Ted Williams “would have loved” David Ortiz.
Ask Ted’s solely dwelling offspring, his daughter Claudia.
Claudia Williams spoke glowingly of Ortiz’ accomplishments as Big Papi’s profession concluded with a year-long celebration again in 2016.
“I see a lot of things in David Ortiz that I know my dad would have just loved,” Williams informed me in an interview for Bleacher Report earlier than Ortiz eclipsed Williams’ profession mark of 521 house runs.
Ortiz on Sunday was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Ted Williams taught Claudia rather a lot about hitting. He died in 2002, a yr earlier than Ortiz was gifted to the Red Sox by the Baseball Gods after his launch by the Minnesota Twins.
Claudia Williams provided the next evaluation of Ortiz’s capacity, utilizing a number of classes delivered by her dad, the undisputed “Greatest Hitter of All Time.”
“People don’t realize it, but the daughter of Ted Williams watches swings. He’s got a great game. He’s got a great swing,” Williams, now 50, informed me. “My own father taught me the importance of getting ahead of your hands and swinging up. He takes a nice, wide stance. My dad would describe him as being ‘stronger than an ox.’”
Ortiz completed with 541 HRs in his profession, 483 for the Red Sox.
“He’s got arms on him like Goliath. He’s got a little bit of an upswing. And I like the way he cocks his hips and he puts that power through his midcore. He’s a power hitter through and through. We see that every time he hits a home run. They don’t just go over the wall, they go way over the wall. Beautiful swing. Beautiful depth. Great strength,” she added.
Williams and Ortiz share outstanding similarities and variations. They are each first-ballot Hall of Famers. Both crushed it left-handed. Both drove balls deep into the right-field seats at Fenway. Both possess Latin DNA. Both got here from Minnesota to Boston.
F-bombs had been important to Ted’s vocabulary. Yet, Ortiz dropped the most important certainly one of all again in 2013.
Williams not often embraced fame as a participant. Ortiz amplified it like NASA’s Webb Space Telescope.
Williams as soon as spit towards followers at Fenway. He by no means tipped his cap as a participant. He shared a contempt for the press normally reserved for the enemy throughout armed battle.
Big Papi embraced all of it: Pressure. Fans. Media. Adulation. Praise. The Opposition Bullpen Phones. Even Criticism.
Williams was a paradox. He abnegated his Mexican heritage. And the Red Sox had been monochromatic till 1959, Williams’ penultimate season within the majors. But Ted demanded Negro Leaguers achieve entrance in Cooperstown throughout his 1965 induction speech.
Ortiz’s ceremony amplified the variations in 2022’s cultural panorama. Ortiz was feted by a forest of Dominican Republic flags. He delivered a large portion of his speech in Spanish.
Williams’ particular person success with no championship outlined Boston fandom for generations.
Ortiz, his countryman Pedro Martinez, and Tom Brady re-wrote the foundations.
They had been GOATs, too. But additionally they gained titles.
Williams was harm and flamed out within the 1946 World Series, hitting .200 in opposition to the Cardinals.
Ted would later rise “to the occasion” in the course of the Korean War, flying 39 fight missions, a decade after hitting .406.
Ortiz got here by means of within the clutch all over the place else.
Ortiz speaks of Williams with reverence and respect for his army service. He usually eschews comparisons to “Mr. Ted Williams,” as he calls him, due to it.
Though the now Hall of Famer nonetheless denies the legend of Ted’s “Red Seat.” Legend says Williams hit the seat 502 ft from house plate with a moonshot in 1946.
Ortiz isn’t shopping for.
“You see how strong ballplayers are today. And I’m not saying Mr. Ted Williams wasn’t. But you see how far guys are hitting balls today. And none of them can do it?” Ortiz informed me throughout a 12-minute rant. “I go with an aluminum bat and I’m not even close to it. … Players. Power hitters. Guys who hit bombs. They say there’s no way. You can barely see it from second base. It’s bull(—-). How come there’s no video?”
Despite these doubts, the file is now clear that Ortiz, like Mr. Ted Williams, is an simple a part of Red Sox historical past.
And Ortiz will stay the voice and face of the Red Sox.
At least till the following “Big Papi” or “Teddy Ballgame” comes alongside.
No doubt Ted Williams would have been advantageous with that, too.
Bill Speros (@RealOBF) might be reached at [email protected].
Source: www.bostonherald.com”