Book Review: Big Papi - My story of Big Dreams and Big Hits

I posted recently about how I picked this book up at a dollar store for only $1.00. Well, I finished the book last week and I thought that with the recent events involving Big Papi now would be a good time to post a review. Let me start by saying that I am not a fan of the Red Sox or of David Ortiz, but I don't hate them either. The book is basically David Ortiz talking to his co-author, Tony Massarotti. I think maybe 2 chapters were actually written by Massarotti, but the rest is David just talking.

My first impression: David Ortiz uses the word "bro" a lot! I didn't count, but it is on almost every page and sometimes 3-4 times on a page. Getting past the sheer number of times the word "bro" is used allows you to see how conceded David Ortiz really is. For example:

Speaking about a trip to Japan after the 2004 season: "During one of the games there, I hit this long home run - they measured it over 500 feet, bro - and I think the people there are still talking about it."

Talking about the 2005 All-Star game: "But then, when something like the All-Star game comes along and you have more than four million people voting for you - four million, bro - you really start to understand how many people were watching, how much they appreciated what you did, how difficult it was to do those things."

On the posiibility of him winning the MVP award: " There are a lot of politics involved - I told the reporters that - so I think there are a lot of guys who won't vote for someone like me, just because I'm a designated hitter and I don't play the field. I mean, is that my fault?"

So what are my thoughts on Big Papi testing positive in 2003 for performance enhancing drugs. I am not surprized one bit. He played with the Twins from 1997 - 2002 and hit a total of 58 home runs in 455 games before being released. That's right, he was released. The Twins didn't even trade him, they just released him. In his next 437 games as a Red Sox (2003 - 2005) , he hit 119 homeruns.

In his book, he says, "Later on, I was at home just hanging out with Tiff (his wife) when my chest started beating really fast, and Tiff noticed it, too...The next day, on Saturday, it came back." Ortiz says that he had it checked out by team doctors and was actually taken to the hospital because of it. He says in his book, "Know what the problem was? Stress." I guess it could have been stress, or it could have been complications from a performance enhancing drug that he was taking. I don't know for sure, but its a possibility in light of recent developments.