Papi

Now we see if The Summer of Excitement™ is going to materialize, as The Yankees go to Boston for four, then on down to Texas for three, followed by a trip to The Coast for a four-game serious with the Angels. All winning teams. If the Yankees are for real, I'll take a record of 5-6 for the trip. And then they're home for six more games against good teams, three with the Twinkies and three more with L.A.'s Anaheim. I'll take 9-8 for the rest of the month. It would be more reassuring if the Yankees had a fifth starter; they haven't even announced who's pitching on Sunday. Maybe the club house attendant.

Ah, but it should at least be exciting up in Boston. It always is. And speaking of always, David Ortiz always seems to hurt the Yankees.

There is no easy way to fool Ortiz and no concrete approach for getting past him. The Yankees know this better than any other team because they have seen Ortiz more than anyone else, and he has dominated them in many memorable situations.

"You know those games you play against the Yankees, they're close games," Ortiz said. "They're like World Series games. You want to make sure whenever you get the opportunity to do something, you go for it and do it. You know what I'm saying?"

Everyone usually knows what Ortiz is saying and doing because he likes to gab nearly as much as he likes to hit. He is the happy slugger and the anti-Manny Ramirez, his close friend and moody teammate.

In physique, personality and production, Ortiz could be the Babe Ruth of the Dominican Republic. He is a big guy with a big swing and big numbers. He is, of course, Big Papi.

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Since the beginning of 2003, Ortiz has batted .335 with 12 homers and 33 runs batted in against the Yankees. No one has hit more homers against the Yankees in that period. Those statistics should not surprise anyone who has seen Ortiz crowd the plate, lift his front foot and take vicious uppercuts that end with his top hand, and often the ball, flying free.

Ortiz is so dangerous he gets the ultimate mark of respect:

Rivera, who has allowed 5 hits to Ortiz in 11 regular-season at-bats, agreed with Varitek. Since the Minnesota Twins declined to tender Ortiz a contract and he signed with Boston in 2003, Rivera said, Ortiz has eliminated his weak spots.

"He used to have holes on the inside," Rivera said. "You'd go outside? Holes. Now they're not there anymore."

Then Rivera compared Ortiz with Ramirez, a tremendous hitter, and said that he could go at Ramirez, but that with Ortiz, "you have to really be careful."

I don't think I've ever heard Mariano Rivera admit to being careful with any hitter.

The Yankees have to make Ortiz move his feet. The guy practically brings a shovel to the plate; he digs himself a hole, with his toes practically touching the dish, leaning over it like a shade tree. When he upper cuts another one over the right field wall, he lopes around the baseballs at the slowest pace possible. If Yankee pitchers don't come high and inside a couple of times this weekend, he's going to continue to own them. Jeter gets taken to the hospital for X-rays of various body parts every time the Yankees play the Sox; he's been hit by Boston pitchers something like 100 times. It's time to make Ortiz feel uncomfortable up there.