The ten greatest moments of David Ortiz’s Red Sox career

BOSTON, MA - SEPTEMBER 6: David Ortiz #34 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates at home plate after he hit career home run #497 during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Fenway Park on September 6, 2015 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Rich Gagnon/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - SEPTEMBER 6: David Ortiz #34 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates at home plate after he hit career home run #497 during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Fenway Park on September 6, 2015 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Rich Gagnon/Getty Images)
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BOSTON – MAY 01: David Ortiz #34 of the Boston Red Sox points to the sky after his eighth inning home run against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park on May 1, 2006 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
BOSTON – MAY 01: David Ortiz #34 of the Boston Red Sox points to the sky after his eighth inning home run against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park on May 1, 2006 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

The situation: June 11- July 31, 2006

The moment: The king of clutch hits five walk-offs in less than two months

Nobody was better with the game on the line than Ortiz. Over the course of his career, he delivered a whopping 23 walk-off hits. Incredibly, nearly a quarter of these occurred in less than two months, as Ortiz collected five walk-off hits over six weeks in 2006.

Ortiz’s unbelievable streak of clutchness began on a mid-June affair against the Rangers. Down to their final out and trailing by two, the big DH launched a home run off closer Akinori Otsuka to give the Red Sox an improbable 5-4 win. Ortiz’s next walk-off home run would come less than two weeks later when his blast off old nemesis Tom Gordon broke a 3-3 tie in the tenth.

It took just two days for Ortiz to tally another walk-off hit. With Kevin Youkilis standing on second and the score knotted at seven, Papi lined a single to centerfield to walk off the Phillies for the second time in the series.

The Angels would be the next Ortiz walk-off victim, as his 12th inning seeing-eye single chased home Alex Gonzalez to give the Red Sox a 7-6 victory.

Ortiz saved his most heroic walk-off for last. With the Red Sox trailing 8-6 in the ninth inning and facing phenom closer Fausto Carmona, the big lefty deposited a 2-0 pitch into the centerfield seats to complete his record-setting summer of hitting. In a career defined by big hits in big spots, this six-week span was arguably his pinnacle of clutchness.

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