A Long And Winding Road

• May 19
Francona says he won't move Ortiz out of the third spot in the lineup, where Big Papi has hit since May 2005. "If we move David around, everybody moves," the skipper says. "I don't think it puts us in the best position."

• May 20 (.210, 1 HR, 17 RBIs)
Ortiz's father, Enrique, has flown to Boston from the Dominican Republic to comfort his son. It works: Big Papi hits his first home run and is rewarded with a curtain call at Fenway Park. "I feel good, man. I feel like I just got that big ol' monkey off my back," he says. Ortiz may have also had help from a higher power; after the game he shows a Boston Herald reporter a set of handmade wooden rosary beads sent by a fan: "See how beautiful they are?"

• May 24 (.195, 1 HR, 18 RBIs)
After an 0 for 5 against the Mets drops his average below the Mendoza Line, Ortiz laments his bad luck. Referring to a hard line drive off his bat that was caught, he says, "I came this close to crying ... [but] I've got to keep my boys rolling. I figure if I'm down, a lot of people are looking at me, and it can get contagious."

• May 26
Francona drops Ortiz to the sixth spot in the order, the first time he's hit lower than cleanup since May 2004.

• June 4 (.187, 1 HR, 20 RBIs)
Ortiz, whose vision tested 20/20 during a spring training exam, tells reporters he's going to have his eyes checked again because they have felt dry, and he's been blinking a lot. The exam was scheduled for Monday. "It's just when I try to focus on something," he says the next day. "And I focus on hitting. When you've got that blinking thing going on, it just doesn't feel right.'"

• June 6 (.196, 2 HRs, 22 RBIs)
The slump is such a hot topic around baseball that an anonymous scout offers the New York Post his uninformed opinion on the reason for the slump: Ortiz is older than his listed 33. "The chances of his birth certificate being accurate are zero," the scout says. Later, Ortiz hits his second home run and raises his average to .196. "I'm feeling good. I just have to keep swinging, swinging. If I swing, swing, swing, good things will happen."

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