Doesn’t a walk-off home run from Big Papi just feel better?
Don’t get me wrong. I’ll take a walk-off from any of our guys on a steamy August night at Fenway. But there’s just something about seeing that stoic profile as it turns to chart the ball’s trajectory. Those meat-eater arms rising up into the night sky. That oversized body thumping around the bases like the Hulk navigating a minefield. The fans in the seats going apeshit and the players crowding around the plate. Suddenly, we’re all teleported back to the magic days of 2004, only now, as an added bit of theatre, we get these funky, totally awesome handshakes with Victor Martinez.
Simply put, a lot of players on the Sox hit home runs. But nobody hits ’em like David Ortiz. And the one that won tonight’s game, his second of the night, with its glorious, wide-ass arc around Pesky’s Pole, was a beautiful thing.
Speaking of V-Mart, this goes down as one of the greatest quotes I’ve ever read from Big Papi: “Victor, man, he just pushed me for every at-bat. He got in my face and started screaming at me. I liked it. It got me in the mood.”
Meanwhile, who the f@#k is this guy who calls himself Alex Gonzalez and hits bombs? It almost seems like A-Gon’s hit a home run in every game he’s played since he’s been back with us. I’m not complaining, mind you. Just watching with wide-eyed amazement.
The only thing that would have made the game a truly stellar affair would have been seeing Timmy get the win. But his seven strong showed us that he may well be the best thing we’ve got for that three spot in the rotation. And how about Daniel Bard scorching some 100mph heat past Jim Thome to end the eighth with the go-ahead run on third? You gotta give a guy a shot at your mom when he’s dealing like that. It goes without sayin’.
So it’s two and half games up in the Wild Card and just 6 off the pace for the East. How you feelin’ about things, Red Sox Nation?
