During the Boston Red Sox 2010 season, the unthinkable happened. Designated hitter David Ortiz was pinch-hit for in a crucial situation with a left-hander on the mound. But that doesn’t appear to be anything skipper Terry Francona is planning on doing in the 2011 season.
Here’s a little of what Francona had to offer to the assembled media before the Red Sox Town Hall that was shown on NESN on Tuesday night:
“For David to be successful — and I see his numbers against lefties, believe me, I do — you can’t just sit him, because I don’t know if he’d have as much success against righties,” Francona said. “I know we believe that. I think there are times where it’ll do him good to maybe give him a break against somebody he struggles with. That wasn’t necessarily the case (last) April. He was struggling against everybody, and we were struggling to win.
“Back in (Dustin Pedroia’s) first year, he was hitting .140, but we were winning. And our other guy was (Alex ) Cora, and Cora was an extra player. He knew that. Last year, we’re sitting with Mikey Lowell as a guy that’s the other side of that equation. It was like a perfect fit. You’ve got a guy that’s not hitting lefties, you’ve got a guy that’s done that his whole life, it would be kind of hard not to use (Lowell) a little bit. I don’t think I would’ve been doing my job. To not think about it would’ve been wrong.”
We all know that it hurt Big Papi’s pride a little when that happened. I think we were all stunned. It was the right move at the time though. Heck, I even wanted to see Big Papi get released.
But after that dismal April, he rebounded and finished with 32 home runs, 102 RBIs to go along with his .270 batting average. Considering his April where he couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn, that’s pretty darn good.
Of course if he doesn’t get off to a great start in 2011, you have to wonder if Francona’s thinking will change.
Let’s hope it doesn’t get that far.
Photo credit: NESN.com
