The end?

Preface: I have a gut feeling, beyond just a fan's hope, that this post will soon be outdated.

I wrote that more than a year ago on a post about David Ortiz's early struggles in 2008. He looked pained after every at-bat, knowing he was hurting the team. I had faith he would snap out of it. He did for parts of last year, but now I don't have the same faith, as Chad Finn wrote this week:

More than any player in franchise history, David Ortiz taught even the most cynical Red Sox fans that refusing to give up sometimes results in the sweetest
rewards.

So the inclination is to resist giving up on him. The man deserves that much, at least under normal circumstances.

Of course, there's a particularly cruel catch here: The circumstances are no longer normal; they are dire.

Is Papi done? Is his body breaking down? Will we find out that the magical combination he formed with Manny Ramirez was propped up by drugs? I hate thinking that about a guy who seemed so pure in spirit as he led the Red Sox to two World Championships, but after Manny, who knows who's next?

On Thursday, the guy who used to be automatic in clutch spots went 0-7 and left 12 men on, most notably weakly grounding out to end the 12th inning with the bases loaded.

In the aftermath, a dejected Ortiz said the words that many of us feel guilty for thinking:

"I'm sorry, guys. I just don't feel like talking right now," he told the media. "Just put down,'Papi stinks.'"

You could hear the pain through the printed words and my stomach turned. I'm hoping with nothing but hope that this is just an particularly bad slump and by the All-Star break he'll have 20 home runs, the Red Sox will be in first place by five games and all of this will be forgotten.

But I have a feeling that the more likely scenario is that the Sox will spend July looking for a successor to Big Papi.

Last night: With Papi on the bench, the Red Sox blew a 4-0 lead, losing to the Mariners 5-4. Next Saturday, I might have to write about Jon Lester's 2009 woes.

[Photo credit: Associated Press]