CLEVELAND, Ohio — Big Papi is on his way to Cooperstown, and while most of David Ortiz’s career was spent doing damage against the American League East, he still found a way to terrorize Cleveland pitchers for the better part of two decades in the majors.
The 10-time All-Star was elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame on Tuesday, and though he was not immune to striking out when he faced the Indians (101 times), he often came away from encounters with Cleveland pitchers on the plus side.
Ortiz batted .277 with 27 home runs and 88 RBI in 132 regular-season games against the Indians. He slugged .512 with an .866 OPS and 244 extra-base hits in those games, delivering several multi-homer efforts and clutch plate appearances.
At Jacobs/Progressive Field, Ortiz was a .247 hitter, but clubbed 15 home runs, including 11 with the Red Sox. His best year against Cleveland was 2006 when he hit .308 with an 1.168 OPS, five extra-base hits and seven RBI including three home runs in 32 plate appearances.
He faced Cleveland twice in the postseason, hitting .292 in the 2007 AL Championship Series with a home run and six RBI and a 1-for-9 effort in the 2016 AL Division Series that saw him play his final game, a 4-3 loss to the Indians at Fenway Park.
But in his prime, Ortiz was as clutch as any hitter the Indians ever faced. He made Danny Salazar pay for his mistakes in eight career at-bats -- collecting four hits including a home run, two doubles and four RBI. The Indians pitcher Oritz victimized most was Roberto Hernandez — the erstwhile Fausto Carmona — who surrendered a whopping 11 Ortiz hits in 26 at-bats with a home run, three doubles and five RBI.
Josh Tomlin only gave up three Ortiz hits in 17 at-bats, but all three left the ballpark as the slugger posted a .176 average when he faced the Cowboy with a .928 OPS. Corey Kluber limited Ortiz to four hits in 16 at-bats, but two were home runs, leading to a 1.021 career OPS with just four strikeouts against the Klubot.
Ubaldo Jimenez limited Ortiz to four hits in 25 at-bats for a .160 career average, but also surrendered a pair of home runs and six RBI while striking Papi out five times.
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