Some numbers behind David Ortiz's spectacular under-the-radar season

David Ortiz crushed his 30th home run of the year last night, which puts him in some very elite company in Red Sox history:

Sometimes, it feels as though Big Papi makes history every other night. pic.twitter.com/a3hq9V6LSx
— NESN (@NESN) August 21, 2014

Ortiz became just the 13th MLB player ever to hit 30 home runs at age 38 or older, and the first since Frank Thomas did it in 2006.  Papi now has 461 career homers, and 500 seems like a very legitimate possibility (is he the greatest DH of all time?).

His home run and RBI (93) totals so far this season put him on pace for personal bests since 2007 in each category.  Ortiz's 30 homers are tied for third most in the AL, but it's the 93 runs batted in that make his 2014 campaign so astounding.  Ortiz is leading all of baseball in that category (Jose Abreu of the White Sox is second with 90), and doing it for a Boston club that has scored the fewest runs in the league.  Nobody has led the league in RBI for a team that finished last in scoring since Wally Berger of the Boston Braves in 1935.


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