today’s action, and a dominating 10.5 game lead over the New York Yankees, they are commanding only a Rodney Dangerfield-esque amount of respect from the Worldwide Leader. Today’s game against the White Sox is also the first time in more than five years that a Tampa Bay game has been featured on Fox. (Some teams have all the luck.)

Management guru Warren Bennis has some stern words for Frank McCourt.

Yet another CC-to-NY post. I know money talks, but from everything I’ve seen and heard, Sabathia is not interested in playing in New York. He’s probably not interested in coming to Boston, either, but it’s worth noting that the Red Sox will also have plenty of money to spend this winter with Manny off the books. Since Curt Schilling didn’t throw a meaningful pitch all year, with Buchholz struggling all season, and with Josh Beckett looking like a mere mortal this year, Boston will be almost as motivated as New York to sign the ace. I say “almost” because the Sox still have a shot at making the playoffs.

How do you spell something wrong on a jersey?

UmpBump PSA: One young player at the NYBC is growing his hair long to donate it to Locks of Love. It’s commonly reported that Locks of Love is a charity that uses donated hair to make wigs for kids with cancer, but most of their patients actually suffer from alopecia areata, a genetic condition that results in hair loss. Either way, it sucks to be bald when you’re still only a kid. I’ve donated hair to the group, and their website has a very easy to read FAQ telling you how to do it if you’re interested. If you’re thinking of a post-summer chop and you’ve got 10 inches to spare, why not donate it to someone who can use it?

From the too-good-to-not-share file, Papi on Pedroia:

“He’s the best. He’s the best of the best. He’s the best thing that ever happened to this ballclub,” Ortiz said. “He’s a [expletive] great kid, dude. He’s the best. I love him. It’s great, man. I talk about Pedroia all the time to everybody because of how little he is and the way he plays the game.

“And I’ll be like, ‘Dude, seriously, he’s a bad little kid.’ Pedroia is always going to be like a 16- or 17-year-old because he’s little and he’s got a baby face, but he just rakes. Dude, he comes up with some lines, and you’ll be laughing. He hit a ball off the Green Monster once, and he came back to the dugout and said to me, ‘Hey, Big Punish, you know it’s going to rain, right?’ And I was like, ‘Why?’ He goes, ‘Didn’t you just see the lightning show?’”

So the X-Files movie comes out on Friday, and I can’t help but wonder: will Mulder and Scully be looking for aliens, or that even more elusive creature…..the Last Eric Gagne Fan?

Here’s an item that should especially interest those of you who are now just waiting for next year: a mid-season update of baseball’s top 100 prospects. And if that’s not enough, here’s a look at the Triple A leaderboards.

Melky Cabrera waves to the fans mid-play and promptly commits an error. Just Melky being Melky?

I only wish I knew where Wendell “Send ‘em in” Kim would’ve ranked on this list.

A writerly look at Big Papi’s rehab stint in the minors.

A useful primer on the incredibly tangled web that is free agent compensation; good stuff to think about as the trade deadline approaches. Here’s the list of players who’ll be free agents after the season.

And finally, a Metro column in which I apparently begin to hallucinate.

What else should I be reading? Send me tips.

Oh, dear God. Please let this Boston Herald story be roughly as true as that Herald story about the Patriots’ tape of the Rams walkthrough:

After injuring his left wrist during the Red Sox’ victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday night, Ortiz learned yesterday he has ligament damage that will keep him sidelined indefinitely. According to a source, Ortiz’ wrist will be immobilized for roughly the next month to determine whether the injury can heal on its own.

If it cannot, the Red Sox and Ortiz very well may face a harsh reality:

Season-ending surgery.

No, no, no. NO. Nonononono. Noooooooooo.

It’s not true, it’s not true, in my happy place, it’s not true, la la la la la la, it’s not true, rainbows and flowers, it’s not true, it’s not true, it’s not true I CAN’T HEAR YOU it’s not true.

Lord, on behalf of Red Sox fans everywhere, I implore you: TAKE ME INSTEAD.

In this week’s Metro column, I boldly made the following claim:

[Manny] Ramirez is arguably the best active player to have never received an MVP award. He’s certainly the best active player to be so consistently snubbed; of similar players, he has the fewest top-five finishes without ever finishing in the top two.

But of course, Manny is far from the only great active player to never take home the trophy, and while I was cogitating about this column, I got to talking about these players with my co-conspirators here at UmpBump. We bandied about some other names of active players who have, amazingly enough, never won an MVP: Gary Sheffield and Jim Thome lead the pack, in my mind, and you could make a case for perennially beloved also-rans Derek Jeter and David Ortiz as well.

Sure, there are fantastic younger guys who haven’t won the trophy yet. But when it comes to the David Wrights, Chase Utleys, and Hanley Ramirezes of baseball, one can say, “Hey, he’s still young.” And there are deserving players who are always a long shot to take home the hardware simply by virtue of their position; most pitchers and designated hitters suffer this fate. (I’ve included Ortiz here on my list of snubs because a) yes, I’m a Red Sox fan and this is my list, you jerks and b) he’s finished in the top 5 of the MVP balloting for the past four years running—a neat trick for any player, even more so considering the entrenched bias among many members of the BBWAA against voting for a full-time DH.)

But with the Sheffs and the Mannys and the Thomes, it’s a different story. You can’t necessarily point to a certain year and say, “This is the year he deserved to win,” but you’re still surprised to learn he’s never gotten the trophy.

Of active players, who do you think is the biggest MVP snub? Anyone going to take a stand for Todd Helton? Or Mike Piazza, still technically active? Any secret Carlos Delgado fans out there?

Who gets your vote?

more at twiigs.com…