There was no embarrassment. There were no timid ground outs to the right side. Sure, there was one strikeout swinging on an 86-mile-per-hour fastball, but Ortiz also bashed a Wall double and a triple, driving in two runs, as the Red Sox thumped the Orioles, 12-1, with marathoners racing by. That made the Red Sox proud owners of a four-game series sweep and pushed themselves a notch ahead of the sorry O's.
While many in a crowd of 37,865 were downing beer at an early hour - that 11 a.m. start - Ortiz was attempting to prove to himself and to his semi-faithful that he was not done. Not at 33 years old, after his swing looked particularly slow against the fastballs of Koji Uehara Sunday.
"If you as a hitter slow down with 88 miles an hour [fastballs], that means you've got to go," Ortiz said. "But it's crazy how you can come after you get beat by 88, and come and hit 94. That means that it's not that you've got to go, it means that you've got to pull yourself together to keep working. This is a long season.
"I was late. It doesn't matter how hard the pitch was thrown. If you're late, you're late."
But while Ortiz proved that he can have an Ortiz game, he has not yet proven who he is now. It could be this way all year - beacons of hope in an otherwise steady downturn. Or he could start rolling, the bat speed picking up as the weather turns warmer. He said he "hasn't felt like this in years" physically.
"I've been working with my mechanics, man," Ortiz said. "I've been late, a little late with pitches, which is something that I normally don't do, and pitchers are taking advantage of it.
"It's got a little bit out of hand. But at this point you don't want to get frustrated. It just makes it worse. You want to make sure you get to the point where you like to be and where you need to be. It's the beginning of the season and you don't want to give up.
"I would like to swing like [Dustin] Pedroia - you don't have to worry about mechanics."
