If ever a guy repeated clutch, it was Ortiz in at least the three seasons he helped Boston win the World Series.
But how rare is that? Well, the last ballplayer to win three rings for the Red Sox was named Babe Ruth... but he was a pitcher then, and only contributed one hit in the Fall Classics of 1915, 1916 and 1918.
There was, however, a man who WON FOUR RINGS for the Red Sox: Harry Hooper -- Babe's teammate, who also played on the Sox' 1912 championship team. Hoop was only great in his first three World Series, but his large sample size of postseasons shows he performed better when it counted most, compared to the regular season: career .293 and .810 in WS vs. .281 and .755 in 154-game seasons.
Does anyone really want to argue that the Red Sox playing in four World Series out of seven years is a small sample size when considering postseasons -- the biggest stage of them all every year?
... or can we just celebrate the guys who came through for the Red Sox when teammates, fans and New England needed them to?
Soto’s team makes it sound like free agency is inevitable, which they’re going to say no matter what. Hal undoubtedly wants him, but even the Yankees have limits. And this guy might be lookining at 12 years $600mill.
The big question is - who will the other players be? They will exist. But who?
I’m counting Boston as out already…
His slump coincided with coming back, absolutely. Why is this 50 PA stretch more important than the previous stretch on a 29 year old Gold Glove winning RH power bat whose only drawback is an injury history that would actually keep his years and salary in check?
Oh wait. He had a bad stretch of 50 plate appearances…
Actually, that answers my question about what's wrong with O'Neill. For some reason, I didn't consider that. I would assume the 'post-concussion' effects would show up particularly for baseball players. In football, hockey, etc., you can more or less power through it. But hitting a 95mph fastball? different matter.
"Fans have become more entitled than anything. So they're starting to question our motives for the game, or how we approach the game. The ones that do question -- like who are you? Just shut up and watch the game tonight." --Kevin Durant on players' lack of effort in regular season games.