Did David Ortiz Just Have The Best First Half Of His Entire Career?
Drop the “for a 40-year-old.” David Ortiz is having one of the best seasons ever, period.
Stop being so biased, they’ll say. I got your bias right here. Through 81 games, Ortiz has 57 extra-base hits. With the number of games remaining, that puts him on a pace for 106 extra-base hits this season. There are four players in baseball history who finished a season with more than 106 extra-base hits — Chuck Klein in 1930 (107), Barry Bonds in 2001 when he broke the single season home run record with 73 home runs (107), Lou Gehrig in 1927, which was the year that the core of the Yankees‘ lineup was known as Murderers’ Row (117), and Babe Ruth in 1921, the record holder for most extra-base hits in a single season (119). Ortiz has a chance to join that group, meaning that he would not just be having one of the greatest seasons ever for a 40-year-old, not just one of the greatest final seasons ever, just plainly, simply, one of the greatest seasons ever.
If he’s on pace for one of the greatest offensive seasons ever, does that mean that he’s had the greatest first half of his entire career? Let’s take a look. It wasn’t an exact science, since the number of games played in the first half of his seasons weren’t always the same, so I took all of the seasons in which he hit at least 30 home runs, and looked at his first 81 games played that year.
2003: Ah, the beginning of the David Ortiz Era in Boston, when the Red Sox signed the big fella to a one-year deal worth $1.25 million to come into camp and compete with Jeremy Giambi for the DH spot, who was the preferred option entering the season. Through his first 81 games that season, Ortiz hit .292 with a .933 OPS, 57 RBIs, 31 doubles, a triple and 14 homers to give him 46 extra-base hits. But it should be noted, of those 81 games, he only started 72 of them, so the damage would’ve been much worse had he been starting all of those games.
2004: The year that David Ortiz went from pleasant surprise to an immortal Boston sports legend. 81 games into that magical year, Ortiz was hitting .301 with a .953 OPS, 32 doubles, 23 home runs, 77 RBIs and 55 extra-base hits. We all know how that one ended.
2005: This is the year that David Ortiz won the MVP, but he didn’t actually win the MVP because the voters held it against him that he’s a DH. A-Rod won, even though Ortiz had the better season, and was also more valuable to his team than A-Rod was to his. Anyway, 81 games into the 2005 season, Ortiz was hitting .313 with a .985 OPS, 23 doubles, 21 homers, 73 RBI and 45 extra-base hits. He went on to lead the league with 148 RBIs and finish runner-up in the MVP voting.
2006: The Red Sox single season home run record was set in 1938 by Jimmie Foxx, who hit 50 home runs en route to his third and final MVP award. Ortiz took down Foxx’s record, which had stood for 68 years, by hitting 54 home runs, and once again leading the league in RBIs. Through 81 games, Ortiz was hitting .273 with a .969 OPS, 15 doubles, 27 home runs, and 42 extra-base hits. He finished third in the MVP voting and led the league with 355 total bases.
2007: World Series ring number two for David Ortiz. It was also yet another year that he finished top five in the MVP voting with a fourth place finish. 81 games into 2007, Ortiz was hitting .314 with a .990 OPS, 29 doubles, 14 home runs, 52 RBIs and 43 extra-base hits.
2010: Three years later, after battling a wrist injury in 2008, Ortiz was an All Star again in 2010 after having the worst year of his Red Sox career in 2009. Through his first 81 games that year, Ortiz was hitting .250 with an .892 OPS, 21 doubles, 18 home runs, 59 RBIs, and 39 extra-base hits.
2013: Ring number three. Before Ortiz put on arguably one of the greatest World Series performances of all-time, he was hitting .321 with a 1.008 OPS, 24 doubles, 19 home runs, 65 RBIs and 45 extra-base hits. Ortiz led the league in intentional walks for the first time in his career that year, and finished top 10 in the MVP voting for the first time since 2007.
2014: The second of Boston’s three last place finishes in four years. Ortiz wasn’t named as an All Star for the first time since 2009, which, again, was his worst season in Boston. 81 games into that year, Ortiz hit .250 with an .829 OPS, 11 doubles, 19 home runs, 52 RBIs, and 30 extra-base hits.
2015: The year that David Ortiz joined the 500 Home Run Club. If you remember, this season actually started off somewhat slow by Ortiz’s standards. There was actually some talk earlier in the year that we’d have to wait until 2016 to see No. 500. Through 81 games that year, Ortiz was hitting .235 with a .765 OPS, 15 doubles, 15 home runs, 43 RBIs and 30 extra-base hits. He, of course, finished the year with 37 home runs, his highest home run total since he hit 54 in 2006.
2016: That brings us to this year. The Red Sox are 87 games into their season, but Ortiz has only played in 81 of those games, if you haven’t caught onto that by now. Through those 81 games, Ortiz is hitting .332 with an 1.107 OPS, 34 doubles, 22 home runs, 72 RBIs, and the aforementioned 57 extra-base hits. He’s an All Star for the tenth time in his career, and he’s leading the majors in on-base percentage (.426), slugging percentage (.682), OPS (1.107), doubles (34), fourth in batting average (.332), ninth in home runs (22), and second in RBIs (72).
That’s a lot of information to take in, but what do we think? Did David Ortiz just have the best first half of his entire career? In 2016, he has the highest batting average he’s ever had through 81 games, the third most home runs (2006, 2004), the most doubles, the most extra-base hits, the highest OPS, and the third most RBIs (2004, 2005). All things considered, I think it’s pretty obvious that yes, Ortiz just had the best first half of a season that he’s ever had in his entire career. Where it goes from here, nobody’s really sure, but I think we all know better than to bet against him.
You knock on wood when you talk about it, but let’s keep in mind that he has two awful Achilles tendons that he’s working with, which kind of makes you wonder what he’d be doing this year if not for that. However, if the Red Sox are on a path to October, then they’re going to continue to give Ortiz a day here and a day there in order to keep him fresh. Regardless of that, wherever his season goes from here, it’s borderline indisputable that he has put together the best first half of his entire career, and could very well cap off his Hall of Fame career with one of the greatest offensive seasons of all-time.