Ortiz: "See How Much I Poured?"

WEEI.com: “What I said the other day is totally true. This is my 14th spring training and nobody talked to me about my numbers in spring training before,” said Ortiz after his Red Sox’ dropped an 8-4 decision to the Orioles, at City of Palms Park, “so I can’t believe you guys are kind of getting encouraged into (doing) that.”

“Oh, you guys are going to see some results,” Ortiz insisted, “believe me.”

Wait....Back up the truck.....all of a sudden Mike Lowell is disposable again.....Ortiz hit a tater and a single during a Spring Training game today.....All is right in the world.

The 34 year old slugger went 2 for 2 today....he's back!....forget about his 1 for 21 start this spring.....for the moment, feels as though he's cured the overall concern that he'll once again fall off a cliff for months at a time this season.

I can't deny my love for Ortiz....I was the biggest proponent of the "Trick question, Ortiz is god" saying back in 2003 and 2004. He helped Boston to two championship rings and contributed to many foggy nights for myself after celebrating Ortiz classic walk offs. He smashed the Red Sox single season home run record....he's a teddy bear goof ball with a smile on his face....how could you not love this guy?

But a lot has changed since the good old days. He'd like us to forget about his positive PED's test, the fact that he couldn't hit T Murph's weight over the first few months of 2009, and despite turning it on after June, he couldn't manage to get his average past his own weight by season end.

Like I said, I love Ortiz, I swear I do (by now I'm sure you're asking yourself if I'm doing some self-convincing with this post or not...), I'm just skeptical of the real value he's going to bring to the team in 2010. I hope he proves me, and everyone else wrong, but we've been burned by the recent past (in both fantasy and reality baseball.....yes, both are significant to me), and we can't bank on Ortiz-like production in 2010.

As a result of being a fan.....and being concerned....I'll be watching his ABs closely this weekend in Ft Myers. I've heard everything from slow bat speed to mechanical problems with his swing....either way I'll try not to freak out in the stands when he K's three times on Friday.