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Listen, we know it’s tough to catch up on everything happening in the baseball world each morning. There are all kinds of stories, rumors, game coverage, and Vines of dudes getting hit in the beans every day. Trying to find all of it while on your way to work or sitting at your desk just isn’t easy. It’s okay, though, we’re going to do the heavy lifting for you each morning, and find the things you need to see from within the SB Nation baseball network as well as from elsewhere. Please hold your applause until the end, or at least until after you subscribe to the newsletter.
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Chances are, you've already decided whether or not you think David Ortiz is a Hall of Famer. There are folks who believe Ortiz shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame because he was on a list where he tested positive for something. Many think that something is steroids, although there is not any concrete proof Ortiz took PEDs. There is the camp that thinks that designated hitters shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame because they don't field. By that same logic, relief pitchers shouldn't be enshrined in Cooperstown because they don't start.
Even if you take out all of Ortiz's postseason heroics, there's still an incredibly strong case for Ortiz's future enshrinement in Cooperstown. Plainly, Ortiz is among the greatest designated hitters ever. In his time primarily as a designated hitter, Ortiz has more fWAR than any DH ever. Edgar Martinez's time as a DH from 1995-2004 registers in at second with 44.3 fWAR, although Ortiz has more 700 game jump on the Seattle Mariners legend.
As past Hall of Fame inductees have shown, significance in baseball history can play a major role in a player's candidacy. Bill Mazeroski is primarily in the Hall of Fame because of one home run; Mazeroski's peak WAR falls significantly short of that of an average Hall of Fame second baseman. So adding in Ortiz's significant historical moments, you have a player who was an integral part of why the Red Sox broke the Curse of the Bambino in 2004 and a player who hit a game-tying grand slam that sent Torii Hunter flying over a wall and a policeman cheering in excitement, among many other memorable moments. The fact of the matter is that you can't write a book about greatest players in this current era without a big section about Big Papi. That, in actuality, should be the ultimate measure of historical longevity, of greatness.
- Before signing with the Red Sox before the 2003 season, Ortiz wasn't much of anything. And then Grady Little told him to start swinging for the fences.
- David Ortiz may be the most important player in the history of the Red Sox.
- Madison Bumgarner was four outs from a perfect game. And then Melvin Upton had to come in and ruin the party.
- Troy Tulowitzki has a crack in his shoulder. That doesn't sound like a lot of fun.
- Mike Moustakas drove in nine (!!!!) runs on Saturday and set the Royals franchise record for most runs driven in during a single game after a three-hour rain delay.
- Drew Storen broke his thumb. He did it by slamming his locker shut on it. Seriously.
- Statistics subscribe to the theory that the Cardinals are somehow one of the "clutchest" teams in baseball year after year. Or, as Lana Berry termed it, it's just a taste of that #CardinalsDevilMagic
- Joey Votto is really good. Too bad he's stuck in a pretty crappy situation in Cincinnati.
- This is one to check off the bucket list: Lego made a life-size version of Buster Posey, and his son loved it.