Big Papi knows how to say good night right

Phil Gurnee ♦ August 5, 2016 ♦ Leave a comment

Big Papi is in town but it is doubtful Dodger fans will get much of a glimpse of the big man on the field this weekend. The DH was made for David Ortiz and since we play real baseball in Los Angeles he’ll probably have to spend this weekend watching more baseball than he usually does.

I’m going to miss the hell out of watching David Ortiz swing a bat. He made baseball fun, and proved to me, that clutch hitting is a thing when I’d pretty much given up on it. I think he even made Bill James rethink his opinion on it.

As much as I’ve enjoyed  David Ortiz and everything he’s done I’m not going to get carried away with his brilliant season since it is coming almost exclusively as a DH. Ortiz couldn’t even play baseball right now if it was not for the DH, and if you don’t believe that, just ask him why he’s retiring after this year, or simply watch him play baseball this weekend. Don’t hold your breath.

But, I will admit he’s having  one of the greatest walk-off forty-year-old seasons and walk-off seasons in history.  We can figure that out using Baseball Ref and the last season in their Play Index and add in what David Ortiz is doing this year. Ted Williams can still boast of having the greatest walk offseason ever but he did put up the OPS+ in only 390 plate appearances. Granted he played in every one of those innings and that still counts for something compared to ambling up to the plate four or five times a game.

This is what every HOF or someone on the current HOF ballot has done since 1947 in their last year plus David Ortiz:

and more: