BOSTON — David Ortiz blasted his team-leading 26th home run of the season in the Red Sox’s 9-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.
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It wasn’t just another home run at Fenway Park, though.
The solo blast was the 1,000th extra-base hit of his Red Sox career, joining Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski as the only players in franchise history to reach that mark in Boston.
“He’s in with those two other names in the history of this franchise, and that’s a special sentence when you’re in with (Williams and Yastrzemski),” Red Sox manager John Farrell said.
“We’re fortunate to be able to watch it. AÂ thousand extra-base hits is almost mind-boggling to get your arms around the kind of production that takes for a long, long time.”
Ortiz had already reached the 1,000 XBH mark for his career, which includes a few seasons with the Minnesota Twins before he signed the Red Sox ahead of the 2003 campaign.
“It’s been a long journey,” Ortiz said. “I thought I already passed it. I was a little confused until (someone) told me ‘no, that’s your 1,000th with the Red Sox.’ It’s good, man. Hitting for extra bases is not easy…”
It certainly isn’t easy, although Ortiz has made it look effortless for more than a decade.
He currently ranks in the top five in the American League in doubles, RBI, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS, all at age 40.
Thumbnail photo via Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports Images
