Red Sox: Ortiz Retirement Conundrum
In a picturesque, perfect world, it is the dream of many an athlete to leave the game they play on top.
They might envision it from the early days, stretching from the fields to the courts to the backyards. Their career-ending moment is hitting the game-winning shot, the walk-off home run, or scoring the winning touchdown. That special moment allows them to walk away from the game at the pinnacle of their career.
At the rate he’s going, Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz could very well be headed to a magical final season of his own, begging the question: should Ortiz, if he continues at this pace, put off his retirement by one more season?
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Thanks to a hot start, the topic of Ortiz perhaps retiring too soon has been a popular one. He is batting .312, hitting 10 home runs while driving in 34 runs. Ortiz has collected 16 doubles and currently has an OPS of 1.044.
Ortiz also has a triple and stolen base this season. It’s almost as if he’s playing his own personal game of “Big Papi Bingo”. Perhaps he’s laid out a bingo card of goals he’d like to achieve in his final season. While the usual goals of AL East title and World Series title are on this mythical card, I like to imagine “Pitch one inning against the Yankees” is also on that card.
All told, these aren’t the typical stats of a 40-year old man who is taking one last pass at the league before hanging up his bat and cleats for good (I’d say glove, but we all know that’s seen very little work over the years).
No, the stats Big Papi is putting up would make fans think Ortiz is still in the prime of his career.
Knowing exactly when to call it a career perplexes even the best athletes. Going out on top is even a rarer feat. Even at a high school level, where so many sports careers of big dreamers have stalled, that last at-bat is strikeout or that last game is a loss, memories that are best left unsaid. Going out on top, whether individually or as part of a team, is the ideal way to go.
Ortiz is choosing to leave the game before the game leaves him. Time after time, athletes are left with unpleasant images of their last go around in their sport. It could be stumbling around the outfield like Willie Mays or squeezing one more stolen base from tired legs like Rickey Henderson, but often times choosing to push it for one more season produces the opposite result of what’s desired.
Walking away can be hard, especially when it’s all you’ve known for your adult life. For Ortiz, it is clear how much he is still in love with the game. This is a man that has helped deliver three championships to Boston, not to mention all that he has done for the city itself.
That’s why it’s so hard to say this: Walk away. Even if the numbers keep up at this pace, let this be the season that guides you into the sunset. Even if you don’t get that one last World Series win, let us remember you as the fun-loving Big Papi who cranked out home runs and doubles as if they were going out of style.
Don’t let the final images of you be of a player limping to the plate, creaky knees and bad back causing strikeouts and weak ground balls. Ground outs that don’t even require the opposing team to employ a shift, all because another needless season was tacked on to a glorious career.
Keep to your word. Make the 2016 season your last. And keep making it a good one.