David Ortiz hit a ball so hard it got stuck in Pesky's Pole
Of all the Major League Baseball storylines this season, one stands out above the rest: We are living in the year of Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz. This is impossible to deny. Between the farewell tour and the resurgent .326/.420/.665 slash line, there’s no way to talk about the 2016 season without almost immediately mentioning the 40-year-old slugger.
The “Summer of Ortiz” continued Thursday. During batting practice, Ortiz hit a ball so hard that it actually got stuck in Pesky’s Pole in right field.
The Ortiz HR in the Pesky Pole pic.twitter.com/uQImNqupsp
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) July 21, 2016
Uh … wow … that’s amazing. And we actually have visual evidence to prove it happened. This won’t be some sports urban legend passed down through generations.
Grandfathers can sit down with their grandchildren and say, “let me tell you about the time David Ortiz hit a ball so hard it got stuck in Pesky’s Pole.” The kids will laugh and say, “yeah, OK, grandpa.” And then grandpa will pull out numerous pictures and say, “told you so.”
Those same grandfathers can also pass along what Ortiz told masslive.com about the hit.
“You’re only going to see a bad (expletive) like me doing that,” Ortiz said as he walked off the field.
“You have to hit the (expletive) out of the ball for that (expletive) to happen.”
It’s possible they may choose to leave that part out of the story. Though, if you’re going to share tales about Ortiz, you might as well capture the man’s personality.
As for the ball, well, we propose the Red Sox leave it up there. Find a way to make it permanently stick in the Pole. Encase the ball in glass like the Chicago Cubs did with Kyle Schwarber’s scoreboard shot.
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It would be a fitting tribute to Ortiz, and the type of year he’s having. Use it as a rallying cry. Get the fans behind it. Only take it down when the Red Sox are eliminated from the postseason.
Either that, or give it back to Ortiz during the World Series parade in Boston in a few months. Given the year Ortiz is having, that seems to be the mostly likely conclusion.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
