In his playing career, David Ortiz was always ready for The Big Moment.
The more important the game or the higher the stakes, the better he produced -- as evidenced by his absurd 1.372 career OPS in the World Series.
But those days are gone now. Ortiz retired five years ago, and the next Big Moment comes Tuesday, when the results of the Hall of Fame voting are revealed.
And this time, Ortiz is powerless to affect the outcome. All he can do is wait.
He's aware that in the early vote-tracking, compiled by @NotMrTibbs, he's at 84 percent (with 75 percent needed for induction) from 44.6 percent of the known ballots.
"Fifty percent of the vote is out there already,'' Ortiz told BostonSportsJournal.com from his home in the Dominican recently. "But there's another 50 percent that's going to decide how it's going to end up going down. If it happens, it will be a real honor, to be honest with you. When you jump into the brawl, you never think about where I'm at right now, right next to all those legendary, elite group of players. Being part of an elite group of players is something that I never dreamed up.
"It seems like things are going well.''
Ortiz isn't following the ballot-tracking personally, but his agent is and is keeping him apprised.
"Basically I don't have to keep track of it,'' said Ortiz with a chuckle, "because that's the whole talk between my friends and family. When we get together as a family, that's the whole talk. There's no way (to avoid it). And down here in the Dominican, it's a big, big, big deal. A big deal. There's a history of really good players from this country. So this is a big deal. This is one of the biggest baseball player-producing countries in the world. It's something that would have a major impact in the Dominican Republic. So if I get the call on Tuesday, it will be amazing.''
(Ortiz would actually become just the fourth player from the DR to gain induction into the Hall of Fame, and just the second hitter, following Vladimir Guerrero. Pitchers Juan Marichal and former teammate Pedro Martinez are the other two).
Based on the early voting trends, it seems certain that should Ortiz be elected, he'll be the lone player honored. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are both in their final year of eligibility, are barely above the 75 percent threshold and past tracking has seen players dip some as more ballots -- many from older voters, who tend to take a tougher stance on players with PEDs.
What it would be like for Ortiz to be elected on his first try? Of the 232 players in Cooperstown, only 57 were elected in their first year of eligibilty.
"Oh man, that it would be historic, basically,'' Ortiz said. "It's hard to get in the first time. It's crazy. But like I say, that's something as a player you don't control, or really dictate. You do what you have to do when you play, and then let it happen.''
Ortiz figures that his high profile since he retired -- as a pitchman for several companies, and as an analyst on Fox in postseason telecasts -- may have helped his vote total, since it keeps him in the public consciousness.
Those voters who have been reluctant to vote for him have cited one of two reasons. Some are deterred by the fact that 83.3 percent of his starts came at DH and lament that he made few contributions defensively. Others cite his name showing up on a list of players who tested positive for PEDs in a 2003 survey, before MLB has a testing-and-punishment program in place.
"To be honest with you,'' said Ortiz, measuring his words carefully about those concerns, "are not, I would say, legit because, No. 1, when you go through the process, that one list that came out, that list was wrong. It was based on (people) testing positive for any type of (substance). You would test positive for even things you bought over the counter at GNC.
"If you look at it, when they started drug-testing (in 2004) and you tested positive for something, they would tell you straight up what you tested positive for. Back on that (2003) list, that everybody talks about...nobody knows where it came from...they pointed fingers, but nobody said, 'You tested positive for this.' You know what I'm saying? On the other hand, I wasn't even an everyday player back then. I didn't get to be an everyday player until the second half of the 2003 season and they started drug-testing in 2004 and I never failed a test and those were my best years in baseball. So what are you really looking at?
"And when it comes to the DH (issue), I wasn't just a DH. I was a force while I played for the Red Sox. I was the guy, in so many different ways, that helped the ballclub win ballgames. And, (voters) already gave the opportunity to (Edgar) Martinez to be in the Hall of Fame. When I saw Edgar finally getting into the Hall of Fame, in my mind, I said, 'Well, I guess the whole DH talk is going to be going away because we have a DH in there.' That was my mentality.''
Ortiz was reminded that Martinez didn't gain election until his final year of eligibility, after failing in his first nine tries.
"I don't why because Edgar was one of the best hitters to ever play the game,'' said Ortiz. "If, during your time, you dominate the league...because that's what the Hall of Fame is all about: how you dominate while you play. It's not about what you end up with; it's about how you dominated in your 10, 15 or 20-year career.
"But everybody has their own opinion. I'm not going to argue that. I respect that. And you just have to be patient and wait to see how it plays out.''
