Sunday, October 6, 2013

The man, the legend: Big Papi

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I don't know about any of you, but when I heard that last night was David Ortiz's first multi-home run playoff game, I did a double take. This is a player who has put the Red Sox on his back during multiple postseasons spanning a decade.

Big Papi's postseason homers are legendary in Red Sox lore - a storied history already full of larger-than-life characters, and last night he added to that.

Of course, not everyone was thrilled. I'm talking, of course, about Rays starter David Price, who took issue with Ortiz's second home run, or more accurately, with the way Big Papi watched it leave the yard.

I sympathize with Price: we Red Sox fans know what it's like to be swept out of the first round of the playoffs, and that feeling is certainly multiplied when your performance is directly responsible. But it's part of the game: sometimes players are going to show you up, and during the playoffs, everyone's emotions are running extra high.

David Ortiz has not hit his last home run of 2013. But David Price has likely pitched his last game of this postseason - possibly even his last in a Rays uniform.

The Red Sox and Rays will resume the ALDS in the ugliest stadium on the east coast on Monday night.  Clay Buchholz will take on Alex Cobb at the Trop tomorrow: Buchholz will be looking to send the Sox to the ALCS, and Cobb will be desperately trying to ward off elimination for the Rays - again.

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