It's all in your head

Bill:
As far as slumps go, if I were Tom Cruise I'd be worried. But if I'm David Ortiz, meh, not so much.

 

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Doug:
Heh. With that freak Cruise, it's no surprise. But what do you think is behind Papi's early season demise?

 

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Bill:
I blame that stupid World Baseball Classic. Took him out of his rythym …

 

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Doug:
I think this 4-24 homestand is all just a cosmic set up for Ortiz to go totally bat shit in the Bronx.

 

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Bill:
You know that's what's so cool about Big Papi. I mean when I guy like Lorreta goes cold, I find myself wondering, well, maybe this is it, maybe this is the start of his long slide into oblivion.

 

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Bill:
But Ortiz goes into a slump and it all just seems like a little calm before the storm.

 

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Doug:
Speaking of slumps, what the frig is up with college kids and having trouble in the clutch these days?

 

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Bill:
Yeah, they say there's just too much pressure on them.

 

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Doug:
"Maybe someone will walk in the room. Maybe he has an exam the next morning and in truth would rather be studying but can't admit it because he's a guy and guys are supposed to want sex all the time, right? Maybe he worries that if he doesn't do it now with her, he'll never get another chance and she'll be infuriated."

 

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Bill:
Whaa waa waa. Maybe crybaby boyo needs a good slap up side the head?

 

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Comments

[Bob]

EEI had an interesting stat this morning regarding Papi's early season troubles: he's at almost exactly the same average as he's been at this point the past three seasons, and is ahead in terms of HRs and RBI.

No worries here.

[Bob]

Here are the actual stats, from a Chris Snow column today:

Consider Ortiz's production through May 7 of each of his three full seasons as the Sox' starting DH:

2006: .256, 11 HRs, 28 RBIs.

2005: .263, 8 HRs, 20 RBIs.

2004: .256, 7 HRs, 22 RBIs.

He went on to hit .301 with 41 homers in 2004 and .300 with 47 homers in '05.

[james]

Averages and slumps and all that aside, are we forgetting he crushed that homerun to put the game away right when we needed
(Skankees) him to just last week? It makes for interesting conversation but the fact is, when Papi gets the look it doesn't matter whose on the mound, the ball is getting killed.

[Jason O.]

I don't have my copy of Bill James's 2006 handbook on me, but Ortiz's projected #'s are somewhere between gaudy and outrageous. Were I a BOS fan, I wouldn't think twice about it.

He has learned that slight drop step with his right foot so he can get a handle on inside pitches from LHPs. Not good from my perspective.

[freud was framed]

is it just me, or do the titles of the last 3 posts tell their own little story re: college-aged trouble in the clutch?

[pawsoxpop]

Beautiful game yesterday, and luckily my son and I got to see it at New England's living room. When 'Tek crushes one like that, Papi's bat can rest up for Tuesday. Lenny DiNardo showed some nice poise after blowing up and walking everybody in the first. For a day, at least, he reminded me of Bill Lee out there, with junk, junk and more junk. I didn't notice one pitch that the BankofAmerica sign clocked at over 80. Granted, it was the O's sans Javy Lopez and Dave Roberts, but with a little more control and a better throw to first on that error, he could have had a shutout. I'll take it. And I think Wells should have to pitch very, very well in a rehab stint to earn a spot in this rotation...

[da kine]

Enough about baseball. The subject of young'uns stepping to the plate with a fungo bat is more important. Kids (22 yrs. old and younger) are rude little bastids nowadays, and Buddha is punishing them by taking away their masculinity. These little fockers don't just have their phone ring in the theater; they answer it and talk for a while. Sure, I was an arrogant sumbitch in college, but at least I could maintain a chubby long enough to let the woman pretend she had an orgasm. Take that, Gen-(fill in whatever they call the one after 'X')!

[pawsoxpop]

A thousand pardons if this link is old hat on Soxaholix, but someone just sent it to me and it's sorta funny:

http://www.kickina.com/chokeback/

[Mike]

Ortiz doesn't worry me, his stats are phenomenal for anybody else. We have come to expect great things from him, which often take time to develop.

Ramirez worries me. A lot. Last season, we were into requests for trades before the end of April, and he had at least one game where he did not hustle to first. Now, he's acting much more like an average ballplayer, and consequently the controversial stories in the Boston news media have started to suffer. If you look at his BIOTCH (Bases Innings Outs Times Comments Heaved), he's down over 40 points where he was last year, and that's not even counting RBA (Rumors Bantied Around) or IW (Insane Wonderings). If Manny continues at this pace, he could be out of the headlines altogether and end the season with a projected CRAP score of .823, which is less than that pitcher who beat down a Devil Ray in ST.

M

[NV in SD]

PSP- Dave Roberts? He's holding it down in PetCo. I believe the Roberts you were referring to is Brian. Slip of the keystroke...

[pawsoxpop]

Yeah, NV, BRIAN Roberts. I just picked up Dave Roberts for my NL Fantasy team so that must be what I was thinking of in my addled Monday NSFW brain.