The Boston Red Sox found life in the American League Championship Series thanks to the bat of David Ortiz.
If you haven’t heard by now, well, frankly, you probably don’t watch baseball. Ortiz’s game-tying grand slam in the bottom of the eighth against the Detroit Tigers provided a much-needed spark for the Red Sox because they were once again dominated by a Tigers starting pitcher.
The grand slam is now part of the many home runs he swung during his 10 years with the Boston Red Sox.
While he had a good first six years with the Minnesota Twins, it was his time with the Red Sox that he created many of his memorable homers.
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5 Best Home Runs of David Ortiz’s Career (so far):
5. Ortiz Hits 300th Home Run with the Red Sox, Joins Exclusive List
David Ortiz joined an exclusive list with some of the greatest hitters in Red Sox history in 2011.
On May 21, 2011, Ortiz hit his 300th home run with the Red Sox. In bottom of the fourth with Kevin Youkilis on base, Big Papi hit a two-run shot off Carlos Zambrano.
The home run gave him 300 in his career with the Red Sox. Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Rice and Dwight Evans are the only other Red Sox players to hit at least 300 home runs with the franchise.
Ortiz has been one of the league’s most consistent power hitters since 2003. He’s averaged 34.3 home runs per season since joining the Red Sox.
If he hits 27 more home runs with the Red Sox, he’ll join the 400 club. Williams and Yastrzemski are the only members of that exclusive club.
4. Ortiz’s Grand Slam Comeback vs. Tigers
David Ortiz has a habit — this delightful, historic habit — of changing everything with one swing.
Ortiz did it again Sunday night, changing the momentum of the American League Championship Series heavyweight bout with the talented Tigers with one mighty swing.
Shut down by Tigers starter Max Scherzer through seven innings, having managed just three hits against 30 strikeouts through the first 16 innings of this series and trailing 1-5 with the Detroit Tigers on the cusp of taking full control of the series, Ortiz’s grand slam in the eighth inning tied the score at 5-5 and instantly changed the entire mood on what was shaping up to be a grim night.
After Tigers manager Jim Leyland pulled Scherzer after 108 pitches, and the regret must have been pretty close to instant. The Red Sox were rallying against four Tigers relievers in the eighth.
[sc:MLB240banner ]The last of them, closer Joaquin Benoit, entered with a 5-1 lead, two outs, and the bases loaded. He’d depart with an unwanted place in Red Sox lore. One pitch to Ortiz and one turbo-boosted drive into the Red Sox bullpen later, the score was tied, and the Red Sox got away with a win in the ninth-inning.
Even though we know his capabilities, even though we still expect him to rise to meet the occasion at 37 years old and six seasons removed from the last championship, that magic and his magnitude for the moment never, ever gets old.
3. Ortiz’s Hits Walk-Off Home Run, Sends Red Sox to 2004 ALCS
David Ortiz began his tear of the 2004 playoffs in Game 3 of the ALDS.
Entering the game, Ortiz was 2-for-5 with no extra base hits, one RBI and five walks. Opposing pitchers should have keep walking the slugger to keep him from getting big hits like the one on this night.
In the bottom of the ninth, Big Papi stepped to the plate with Pokey Reese on base and no outs. Instead of walking the slugger—who was 3-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI earlier in the game—Jarrod Washburn challenged him.
On October 8, 2004, Ortiz hit a walk-off, two-run home run over the Green Monster to send the Red Sox to the ALCS. It was his fourth hit, third extra-base hit and third run batted in for the game.
After the game, the hero proudly reasserted his team being full of “idiots.”
“We’re all idiots here,” Ortiz said after the win, according to Yahoo! Sports. “We all have fun. We all hug, kiss, grab, whatever.”
The walk-off home run was just a hint of magic Ortiz and the group of “idiots” would carry throughout the postseason.
2. Ortiz Hits Walk-Off Single in Game 5, Continues 2004 ALCS Comeback
David Ortiz recorded his second walk-off in as many nights on October 18, 2004.
The slugger blipped a walk-off single up the middle in the bottom of the 14th off Esteban Loaiza. The hit gave the Red Sox a 5-4 win in Game 5 of the 2004 ALCS.
The series was back in New York, and Boston now trailed 3-2.
Ortiz opened up the scoring with an RBI single in the bottom of the first. In the bottom of the eighth, the lefty stepped up again and crushed a solo shot to bring the team within one run.
Six innings later, he sent the Red Sox fans home happy after a walk-off single.
The clutch hitter finished the ALCS with a .387 AVG, .742 SLG, triple, three HRs and 11 RBI. He was named the 2004 ALCS MVP after the Red Sox won four games in a row and completed the comeback.
1. The Walk-Off Home Run That Sparked the Greatest Comeback in Baseball History
Of all of David Ortiz’s career walk-off home runs, none are as exhilarating as the one he hit on October 17, 2004.
The walk-off home run completed arguably the greatest game in baseball history. First, it was the stolen base in the bottom of the ninth. Then, it was the walk-off in extra innings.
Ortiz hit a walk-off, two-run home run off Paul Quantrill in the bottom of the 12th.
The home run sealed the win in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS. The home run also inspired hope for the Red Sox to overcome a series 3-0 deficit against their arch rival, the New York Yankees.
ESPN Boston ranked “Papi’s Signature Walk-Off” the number three greatest moment in Fenway Park history.
Without a doubt, “Papi’s Signature Walk-Off” is his great moment since signing with the Red Sox exactly 10 years ago.
Ortiz is the all-time leader for designated hitters in home runs (381) and runs batted in (1,249). However, none home runs and runs batted in are as memorable as his walk-off, two-run homer in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS.
David Ortiz was only supposed to serve as a part-time designated hitter and first baseman in 2003. However, he served as “the greatest clutch-hitter in the history of the Boston Red Sox” with his walk-off home run in Game 4 of the ALCS.
