Those of us who went to Fenway Park Monday night were treated to an absolute stinker. On the heels of a dominant Josh Beckett performance on Sunday night against the Yankees, Daisuke Matsuzaka was shelled from the game’s opening pitch and the Red Sox were demolished by the Rays, 16-5. However, that didn’t stop David Ortiz from doing what he does: legging out triples.
The Red Sox speedster has now hit at least one triple each season since 2000. He is the only American Leaguer to hit a triple in 12 straight seasons. The last few years have been trying times for Ortiz. Big Papi was accused of using performance enhancing drugs and suffered through one of the worst slumps imaginable. He also managed to set the record for slowest home run trot in history during that time span. None of that was enough to keep Papi’s motor from running full speed.
All joking aside, that stat is the truth. Granted, Ortiz’s triples streak is likely a result of fairly consistent health over the past 12 seasons and the odd shape of right and center field at Fenway, but the stat is still pretty shocking and definitely worthy of a good chuckle. If Ortiz can keep running the way he always has, the Sox just may hit the .500 mark by the All-Star break.
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