Ortiz says "Gotta Stick With Your Players" so does Wak...

David Ortiz, amidst a power surge in the month of May, said that he was angry when Francona pinch hit for him a couple of time in the month of April (a month where he hit .143/.238/.286, 6 XBH) and that clearly he can still carry his team (he's hit .358/.397/.774, 8 XBH) and that Francona needed to show belief in him while he was struggling.

While Ortiz was suffering, the local and national media were questioning Ortiz's place on the roster and clearly most believed he should be released.

Jump to the Mariners. While Sweeney performed horribly through last month (his April: .167/.286/.167, 0 XBH) he is not joining Ortiz hitting streak, hitting 5 home runs over the course of 10 games. His last 7 days are an insane line of .412/.421/.941 with 3 HRs. Maybe Wak's belief system is not as crazy as we feel it is, and maybe Ortiz is right. If your manager doesn't have faith in you, its hard to overcome any hitting woes. And yes, He needs the support of Wak to be successful and clearly he does have something left in the tank that could help this team.

 

If Wak stays true to his word, Griffey is only going to be pinch hitting and getting the occasional start. This leaves Sweeney and Bradley to man the DH position, which I am okay with.

And I know it is frustrating to see Griffey and Sweeney occupy two roster spots, but now that they are back to a 6 man bullpen, it is a little easier to swallow. Like Mr. Jeff Sullivan wrote, we don't understand what it's like to be in the clubhouse, on that team, going through what they do, how hard they work, how much they depend on each other. Mike Sweeney coems to play though.

I hope this team pulls it together and I hope they challenge for 1st place and I hope Griffey finds some power in those creaky knees, and I hope we all remember that baseball is a great game,and even 37 year old wash-ups can have a big impact on this game.

Edit to add: This was originally about Griffey. Sweeney makes more sense here.