The Red Sox clinch it at Fenway

The Red Sox clinch it at Fenway

The most astounding number I have seen in sports in a long time: .760. That was Big Papi's on-base percentage in the World Series. He was 11 for 16 with eight walks and a sacrifice fly.

And one of his five unsuccessful at-bats was headed for the stands until pulled in by Beltran, who reached over the fence to steal a salami.

Amazingly enough, .760 is not the record. Billy Hatcher of the Reds had an .800 OBP in the 1990 Series. Lou Gehrig previously held that record for 62 years, with .706 in 1928. His teammate, a guy you may have heard of named Babe Ruth, had a .647 OBP in that same series, as the Yankees destroyed the Cardinals in four. Ruth and Gehrig combined for seven homers in the four games, as each amassed OPSs above 2.000. Gehrig's 2.433 remains the series record for OPS, but second place belongs to ol' Billy Hatcher again.

However - and I'm finally getting back to the point here - the career leader in World Series OPS among players with 50 or more plate appearances is neither Ruth nor Gehrig. It is not Reggie Jackson, either. Those guys are in the 2-3-4 spots. The top guy wins convincingly in that he leads in both on-base percentage and slugging average.

It is David Ortiz.

Mr. October.