Earlier today, I noticed that David Ortiz (and his 31 home runs) was approaching a pretty significant and interesting milestone:
David Ortiz (31) is 3 HRs away from tying MLB record for most in a season by a player over 40 (34 – D. Evans, '87). pic.twitter.com/YpjpZWvhn3
— Baseball is Fun (@flippingbats) September 1, 2016
Indeed, with just four more home runs, David Ortiz will hold the record for most long balls in a single season by a player over 40. That may sound too specific for distinction, but it’s, uh, not. So, be more impressed.
This year, of course, is not just Ortiz’s age 40 season, it’s also his final season, his retirement tour. And so far, the tour has been, well, rather odd. Earlier in the year, for one extreme example, the Seattle Mariners decided to gift 34 pounds of Northwest King Salmon to Ortiz, because reasons.
And yesterday (during “Lego Day” at Fenway Paahhhk) the Boston Red Sox added their own unique creation … a life-size lego statue of Ortiz pointing to the sky:
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According to the announcers, the statue weighs 170 pounds, used 34,510 individual bricks, and took roughly 290 hours to be built. What an unusual waste of time! I kid, of course, because that’s probably the most life-like lego statue of David Ortiz I’ve seen all week!
What a time to be alive.