Big Papi, statistically speaking
A Sabermetrics expert reflects on David Ortiz’s indisputable legacy
By Andy Andres, baseball statistician and professor at Boston University
David Ortiz plays his last three regular season games at Fenway Park this weekend and all of Boston is appropriately celebrating the occasion. It will be a singular privilege of mine to be at two of those games (including his last game), and will surely be fun to tell the tale of being there! But as an analyst of the game of baseball, I wanted to write a short post echoing the many voices talking about how historically great the 2016 season has been for Big Papi.
We should first point out the historically import All-Time Major League Baseball milestones he is reaching this year. With 1191 extra base hits, Ortiz sits at 10th all time, one behind both Ken Griffey Jr. and Rafael Palmeiro. This will be something to look for as we all watch his final three games; he needs two more to become 8th all time all by himself, and just one more to tie for 8th. He will end 17th All-Time in career home runs, and 10th All-Time in doubles. #34 is undoubtedly one of the greatest power hitters—ever!
“You could argue that he is having the best ever final season in the long history of the game.”
Also, there can be no disputing that he is the greatest Designated Hitter in the history of the game. Even though the DH has only been around since 1973, he is first in the All-Time designated hitter rankings (statistics from games played as DH) in the following counting statistics: hits, doubles, home runs, runs scored, runs batted in, walks, total bases, times on bases, and games played. No other designated hitter is even that close.
But what about him having such a great batting performance in his last season? 2016 is one of his best seasons ever. You could argue that he is having the best ever final season in the long history of the game. The 40 year old Ortiz is among the players in the conversation for the American League Most Valuable Player for 2016 (along with perennial contender for the award, Mike Trout, and Ortiz’s teammate Mookie Betts, as well as the Blue Jays’ Josh Donaldson). It’s important to note that there has been only one other player to win the MVP older than 40 years old (and that was Barry Bonds, in 2004).
He has also set the record for the most home runs in a season for a player older than 40. In addition, he has broken the record for most home runs in a player’s final season. And with three games left to play in 2016, he leads all of major league baseball players (of any age!) in doubles, intentional walks, slugging percentage, and OPS (on base percentage plus slugging percentage, a simple and surprisingly accurate measure of batting performance).
All in all, this is an historic season—in addition to historic seasons past—to remember for Big Papi. All baseball fans should celebrate along with his loyal Red Sox fans this weekend during his final regular season games. And who knows; even though it is unlikely, maybe everyone can celebrate another World Series victory with him!
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