Small Sample Size Warni... Nah, Forget It!

David Ortiz is just incredible, really. He hit another game-ending home run for the Red Sox last night, a 3-run homer down by two with one out in the ninth. That makes, apparently 7 walk-off home runs with the Red Sox in the regular season, plus of course two more in the 2004 post-season. (He also hit a walk-off home run for the Twins in 2002. The Twins then released him after that season, to the Red Sox's good fortune.)

Anyway, over at the Sons of Sam Horn website, someone went through the Red Sox game logs and came up with David Ortiz's hitting statistics in "walk-off" situations, defined as a plate appearance in which it is possible to win the game. From the post, these are his statistics since joining the Red Sox in such a situation: [Note: the poster, joyofsox, has a blog, and the info is there too...]

2003: 2-for-5, HR, 2 RBI, BB

2004
RS: 2-for-8, HR, 3 RBI
PS: 3-for-5, 2 HR, 5 RBI, BB

2005: 3-for-3, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB

2006: 5-for-6, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 2 BB

That makes him 15 for 27 (.555) with 9 HR in those situations. Note that the Red Sox won the game on all of those 15 hits, and in several situations where he walked or got out. (For example, he failed in two attempts to win Game 5 of the 2003 ALCS before getting a game-winning single, and popped out to end the 9th on Game 4 of the 2003 ALCS before his game-winning HR.

Here's the whole list from the post:

Date  Opp Inn On Out Score Pitcher   Result

2003
06-15 Hou  10  1  1   2-2  Dotel     BBI
           12  0  0   2-2  Bland     3U (Sox win 3-2 in 14)
07-19 Tor   9  1  2   4-4  Acevado   4-3 (Sox win 5-4 in 10)
07-26 NYY   9  2  2   4-4  Benitez   Singles to CF (Sox win 5-4)
08-23 Sea  10  1  1   6-6  Rhodes    P6 (Sox win 7-6)
09-23 Bal  10  0  0   5-5  Ainsworth HR (Sox win 6-5)

2004
04-11 Tor   9  1  2   4-4  Kershner  F8 at track
           12  1  0   4-4  Lopez     2-run HR to LF (Sox win 6-4)
04-15 Bal   9  0  1   7-7  Ryan      F8 (Sox lose 12-7 in 11)
05-07 KC    9  0  0   6-6  Macdougal K (Sox win 7-6)
05-29 Sea   9  1  2   4-5  Guardado  F8 (Sox lose 5-4)
05-30 Sea  11  0  1   7-7  Putz      K (Sox win 9-7 in 12)
06-11 LAD   9  2  0   1-1  Martin    Single to right (Sox win 2-1)
09-23 Bal   9  2  2   7-9  Ryan      F9 (Sox lose 9-7)

2004 Post-Season
10-08 Ana  10  1  2   6-6  Washburn  2-run HR to LF (Sox win ALDS 8-6)
10-17 NYY   9  3  2   4-4  Rivera    P4
           12  1  0   4-4  Quantrill 2-run HR to RF (Sox win 6-4 in 12)
10-18 NYY  10  0  0   4-4  Heredia   K
           12  0  1   4-4  Loaiza    BB
           14  2  2   4-4  Loaiza    Single to CF (Sox win 5-4)

2005
06-02 Bal   9  2  2   3-4  Ryan      3-run HR to CF (Sox win 6-5)
08-30 TB    9  0  1   6-6  Borowski  BB (Sox win 7-6)
09-06 LAA   9  0  1   2-2  Shields   Solo HR to RF (Sox win 3-2)
09-16 Oak  10  2  1   2-2  Cruz      BBI (Sox win 3-2)
09-29 Tor   9  2  1   4-4  Batista   Single to LF (Sox win 5-4)

2006
06-11 Tex   9  2  2   2-4  Otsuka    3-run HR to RF (Sox win 5-4)
06-24 Phi  10  1  1   3-3  Gordon    2-run HR to CF (Sox win 5-3)
06-26 Phi   9  0  0   6-6  Cormier   4-1
           11  1  1   6-6  Gordon    BBI
           12  2  2   7-7  Condrey   Single to left-center (Sox win 8-7)
07-29 LAA   9  1  1   6-6  Rodriguez BBI
           11  2  1   6-6  Romero    Single to left (Sox win 7-6)
07-31 Cle   9  2  1   6-8  Carmona   3-run HR to CF (Sox win 9-8)