When it comes to elite athletes, the world is not short. Whether it is soccer stars like Cristiano Ronaldo or quarterback all-stars like Joe Montana, there are too many sports celebrities to count.
However, it’s a rare occasion when one of those athletes become synonymous with a whole city, a whole population, a whole culture — but that’s exactly what happened with David Ortiz and the Boston Red Sox.
There’s no American sports fan alive who hasn’t heard the name Big Papi at some point in their life. Whether it’s because they love him or love to hate him, Big Papi’s dominance in the game of baseball will be remembered not just by Boston, but by the world.
But what does life without Papi mean for the city?
Sure, one can discuss Papi’s offensive prowess and how he’ll go down in history as one of the best sluggers to ever play the game. As a ten-time All-Star, seven-time winner of the Silver Slugger award, three-time World Series champ, MLB Home Run Derby Champ and Babe Ruth Award recipient, the back of Papi’s baseball card is filled with impressive statistics and notices.
But he is so much more to Boston than just his home run count (which, by the way, is 541).
He immortalized himself when he helped win the ever memorable 2004 World Series against the New York Yankees, resulting in the breaking of the Curse of the Bambino.
When tragedy struck in the form of the Boston Marathon Bombings, he immortalized himself as more than just an athlete, but as the protector of Boston when he cried out the words, “This is our f—ing city!” to a Fenway park filled with sad and scared Bostonians.
And now, there is a gaping hole that the Red Sox must fill in Papi’s absence, and it’s not going to be easy.
It’s no secret that we live in a world of instant gratification. With the entirety of the world available in the palm of one’s hand, it’s hard to keep the attention of anyone for an extended amount of time anymore, let alone during a slow-paced, tedious game of baseball.
The MLB tried to take steps toward shortening the game’s overall length by creating and implementing new changes such as a pitch clock, a maximum amount of time in between innings, and a few other small adjustments, but the overall pace of the game ended up being around the same as the pace prior to the changes.
So the only way to keep people watching baseball is to keep the athletic and performative aspects of the game to a high standard.
While “defense wins championships,” almost every sports fan will tell you that when they are watching a game, they are primarily watching for offense. It’s more exciting, faster and determines, ultimately, who ends up victorious, so when your team’s defense comes on the screen or field, it usually signals a food or bathroom break. Papi was definitely an offensive spotlight, and one that people liked to cheer on readily, as well.
But the real strength and quality of the 2017 Red Sox will come from watching their defense — primarily, their pitchers.
Baseball is almost completely a mental game. While some may argue sports like football are more exciting to watch because their games are limited and more densely intense, the beauty of baseball comes from the individual mental aspects of the players. In football, it takes a whole village, and in basketball, one player really can carry a whole team. But in baseball, it really comes down to the skills and mentalities of a handful of players and what they can do with the ball.
And pitchers are a huge part of that.
While everyone thought All-Star pickup David Price was going to be the Lord and Savior for the Red Sox pitching rotation, Price fell a little bit short of the expectations Boston had of him in the 2016 season. Between him, Dustin Pedroia and a bunch of new guys, the only player fans had to hold onto was Papi.
But now, it’s going to be the pitchers that will take all of Papi’s displaced attention from fans in the 2017 season.
David Price has finally settled into Beantown and will surely be performing better in 2017 (and if a $217 million contract isn’t enough motivation for him, I’m not sure what else is), Cy Young winner Rick Porcello will have all eyes on him in the bullpen this year after his own triumphant 2016 season, and Boston newbie Chris Sale rounds out baseball’s own version of a big three and one of the best starting rotations in the American League.
With this rotation, no one is going to be going on food breaks when Boston takes the field. And a fresh, amazingly talented pitching rotation might be exactly with this team (and city) needs to pick up where Papi left us.
