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October 19, 2007
By STEVEN KRASNER
Journal Sports Writer
BOSTON -- Opposing managers have been facing a dilemma for five seasons now.
David Ortiz or Manny Ramirez.
Who do they pitch to?
It's a "pick your poison" situation for the opposition. They both hit for average. They both hit for power. They both are very selective at the plate, content to take their walks and not leave the strike zone, refusing to so much as nibble at pitches that may be out of the zone.
And relief specialists don't faze them, either. Ortiz, a left-handed hitter, doesn't give an inch in the batter's box to left-handed pitchers. Likewise, right-handed pitchers don't necessarily alter Ramirez's approach or results.
Add all of it together, and toss in the fact that each one thrives in the glare of the postseason, and you see the nightmare the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Cleveland Indians have been forced to endure in the A.L. Division Series and the A.L. Championship Series this month.
Heading into tomorrow night's Game Six of the ALCS, with the Red Sox facing elimination with a loss to the Indians, who hold a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series, Ortiz and Ramirez have been a two-man wrecking crew.
While the offensive support from the others in the lineup has come and gone, notably in a pair of losses in Cleveland that plunged Boston into a 3-1 series deficit, Ortiz and Ramirez have been shining beacons of potent consistency.
So far in the postseason, Ortiz is batting .500 (11 for 22) with an astounding on-base percentage of .639. The Sox' designated hitter, who has three homers and six RBI, has a slugging percentage of 1.000. Ramirez has been similarly dangerous. The Sox' left fielder is crushing the ball to the tune of a .440 batting average (11 for 25) with four homers and 12 RBI. His on-base percentage is .611.
To put these playoff on-base percentages in perspective, Ortiz led the A.L. at .445, while Ramirez's OBP was .388.
And while they have been monsters throughout the playoffs, Ortiz and Ramirez put together an amazing night of offensive efficiency in Game One of the ALCS. They each reached base in all five of their plate appearances -- Ortiz (double, single, two walks, hit by pitch); Ramirez (two singles, three walks, including a pair of bases-loaded free passes).
Even Ortiz was impressed with those performances.
"Basically I told (Ramirez) that we know that they're going to pitch kind of carefully (to us)," said Ortiz after that ballgame, a 10-3 Boston win.
"That's been the talk, night in and night out before this series. So we keep that in mind and we stick with whatever they give us. We still have another seven players that got to take advantage of it because in the playoffs when you walk somebody, sometimes you've got to pay for that later," he said.
But while opposing managers and pitchers try to find a way to get the Sox' Dynamic Duo out, Boston manager Terry Francona also faced a dilemma concerning Ortiz and Ramirez.
It was back in 2004. Ortiz wanted to bat third, with Ramirez behind him in the order as protection. Ramirez, meanwhile, also wanted to bat third, followed by Ortiz.
Francona was aware of each hitter's desire, but clearly could not satisfy both of them. There were times he flip-flopped the pair. In August of 2004, Francona settled on Ramirez batting third, followed by Ortiz in the cleanup spot. But a few months into the 2005 season, Francona flopped them again.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
Ortiz has blossomed into one of the most feared hitters in the game, especially when the game is on the line. And Ramirez, though his numbers fell off a little bit this season, during which he missed basically the last month because of a strained left oblique, has been quite productive as well.
"They're just dangerous hitters, no matter what time of year it is," recently said Boston catcher and team captain Jason Varitek.
So Angels manager Mike Scioscia noticed. In the ninth inning of Game Two of the ALDS, he had relief ace Frankie Rodriguez issue an intentional walk to Ortiz with two outs in a tie game. Ramirez made him pay by absolutely crushing a three-run homer over everything in left.
"You really pick your poison," said Scioscia. "Both those guys are terrific."
This round, the Ortiz-Ramirez duo has been Cleveland manager Eric Wedge's problem, one without a clear solution, as he has acknowledged.
"They've both got it going about the same time, and with Manny coming back (after his oblique injury) they obviously are both tremendous hitters," said Wedge.
"But even though they're great hitters, they're still going to get out seven out of 10 times and they're still going to mis-hit pitches. That's the way you have to look at it. You still have to focus on our strengths and what we need to do or what our individual pitcher needs to do out there, and that's what we're trying to do," he said.
With very little success. In the ALCS, Ortiz is batting .400 (6 for 15) with a homer, three RBI and a .522 OBP, while Ramirez is batting . 471 (8 for 17) with two homers, eight RBI and a .609 OBP. The rest of the team, meanwhile, is batting a mere .250 with four homers and 16 RBI.
To say it has been a two-man team offensively this season may be stretching things a bit, but there's no question that without these two hitters back-to-back in the lineup, the Sox wouldn't have made it this far.
"It's hard to let David beat you because he's such a good hitter," said Francona, reconizing the problems the duo presents for the opposition. "But Manny's such a good hitter behind him, he makes them pay."
And if all goes well for the Sox, Ortiz and Ramirez will be making the opposing pitchers pay to the tune six more victories this postseason, the number of wins Boston needs for its second World Series crown in four years.
Posted by Steven Krasner 
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