On Wednesday night I got to see the Red Sox whoop it up on the Blue Jays, hang out with my father and most importantly, see David Ortiz launch home run number 498.
With the 2-0 pitch set to come and Drew Hutchison not exactly channeling 1996’s Pat Hentgen I readied my camera and got lucky. In all likelihood you know the drill with these photos. Frankly, most of these are pretty similar but I’m OK with that…
Striding to the plate David just had to look above the fabled Green Monster for a reminder of where he was on the home run count.
Hutchison threw and David did not waste any time. His bat whipped around and slammed into the baseball which soared into the night sky.
The ball was on its way. I cannot show this next picture to the little leaguers I coach because while everyone else is looking at the plate David has already started scouting the flight of the baseball.
Brian Butterfield and catcher Russell Martin are next up on the list to realize that following the baseball might be of interest.
Butterfield and Ortiz were enjoying themselves while the Blue Jay dugout featured a lot of long faces as Big Papi went into his strut.
Fenway exploded in noise. Someone in left dropped the “8” over the “7” to reflect the new count and David’s beaming face and the number 498 flashed all around the ballpark.
I think the best thing about this was John Gibbons. The Blue Jay manager…I mean, look at him in the first picture and the last. He barely moved. How do these guys do it? If I was rooting for a team in a division race I would be throwing things and it is not my job. The ability of these guys to stay cool, I can’t do it.