David Ortiz plays first base at Fenway for first time in nine years
Usually, Big Papi only mans first in interleague road games, but Sunday was different.
By
Dayn Perry
•
1 min read
Red Sox warrior-poet David Ortiz did something on Sunday that he hasn't done in almost a decade. To wit, he played first base at Fenway for the first time since Aug. 5, 2006. Look, here's proof:
More from Farrell on Papi playing 1B: "He's willing to do whatever to give us the best chance to win today." #RedSox pic.twitter.com/SZcBfRErt3
— Boston Red Sox (@RedSox) July 5, 2015
Typically, Big Papi wields a glove only in interleague road games (and, of late, only with a right-hander on the mound for the opposition). So why would the Sox, who have been playing better of late, put a somewhat lumbering 39-year-old in the field at home against a quality team like Houston? John Farrell is here to explain things:
Farrell on today's lineup: "It gives us the ability to have De Aza in LF... It's about putting the best lineup out there today." #RedSox
— Boston Red Sox (@RedSox) July 5, 2015
Beyond that, regular first baseman Mike Napoli is batting just .192/.294/.358, so that's at work, as well.
Across parts of 19 big-league seasons, Ortiz has spent more than 2,000 defensive innings at first base. However, roughly half of those innings came with the Twins, whom Ortiz last played for in 2002.
The game ended without Ortiz recording a single putout, which -- according to Elias Sports Bureau -- marked the first time in franchise history (17,867 games!) that the Red Sox had zero putouts by the first baseman.
