David Ortiz was selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on his first ballot this week, making him the newest Red Sox legend to be enshrined in Cooperstown. To make things sweeter for Ortiz, he will be the only inductee for this years class as he was the only player to reach the 75% vote threshold. The list of Ortiz’s accomplishment is a mile long, but here are five of my favorite moments of his career.
5. 2006 Red Sox HR Record
Ortiz’s postseason heroics are so numerous that there is only room for one regular season moment on this list: September 21, 2006. On that day Ortiz hit his 51st home run of the season, breaking Jimmie Foxx’s record of 50. He finished the year with 54 homers.
https://www.mlb.com/redsox/video/ortiz-s-record-breaking-home-run-c29878147
4. 2004 ALCS Game 4
The Red Sox completed the greatest comeback in sports history in 2004, coming back from a 3-0 series deficit in the ALCS to beat the Yankees in seven games. The first step in that journey was an Ortiz walk-off home run in the 12th inning of Game 4.
3. 2004 ALCS Game 5
Later that same night (Game 4 ended after midnight), Ortiz again delivered a walk-off. This time it was a two-out, two-strike RBI single in the 14th inning to drive in Johnny Damon. Joe Buck’s call is terrific, and this game changed the narrative from a nice win in Game 4 to a real comeback story heading back to New York.
2. 2013 ALCS Game 2
This was not a walk-off, and it was only one of two hits Ortiz had all series, but his 8th inning, two-out Grand Slam in Game 2 against Detroit was monstrous. The Red Sox were down 1-0 in the series and 5-1 in the game. Had the Red sox lost this game, it is likely they would have not reached the World Series and won their third championship of the century.
- 2013 World Series MVP
Ortiz hit .688, yes .688 in the 2013 World Series and won MVP of the series. His performance was legendary and he put the Red Sox on his back to win a championship. Ortiz was a three-time World Series champion and he was great in all three playoff runs, but in 2013 he was on another level. In a career filled with amazing moments, this was the pinnacle.