Bat’s Hot! Don’t Rule Out Big Papi

In the shadow of the Red Sox win Tuesday night over their arch-rival Yankees was a man who looked very familiar to Sox fans. He looked just like David Ortiz of years gone by. This is 2009 though and that man doesn’t exist any more, or does he?

The trials and tribulations of the man formerly known as Big Papi have been beaten into the ground as hard as one of his routine outs. There are signs lately that the worst could be behind him.

He has hit in seven straight games. Homered in two out of the last three. Even his outs have been hit hard. All these things could be omens of things to come.

Last night's home run to dead center field off of a hard fastball was his best yet. It shows the man can still hit a fastball. It shows that he can still drive the ball to all fields. It shows that the man has a heart as big as Fenway and wants to be “Big Papi” once again.

The Red Sox have shown more patience then anyone could imagine with their DH.

From the front office down to the last man on the roster, the support has been unwavering. Maybe, just maybe, it will pay dividends in the end.

Last year, Carlos Delgado of the New York Mets got off to a rough start and in June he turned his season around in a series against the Yanks.