Papi Can See!

But unfortunately he still can't hit. Like many, many ball fans, I too am a HUGE Big Papi supporter (03/04 sealed the deal. How could it not?) and like the Manny-less masses, I too am more than mildly concerned about his drastic drop off.

I mean, hitting .197 on the season with only 2 bombs... it can't be over yet can it? We don't want to admit it. I don't want to admit it. And I'm rabidly cheering for a compelling, contending Jays squad. Hell, I was even happy to see him hit his first jack of the year even though it was at SkyDome. But even that jack couldn't get him on pace. The guy that once looked absolutely indestructible at the plate now looks very, very, depleted.

It's like he's been shot with a Kryptonite bullet or something.

Or it's like his spinach has been taken away. Or something else that starts with "S" that no one dares utter, even myself. But with the events over the last few seasons, and especially this year, we have our horrid, nagging, creeping, ugly, lurking suspicions that we just can't seem to shake.

Because if Papi gets pinched, it will probably be the darkest day that baseball will have seen for ages. No one would be able to handle it. I certainly wouldn't. It would be too much. It would be like Superman turning out to be in cahoots with Luther all along. We won't allow this to happen.

And that's why Francona, the Red Sox, the Nation, every Papi supporter and hell, every baseball fan for that matter, wants to see Ortiz in the lineup still, even if he is batting ninth and hitting .092. We believe desperately that he'll come back and prove to everyone that despite all the A-Rod, Manny, Rocket, Barry-nanigans, there is a bright spot in this dark era. One that shows that pure skill, a big bat, and an infectious grin can still trump all the syringes and shady shipments.

We desperately do not want Papi mighty Papi to strike out. Because if he does, it will only make those nagging, lurking voices in our collective bleacher consciousness a little bit louder.