Boston Red Sox: David Ortiz Isn’t An All-Time Great 1B
By Ron Juckett
ESPN sends the wrong message about Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz by considering him a top 10 first baseman.
Legendary Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz deserves many accolades as he heads toward retirement. Called one of the best first basemen of all time is not one.
ESPN, which loves to think it controls sports conversation in this country, named Ortiz this week as the tenth best first-sacker ever. An amazing feat for a player who grabbed the mitt 277 times in his 20-year career.
That is right, let’s forget Eddie Murray or Joey Votto or Mark McGwire as great offensive first basemen or defensive gurus such as Keith Hernandez and Steve Garvey to honor a player who played 11.8 percent of his career in the field. Not only is it a slap in the face for those who excelled at first (George Sisler says hello) but to Ortiz and the position he redefined.
The list of great designated hitters is short. Frank Thomas, Edgar Martinez and Ortiz are on top. Hitters such as Harold Baines and Jim Rice had productive careers when not playing the outfield. In the 44 seasons since the American League adopted the rule, you would think ten names have distinguished themselves. ESPN thinks otherwise, lumping them in with first base. Imagine the uproar if Mariano Rivera was named one of the greatest starting pitchers ever based on his back-end of the rotation performance in 1995.
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Although you could argue Ortiz picking St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jeff Suppan off third base in Game 3 of the 2004 World Series is one of the greatest defensive plays in Red Sox history, that moment does not etch him in granite as a first baseman. George Brett, Johnny Bench and Carl Yastrzemski were solid at first, but they are considered a third baseman, catcher and left fielder by fans. Why shortchange a player like Murray or Todd Helton to grab a few web hits?
Yes, the business of rankings and lists is important. Starting conversations and creating arguments helps passionate sports fans defend what they think is right. All sites do it and ESPN normally does it well.
Sometimes these things get so silly, it becomes impossible to take them seriously. Ranking players in order of greatness is difficult. If you include someone such as Ortiz or Thomas, another primary designated hitter, who do you leave out? Jack Fournier’s name comes up high on first base leaderboards, but he played before television. Rafael Palmeiro was a 500 home run and 3,000 hit slugger, but wagging his finger at Congress while shooting steroids makes his pick controversial. Instead, ESPN squished two positions together hoping to generate controversy.
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As a fan, would you rather have a legitimate discussion about McGwire or Palmeiro’s value over a fabricated one on Ortiz?