Is David Ortiz done?

[Shopay]

How is Ortiz not old enough to hit a brick wall like that? Even if you assume he's not lying about his age, look at his body type. It's not like we're talking about an athletically built guy who thickens up later in his career. He's a large, large man. Given his body type, I see no reason why he couldn't hit a brick wall at his age.

It never ceases to amaze me how people can literally hate players on other teams just because of the laundry. There are generally very few players that I dislike that greatly. Don't get me wrong, I root vehemently for the Red Sox to lose every game they play, but "despise" is such a strong word. It's almost petty.

Were you surprised to learn that Manny was using banned substances?

[Moose Milligan]

Melvin Mora.

I don't think anyone really hates Mora.

Nor would I call his time here with us "amazing."

[tennOsfan]

I don't think anyone really hates Mora.

Nor would I call his time here with us "amazing."

Oriole fans don't hate Mora, and Red Sox fans probably don't "hate" Ortiz. "Hate" was an unfortunately heavy word to be employed in this discussion. Just because you want a player to go away doesn't mean you hate them and don't appreciate what they've done.

[Spoonless]

Were you surprised to learn that Manny was using banned substances?

Uh, no. It also wouldn't surprise me if Ortiz did, or if Pedroia did, or Markakis, Jones, Ripken. It wouldn't surprise me if everyone playing in MLB uses or used PED at some point in time. What's your point?

All I'm saying is that even if Ortiz wasn't on the juice, it's not exactly surprising that he could hit that wall at his age, given his body type (not to mention past health issues).

[tennOsfan]

It never ceases to amaze me how people can literally hate players on other teams just because of the laundry. There are generally very few players that I dislike that greatly. Don't get me wrong, I root vehemently for the Red Sox to lose every game they play, but "despise" is such a strong word. It's almost petty.

Color me petty then. It's not like I want their first born children to die or anything. I just don't like the Red Sox and Yankees. If their players can no longer play, I rejoice and want to dance naked in the streets.

[TyCobb]

Melvin Mora.

Are you serious? Mora is loved by a lot of the fans. Sure we at OH don't want him to be on the team next year, but that doesn't me don't think he did a great job when he was here. The FO isn't going to be sending false information saying what a bad guy Melvin is to the team. And if they do the O's should be embarrassed with themselves.

[TyCobb]

I don't think anyone really hates Mora.

Nor would I call his time here with us "amazing."

Fangraphs gives him a worth of 80.8 million and only getting paid 28.2 million since 2002. I think that is a pretty good deal for us.

[Shopay]

Uh, no. It also wouldn't surprise me if Ortiz did, or if Pedroia did, or Markakis, Jones, Ripken. It wouldn't surprise me if everyone playing in MLB uses or used PED at some point in time. What's your point?

All I'm saying is that even if Ortiz wasn't on the juice, it's not exactly surprising that he could hit that wall at his age, given his body type (not to mention past health issues).

It could be just hitting a wall due to age. OTOH, I find it somewhat surprising that the decent from the top has been so steep and quick for Papi. Even if a player hits a wall due to age, most of the time their skills diminsh over time and not as quickly as Papi's.

The only reason I bring up Manny is that for many, myself included, it was a surprise. I always believed that Manny was a pure hitting machine and that was the reason for all his success. If pure hitters like Manny and Palmerio believed they needed to use PEDs to succeed, why not Ortiz? The timing of his dramatic decline and the ramped up testing in MLBs may be nothing more than a coincidence. But having been fooled by players like Manny and Raffy in the past, I refuse to dismiss PEDs as a possible reason for Papi's decline, as Simmons does.

[ledzepp8]

Melvin Mora.

Does Mora get booed for doing poorly? Being critical of him is one thing (when it is deserved) but I don't think Orioles fans are like Yankee and Red Sox fans. Maybe Sawx fans aren't as bad but Yankee fans boo people like Arod.

[BaltimoreTerp]

How about a guy who fell off the earth after a 14-year career with us.

Granted, he was an Indian at the time, but he went from a .901 OPS to a .643 OPS from 1975 to 1976, or ages 33 to 34.

That would be one John Wesley Powell.

When big guys lose it, they LOSE it. In Papi's case, that was my second thought when he started to noticibly struggle.

You can guess what my first thought was, unfortunately

There's plenty of examples of the big, one-dimensional players collapsing at that age 32-33 period, and most before steroids. Jimmy Foxx comes to mind as probably the most prominent example.

[itsernst]

Also...ESPN has him at 6'4" 230lbs. Im not a weight expert, but he is the heaviest looking 230lb dude I have seen in a long time.

[OrangeJerseys]

Nice.

Nomar and Manny were shunned because they had bad attitudes by the time they were sent away. Pedro is still revered by Boston fans.

As pointed out by Simmons, Boston fans are being respectful.

Back in 2004, I think it's safe to say all of us were rooting for the Sox to beat the Yankees. Ortiz was incredible during the ALCS and it was amazing to watch his clutch hitting. Due to that, he's reached upper echelon status in Boston sports lore with guys like Larry Bird who delivered championships and were clutch.

Oritz was a good guy for baseball, if you can put your Sox hatred aside. It's sad to see someone like that hit the wall that hard.

Exactamundo.