According to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com, soon to be 40-year-old DH David Ortiz is planning to call it a career after the 2016 season. It has been a crazy ride for Big Papi over the years, full of clutch hits that helped deliver three different World Series titles to the city of Boston. Even as his career has continued to wind down as of late, he's still put up very solid numbers for a couple of last place teams. It's a shame to see such a great career like David's come to an end, but sadly Father Time is undefeated. Hopefully Ortiz's farewell tour can go off without a hitch as the Red Sox try to climb their way back into playoff contention.
David struggled early on in 2015 as the Red Sox scuffled, but figured things out just in time to dominate the second half of the season. Over 146 games, Ortiz batted a solid .273 while slugging 37 homeruns and posting a .360 OBP. While the team continued to fall further out of contention, David continued to play hard night in and night out. He set a great example for a team full of future building blocks and leaders. As the Red Sox head into their next dynasty, lessons like those will stick with guys for the rest of their careers.
The retirement of Ortiz doesn't come as much of a surprise when looking back on several of the comments he made throughout the season. The last couple of years haven't been too easy for him either as the Red Sox struggled. Not to mention 2016 will mark the 20th season David has spent in the majors. That is a very long time, especially for a guy who has been a DH for the majority of his career. It seems with Hanley Ramirez being there for the future though, and prospect Sam Travis almost ready to take over at first base, that DH spot will be filled come 2017. No one will compare to David at that spot anytime soon, but having a guy like Hanley there who has shown the ability to hit when healthy helps a bit.
David has been a hero on and off the field in New England for twelve years now, and has earned the respect of people across the league. His postseason resume is one of the best of all time, and has helped create so many happy memories for Red Sox fans everywhere.
It may be almost time to say goodbye to another legend in the sport of baseball, but lets enjoy this one last season and hope for the best for a guy who has gave his all in a Red Sox uniform.