Yastrzemski: “Ortiz was a better hitter than I was”

“I would say as a hitter, I would say he’s next to Ted [Williams],”

When it comes to the greatest hitters to ever dig into the box in the Red Sox uniform at Fenway Park, a couple of names come to mind. Of course, images of Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski putting on a show for the hometown crowd will flow through your brain when the topic of “greatest Red Sox hitters” comes up, but who else has joined the list? Well, according to Yaz, it’s David Ortiz.

Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski recently said in an interview with The Boston Globe that he thinks Ortiz is a better hitter than he was, listing him as the second greatest hitter in Red Sox history, behind only Ted Williams.

“I think so, yeah. I would put [Ortiz] ahead of me,” Yastrzemski said. “He had more power than I had.”

For those of who that need reminding, Yastrzemski’s career with the Red Sox was a very successful one. In his 23 year career, throughout all of which he called Fenway home, Yastrzemski reached 18 All Star Games, won seven Gold Gloves, a triple crown, and an MVP.

Ortiz belted two home runs against the Blue Jays last Monday to pass Yaz on the all-time Red Sox home runs list, however, Yastrzemski still holds several records above Ortiz. Even so, he believes that Ortiz is the better hitter, and has a tremendous amount of respect for the man they call “Big Papi”.

“I would say as a hitter, I would say he’s next to Ted [Williams],”“DH-ing is very difficult, and he seems to have mastered it,” Yastrzemski said. “It’s not that easy. When I DH-ed my last year, I hated it.“To go to the plate and get yourself mentally prepared, it’s not easy to do when you’re not in the game. You’re watching the game, and then all of a sudden it’s like, ‘Boom,’ you’ve got to go up there. I give him a lot of credit.”

Ortiz, of course, was humble about Yastrzemski’s praise, and responded with “I’ll tell you one thing: I’m not playing any 23 years.”

But maybe Red Sox fans would like him to…