Opposing batters haven't fared much better. Visiting lefthanded batters have hit 14 this season (four by switch-hitters), accounting for a total of 22 home runs. Together, the Sox and their opponents are on a pace to hit 42 home runs lefthanded at Fenway this season; that is 37 percent worse than last season's 67 and 16 home runs fewer than the 58 lefties hit in 2002, the worst total in the last 11 seasons.
"Fenway is not a good park for a lefthanded hitter," Ortiz said in San Francisco, where he was one of five Sox players to appear in the American League's 5-4 win over the National League in the 78th All-Star Game, assuring the AL representative of home-field advantage in the World Series.
"The weather thing, Fenway is not normally an easy park to hit a home run from the left side. Every single game, you got wind blowing in from the ocean, which makes it worse."
Some people wonder if perhaps some of the park changes have impacted home runs at Fenway, the way construction of the original 600 Club did, cutting down on wind currents.
The only Sox All-Star who didn't play Tuesday in San Francisco was Hideki Okajima, who should be well rested tonight when Tim Wakefield faces Toronto in the opener of a four-game series. The Blue Jays are tied with the Yankees for second place in the AL East, 10 games behind the Sox, even though they are a game below .500 (43-44). Ortiz reached on an error and lined out in his two All-Star at-bats; Josh Beckett pitched two scoreless innings and kept Barry Bonds in the park; Mike Lowell singled and scored ahead of Victor Martinez's decisive home run; Jonathan Papelbon protected the lead in a scoreless eighth, striking out two; and Manny Ramírez flied to right in a pinch-hitting appearance, though he also made a big show of cooling off All-Star MVP Ichiro Suzuki with a towel after Suzuki's inside-the-park home run.