Ortiz was reminded, while a number of players were recently elected by the Veterans Committee (including Jim Kaat and Tony Oliva), that he could be the sole player elected by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
"Man, I haven't thought that, to be honest with you,'' he said, again chuckling. "That's a lot of pressure right there. Can you imagine? A whole ceremony for your ass -- that would be crazy. You have all these Hall of Famers up there, all these wonderful players still alive, looking at you, and you being the rookie...You'd be, like, 'Oh, damn.' I might choke during the speech. But oh man, it would an amazing problem to have.''
In a career full of Big Moments, that could serve as the biggest of them all.
_______________________
These could be debated, by here are my Top 5 Ortiz moments in a Red Sox uniform:
1. Games 4 & 5, 2004 ALCS vs. the New York Yankees
These two can't be separated especially since, technically, since they happened on same day. In Game 4, the Sox rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth on a stolen base by pinchrunner Dave Roberts and a run-scoring single from Bill Mueller. But it took a two-run homer by Ortiz in the bottom of the 12th, to win it, 6-4. That game finished well after midnight, and later that day, in a late afternoon start, Ortiz again struck in extra innings. He delivered a two-out single in the bottom of the 14th to score Johnny Damon for a 5-4 win.
That's two back-to-back walkoff hits in consecutive games, forcing the series to move to New York and helping the Sox get halfway to the most astounding postseason comeback in baseball history.
2. Game 2, 2013 ALCS vs. Detroit Tigers
The Red Sox were in deep trouble. They had lost Game 1 at Fenway, shut out and limited to just one hit, and in Game 2, were held hitless by Max Scherzer through five innings. Through seven innings, they had scored exactly one run in the first 16 innings of the series. But in the bottom of the eight, the Sox loaded the bases and with two outs, Ortiz lined a grand slam off Joaquin Benoit into the home bullpen, tying the game at 5-5. The sight of Torii Hunter flipping over the bullpen wall in futile pursuit -- and the celebratory arm-raising by a Boston policeman -- remains an iconic one in team lore.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Sox walked off with a series-tying win and took three of the next four games to win the pennant and advance to the World Series. It's impossible to imagine the Sox winning that series -- and the subsequent World Series -- without being rescued by Ortiz' slam.
3. The Speech, April 20, 2013.
Ortiz had begun the 2013 season on the DL, and this, some three weeks into the season, was his first game of the year. But it's remembered for something he said before the game was played.
Five days earlier, Boston has been rocked in a terrorist attack near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, a mile or so from Fenway, just after the Sox had finished their annual Patriots Day game.
After a brief three-game series in Cleveland, the Red Sox had returned to Boston, but the first scheduled game of the homestand was postponed as the city remained on lockdown during a manhunt for one of the fugitives responsible for the bombing. The following day, they resumed play, but not before Ortiz addressed the crowd on the field.
Speaking extemporaneously, Ortiz reminded the Fenway crowd, and those watching on TV.
"These jerseys that we wear today, it doesn't say Red Sox; it says Boston ... This is our (expletive) city and nobody is going to dictate our freedom.''
It was at both electric and cathartic, and every bit as dramatic as any hit that Ortiz delivered in his 20-year career.
4. The Record-Breaking Homer
For nearly 70 years, the franchise record for most homers in a single season was held by Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx, who hit 50 in 1938. In 2006, in an otherwise disappointing season for the Red Sox, Ortiz took aim at that record and on Sept. 21, broke it when he homered off Johan Santana in the first inning for his 51st homer. He would later than night add No. 52, and finished the year with 54, which still stands as the club record some 15 years later.
For a franchise with a long line of great sluggers -- from Foxx to Ted Williams to Carl Yastrzemski to Jim Rice to Manny Ramirez -- that's quite an accomplishment.
5. The 2004 Division Series Walkoff Winner
Given what was to come later that month, this one tends to be overlooked. And because the Red Sox won the first two games of the series in Anaheim, it seemed a fait accompli that they would beat the Angels and move on to a date with the Yankees.
But when Ortiz blasted a two-run homer off Jarrod Washburn in the bottom of the 10th, it gave the Red Sox a dramatic 6-4 win and sent them on in the postseason. A series-ending walkoff is a big deal, regardless of what came next.
HONORABLE MENTION: The other speech, in the dugout, during the Game 4 in the 2013 World Series; Game 4, 2003 ALDS, eighth-inning homer vs. Oakland; 500th career homer in 2015.