David Ortiz

I love baseball movies.

Field of Dreams still makes me cry (don't laugh—I know you cry when Ray Kinsella has that catch with his dad). Bull Durham is that perfect Saturday afternoon dose of rivalry and sweetness. Then there are the historical dramas like Eight Men Out.

So, when the American Film Institute recently released its selections for this year's top films, and a baseball movie called Sugar was on the list, I went right to my computer and shot it to the top of my Netflix queue.

Jason Bay is as good as gone.

Marco Scutaro is an offensive flash in the pan.

Boston billboards should be re-painted to warn Sox fans of the inevitable decline of David Ortiz.

Jacoby Ellsbury is David Dejesus with speed.

J.D. Drew is the most expensive injury-prone outfielder since Ken Griffey Jr. last donned a Reds uniform.

(Aaron Torres is a journalist whose work has been published by Sports Illustrated and syndicated by USA Today and AOL.com. To read all of his work, including this article in its entirety , please click here, or visit him at www.aarontorres-sports.com )

Out of every sport, baseball is the one I go furthest back with.

Phew!

Baseball is recovering from the biggest day of this off-season thus far. The Boston Red Sox were at the middle of a lot of the days news, even if they were not involved with the biggest name.
 

Last offseason, the Red Sox made a concerted effort to bolster their offense by signing Mark Teixeira. There were also several rumors of them attempting to trade for various offensive stars. They also seemed determined to upgrade their captain Jason Varitek with a younger, more offensively oriented catcher.

They pretty much failed in every effort.

However, the team projected as stacked, and there were few public concerns.

Sometimes I wish baseball would get with the program.

It just perplexes me that Bud Selig allows one league to play one style of baseball and the other league to play another style of baseball.

The disconnect between the style of play is all over one position: the DH.

The American League has it, the National League doesn't, hence the different style of play in both leagues.

With the World Series now going on, one league's players are always at a disadvantage because each home ballpark calls for a different adherence to the rules.

Everyone who has had the good fortune to read Alan Moore's "Watchmen" knows that it is one of the greatest literary works of all time. Entertainment Weekly called it the 13th-best book since 1983. Time Magazine called it one of the 100 best novels since 1923. "Watchmen" is the only comic to appear on either list. What makes "Watchmen" special is its incredibly complex characters. Most of the so-called superheroes have no actual powers. They are human, with regular human flaws and weaknesses, albeit somewhat exaggerated because of their circumstances.

The Major League Baseball American League Divisional Series is upon as and it features two of the most successful teams in the league over the last few years. The Angels, who have won their division the last three years will face off against the Red Sox, who have also been in the postseason for the last three years.

So now that David Ortiz has found his stroke again, all the murmurs will start.

This will certainly mirror the talk that surrounded Jason Giambi a couple of years ago.

You all remember, don’t you? Giambi admitted to doing performance-enhancing drugs before the 2004 season, and followed that up with an 80 game, 12 home run season. The murmurs, in that case, became a roar of laughter.

It didn’t get any better in 2005 when he came out of the gate with five home runs in the first 60 games of the season, but Giambi would finish that season with 32 homeruns.

Just a quick note.

David Ortiz's struggles early this season were well documented. He was swinging at bad pitches, consistently swinging off-balance and, above all, couldn't catch up to a fastball to save his life, let alone an inside fastball.

Last night's blast to right field off of Atlanta starter Jair Jurrjens should quiet any doubters left out there.