Editor's note: NESN.com is going to tell the story of the 2012 Red Sox in Bobby Valentine’s words. Each game day, we will select the best Valentine quote that sums up the day for the Red Sox.
Two years ago at this time, Red Sox fans couldn't push David Ortiz out of town fast enough. This season, though, Ortiz is the one laying the foundation for the team's success.
Ortiz kicked off Boston's offense Monday night, igniting the Red Sox bats and giving Jon Lester just what he needed to put together his best outing of the season.
After a Dustin Pedroia walk at the start of the first inning, Ortiz launched a shot off the wall in left center field that brought Pedroia around to score and sparked a suddenly streaking Red Sox offense on to a 6-1 win against Seattle.
The precedent that Ortiz was able to set with another early strike Monday is something the 36-year-old has been doing all season. It seems that each night, somehow, Ortiz continues to find a way to create opportunities for Boston's offense. The chances aren't always converted, but his ability to ignite the flame has been more than enough over the past few games.
Ortiz's success is laying a foundation of success for the Red Sox, an idea that manager Bobby Valentine harped on after the game.
"We're building a foundation, a base of confidence," Valentine said of the current four-game winning streak. "Confidence in each other, confidence in the group."
Confidence will play a major role in the continued success of the Red Sox this season, but the guide to such confidence will be the foundation that Valentine speaks of.
Ortiz's team-leading .346 batting average, seven home runs and 26 RBIs are certainly enough to impress MVP voters, but the numbers alone couldn't turn the Red Sox' season around. Instead, it's been Ortiz commitment to personal excellence and, even more, his unrelenting will to win that's been the biggest factor in Boston's recent success.
It's Ortiz who not only has put up the impressive numbers for the Red Sox this season but who has been the mental leader for the club. His early-inning blasts allow the team get going early, and much like Lester on Monday, it allows the pitchers to settle into a rhythm with the lead behind them.
So while Lester's complete game was definitely impressive and exactly what the Red Sox needed Monday evening, it was Ortiz who truly has been the catalyst for the recent surge.
