Advertisement

David Ortiz won't stop homering, hits 534th to tie Jimmie Foxx

David Ortiz won't stop homering, hits 534th to tie Jimmie Foxx


Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz is having one heck of a farewell season. The 40-year-old slugger keeps smashing home runs to the delight of fans everywhere, and that means he keeps moving on up the all-time home run list.

Big Papi hit his latest home run on Sunday night when the Red Sox were facing the Kansas City Royals. It was the fourth inning and Yordano Ventura was on the mound, and he managed to get Big Papi to a 2-1 count before, well, you know what happened. Ortiz launched the fourth pitch of the at-bat to right center field for his 31st home run of the season.

That homer, the 534th of his career, tied him with Jimmie Foxx at 18th on the all-time list. And if you want to look at some interesting numbers comparing the two players, have I got a tweet for you.

Those stats are nuts, but they need a little context. Foxx started playing in the majors when he was 17, while Ortiz didn’t start until he was 21. They both had 20-year careers, but their playing time after age 33 is pretty different. Ortiz is 40, and once this season is over he’ll have played seven full years beyond his 33rd birthday. Foxx’s playing career ended after his age 37 season, and he didn’t play at all in 1943, when he was 35.

[Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Baseball contest now]

Of course, that leaves out the 259 home runs that Ortiz hit when he was 27-33. And none of that makes what Big Papi has done over his career any less impressive. He could probably play at least another season. In 2016, he’s hit .319/.407/.633 with 41 doubles (which leads the majors) and 31 home runs. There are 25-year-olds who would give up all their possessions for a line like that. Heck, most position players would as well. But that’s why there’s no one like Big Papi. If he’s going to ride off into the sunset, he’s going to do it while hitting home run after home run.

More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:

The StewPod: A baseball podcast by Yahoo Sports
Subscribe via iTunes or via RSS feed

– – – – – –

Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher