“Everybody has something to prove each year.”

For Red Sox DH David Ortiz, memorable quotes come easy when you’re hitting .340, launching 50 home runs, and driving in 130. The words just seem to flow out of his mouth when he’s batting over .400 with 5 homers in the 2004 playoffs, receiving plaques that anoint him as the “greatest clutch hitter in the history of the Boston Red Sox.” But what about success stops coming easy? We saw that side of Ortiz too when he called out the media after the second game of the season. In two games, Ortiz was 0-7 and looking somewhat lost at the plate. Let’s take a look at the unabridged version shall we? Note: Note safe for work. “Shit happens. Then you guys talk shit. Two fucking games already. You motherfuckers going crazy. What’s up with that, man? Shit. There’s 160 games left. Ain’t that a bitch.” Welcome to the new season everybody. Ortiz had always been a character, there was no denying it, and now we’ve seen his dark side. His struggles were well documented through the month of April in which he was consistently under the Mendoza line. Although his bat showed some pop on occasion, he wasn’t producing or getting on base.

Last year, he hit .230 in April, followed that up with an average of .143 in May, and failed to hit a home run until the twentieth of May. Not exactly first ballot numbers, or numbers associated with the greatest clutch hitter in the history of the Boston Red Sox. In the same year, he was busted for steroids. While we were mostly dismayed when we learned that the big, likable, oaf who had delivered some of the finest clutch hitting ever was a cheater, it would be a stretch to say that anyone was surprised.

With the Twins, Papi wasn’t a very prolific hitter. He hit 58 home runs for them in six seasons there. Although this can be attributed to injury, it’s clear that he was a much better player for Boston. The year he joined the team, 2003, is when his numbers began to spike. He played a key role in the post season run of 2004 that broke the “curse” that everyone seems to think is the reason that Boston failed to win the World Series for so long. 2003 was also the year that he tested positive for steroids. That was all the evidence I needed. Of course, the announcement wasn’t made until July 20, 2009, but it still didn’t cause any less of an impact on the baseball world.A man I looked up to despite my sworn allegiance against Boston, was nothing but a cheater. I had believed his endless reassurances that he was clean and always had been. So now, not only was he a cheater, he was a lying cheater, and I had completely lost respect for him.

The announcement couldn’t have come at a worse time. It was the first season that Manny would not be protecting Ortiz in the lineup, the Red Sox were in New York for a series against the Yankees and Ortiz already had enough problems with his bum wrist and with his struggles at the plate. Naturally, he used the classic “I didn’t know what I was taking” excuse, further intensifying my new found dislike for all things Ortiz.

Let’s check out how he’s doing today. Of course, we all know about his struggles in the month of April. He was hovering slightly below .200 all month and looked like he was in for a rough season. It was just plain sad watching him stumble around at the plate and even though I enjoyed seeing the Sox lose, it was hard to watch a childhood hero flail around, so clearly out of his element, that it seemed to me that retirement was imminent at the end of the season if this kept up.

Then we got to May. As the weather got warmer, so did Ortiz. He’s been absolutely raking this month, flashing signs of his 2004 form more often then ever since that fateful July day in New York. In fact, he’s hit 8 of his 9 home runs in May and raised his batting average to a respectable .256. He looks comfortable, confident, and seems to be playing with the characteristic unbridled joy that he’s come to personify in the last few years. It would be harder to find anyone happier than Ortiz at this moment, the impact he has on his clubhouse is enormous. It seems that when Papi’s happy, everybody’s happy.

He’s not the only one who’s hot right now, the Sox are steadily advancing in the divisional standings and, while they’re still in fourth place, they seem to be holding down the fort relatively well until reinforcements arrive via the trade market and through some of their injured stars like Jacoby Ellisbury and Mike Cameron returning to action. Among other resurgent sluggers are the Rangers’ Vlad Guerrero who is absolutely hitting the cover off the ball after his worst season since 1996. Given his outstanding history at his new home park in Arlington and the ridiculous amount of lineup protection he gets from guys like Ian Kinsler, Nelson Cruz, and Josh Hamilton, it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to see the free swinging slugger back at the top of the league. Another guy is Ty Wigginton of the Baltimore Orioles. Thrust into the action simply to act as another body to put in the field, he’s been smoking the ball, batting over .300 and hitting 13 home runs. This coming after a season in which his home run total equaled 11. While it may not last for guys like this and others such as the Jays’ Vernon Wells, the early successes of these players has been fun to watch.

Obviously, it’s worked the other way for some players. I’ll cite another Oriole, Adam Jones. His struggles at the plate were personified by a low and outside curveball. The idea was, if it was within a four or five foot radius of the plate, Jones would hack at it, prompting him to miss. Badly. And what happened to the Gold Glove defense? Jones has proven this season that while some people can’t chew gum and walk at the same time, he can’t chew gum and field a fly ball at the same time. Two hands Adam, two hands. However, to be fair, the entire team was slumping that month, and he was batting in a new spot in the lineup. His plate discipline has improved over the course of May and he’s currently enjoying the benefits of an 11 game hitting streak.

So what the heck happened? To be perfectly honest, I have no fucking clue. You guess is as good as mine. I don’t see any difference in his swing except for the fact that the ball travels farther. “I just swing hard in case I hit it — that’s it.” Spoken like a true slugger. Ortiz’s road since last July has been a long and winding one; maybe he’s finally hit a nice long stretch of highway to cruise on.