RED SOX ULTRAS 1901 Speaking....

When Papi forever added the word "Big" to his name during the 2004 playoff campaign with his daily walk-off heroics, he reached the a new level not only as a professional baseball player but, of even greater significance, he reached a new level in the hearts and minds of the Red Sox faithful.

Not an easy accomplishment, considering the fact that, as fans go, back in those bad 'ol days before two World Series trophies found their way into Boston, we could have been considered a pretty conservative bunch: few players came to Boston and earned a Hall Pass to Red Sox Grace with ease. For us it was always harping on the historic--Young, Ted, Yaz, Boggs, Foxx. Pedro had to work for his share of fame and so did Nomar.

Yet Ortiz came from Minnesota a virtual nobody, and in just the space of 24 months, two years spanning two eras in Red Sox history, one might say, he became a phenom amongst Red Sox fans, a player whose jersey's sold like hot-cakes and whose name became a sort of mantra for Sox fans. Combine his 2004 success with his record breaking 2006 season and then another title in 2007 with countess late-game heroics in between, and it seems as if David Ortiz, from the perspective of Red Sox fans, could do nothing wrong.

Yet this seems to be the season of reversals. It's mid-September and the Red Sox are chasing the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for the coveted AL East crown, those Bastard Yankees are rotting in 4th (and hopefully 5th?) place and woe-and-behold, our Big Papi has been very quiet since Day 1 of 2008.

So I ask the question, loyal and loving fans as we are we can be tough as nails: our priority is and always has been the RED SOX, and in our history no player however good at one time or other in his career has reached a status above that of the team as a whole. Big Papi, however great, has failed to produce much this season--and the Boston Red Sox seem to be doing fine without him anyway. The media, as well as Sox Nation in general, seems to have become very silent on this arch-headline stealer, Ortiz. Pedroia, Bay, Beckett, Lester these appear to be the new names on the hot plate, possibly affirming that the "old" team of '04 (Ortiz-Pedro-Schilling-Manny) is gone. In deed of the four players mentioned, only one remains: DAVID "BIG PAPI" ORTIZ  Does the lovable but recently unproductive Papi still deserve to have his name on that hotplate? Dare I ask the question: Is it time Papi hits the road? How would you react if Papi were traded?