David Ortiz

He may have started off slow, with the longest homer-less streak of his career, but David Ortiz seems to be back to his old self, and not a moment too soon! 

A three-run shot in Washington, a huge bomb off a Bronx arm, and five other home runs have all come quite recently.

While the critics were all over Ortiz to start the season, they haven't been able to say much as of late.

Mother Nature was unleashed in Boston last night and the Red Sox and their fans quickly retorted.

After an afternoon full of rain and a start delayed by five minutes, the Boston Red Sox failed to solve the enigma that is Ricky Nolasco and his 7+ ERA last night.  Five innings of baseball ended up being played; a Kevin Youkilis home run, and a David Ortiz crawl to first base on the ever-typical Marlins' error later, the rain came back with a vengeance and sent the game into and two hour and twenty minute delay before being called in favor of the visiting Florida Marlins.

It all started on December 20, 2001 when the Red Sox were sold to a group headed buy John Henry, Tom Werner, and Larry Lucchino for $660 million. 

These men were not only shrewd businessmen but also baseball insiders.  They fired their general manager immediately and hired an interim one so they could take time to find their guy. They also fired their manager and hired Grady Little. 

The most important hire they made that off-season was for their assistant general manager position which went to Theo Epstein. 

Despite his recent hot streat, rumors have been swirling about the Red Sox' desire to replace David Ortiz.

JJ Hardy, Jeff Francouer, Hanley Ramirez and Adam Dunn's names have been tossed around, but one name that's less famous is Chris Davis. Davis has been knocking the stuffing out of the ball in 59 games.

Last night, David Ortiz came to the plate at Fenway Park and did something he had only done twice before in this season: He hit a home run.

All of Boston roared and showed their unwavering support for their latest baseball hero.  Like, Ortiz himself, they don't want to believe what so many journalists and analysts have been bedrudgingly reporting since the third week of the season: Big Papi is washed up.

The Fenway Faithful stood and cheered, but they aren't the only ones who can get excited by Ortiz's show of power. I am, of course, referring to Yankee Fans.

All of Boston is talking about the Sox taking game one of the three game series between Boston and the New York Yankees.

Boston, led by the brilliance of Josh Beckett, won 7-0.

In the midst of the all the excitement was an absolute bomb off the bat of David Ortiz. He took A.J. Burnett deep to Portland, Maine.

Folks, it's time for Theo Epstein and the Red Sox to make a move.

The team is stuck in neutral, and plenty of question marks stand out.

Boston's starting pitching has struggled at times and is ranked 26th in the majors with a 5.36 ERA. Jon Lester is struggling mightily. He was supposed to be one of the aces for the Sox. 

A few months ago, I wrote an article naming 10 players I believe could be in the remaining 103 names affiliated with the A-Rod steroids controversy.

Much to the chagrin of Red Sox fans, one of the names listed was Red Sox DH David Ortiz.

The article was written Feb. 10, and since then Ortiz has done nothing but confirm any suspicions that his better years are in the past.

Through 154 at-bats, David Ortiz has as many triples as he does home runs.  Uno, one, un, or uno again.

Ortiz hasn't been big thus far in the 2009 Boston Red Sox campaign, and since it's officially after Memorial Day, it's no longer "too early" to pose the question:  Is David "Big Papi" Ortiz done?

In short, no.  Big Papi will hit at least 20 home runs this season.

But even I would be mad if that was the entirety of the article.

It's a sight that is tough to swallow for Boston Red Sox fans.

For years, David Ortiz has been a symbol of power, a symbol that struck fear into opposing pitchers' hearts. Fenway Park would erupt every time he stepped to the plate, and Ortiz would gladly give us a chance to cheer, delivering clutch hit after clutch hit.

He was a trademark in the 2004 playoffs, helping the Red Sox beat the Yankees after being down 3-0 in what some describe as the greatest year in Red Sox history.