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A force at 40: Ortiz finishing career with a flourish
- Updated: October 3, 2016
David Ortiz’s remarkable farewell campaign, which concluded its regular-season portion with Sunday’s 2-1 loss to Toronto at Fenway Park, has stood out strikingly in the context of baseball history. Few position players, if any, have crafted such a fine final season.
But while Big Papi is choosing to call it quits at the end of 2016, there’s nothing he can do about his age. Ortiz turned 40 last Nov. 18, and such an event is almost never a good thing for a Major League player. Yet the Red Sox slugger has responded to that milestone with one of his best years.
It’s that production, at that age, that makes his season stand out the most.
Most hitters, even great ones, don’t extend their careers into their 40s in the first place, and the ones that do often find themselves competing with eroding skills. Of the 12 Hall of Famers who recorded at least 100 plate appearances in their age-40 season since 1995, eight produced an OPS+ below the league average of 100, and only Rickey Henderson in 1999 topped the 110 mark. Most recently, Ken Griffey Jr. hit .184/.250/.204 over 108 plate appearances for the 2010 Mariners before retiring.
Ortiz, of course, has long reaped the benefits of the designated hitter role and played a total of five innings in the field in 2016. If not for the DH, his performance wouldn’t be possible.
But while Big Papi’s body might be faltering, his bat is as potent as ever, generating a final line of .315/.401/.620 with 48 doubles, 38 home runs and 127 RBIs. His 163 OPS+ entering Sunday trailed only Mike Trout among qualified MLB hitters, and Ortiz …
