MINNEAPOLIS - Before the game, I told David Ortiz, "Now don't forget. Don't get up in the first inning." He led out a howling laugh.
Hitting sixth was something he hadn't done since May 11, 2004, against the Indians. If he considered it a demotion, you wouldn't have known it by his pregame demeanor, though after the game he had a different look.
What was clear was that, with Ortiz below the Mendoza Line (.197), the Red Sox were willing to try something else. Sitting him didn't work.
Managers, players, and even yours truly will tell you that where you hit in the order shouldn't have much to do with your hitting. During the course of a game, you're going to come up in pressure situations no matter where you hit. But on this night, Terry Francona decided, after much deliberation with his coaching staff, that he was going to put Ortiz in a part of the order that was perceived as "less pressuring."
While this type of move is more psychological than anything else, it worked - at least in the first at-bat. Ortiz led off the second inning and stroked a double to right-center on a 3-and-2 pitch from Nick Blackburn. He finished 1 for 3 with a walk.
"Look, let me make something clear so you guys don't ask me the whole time about me hitting sixth," said Ortiz. "I started hitting third here a little bit after I got here. If you're hitting third, you must be swinging the bat good. The manager moved me to sixth because we got guys swinging the bat good, right? Now, I've got to work my way up, right? That's about it.
"I'm an employee. I follow orders."
It was hard to tell what Ortiz meant by that. There seemed to be some anger and some frustration with himself that it had come to this.
But hitting coach Dave Magadan saw positive signs throughout the day.
"That was probably the best BP I've ever seen him take," said Magadan. "Probably his last three or four BPs have been outstanding."
Magadan disagrees with our stance that batting order doesn't matter.
"In my opinion, yeah, it does a little bit," he said. "When you're hitting in that 3 or 4 hole, there are expectations. The guys around you are going to get on base. I think it's done maybe to relieve some of the anxiety that he's had and that frustration that he has that he's letting us down.
"We'll see what happens. He looked better tonight. He hit that ball hard to right-center."
Ortiz was amped up to start the game.
He even showed some oomph in his stride as he turned on the afterburners and slid into second base ahead of the throw on his double. It's probably just what the big guy needed, but after that, it became another night at the office. He could have gone 1 for 3 hitting third or cleanup.
