Big Papi still juicing on pitch counts

You can feel it, just by looking at him:

Any day now, Mt. Big Papi will erupt!

Or become a home to plant life.

This is sad.

Yesterday, Boston's star former slugger/ambassador of good will led the Bosocks in number of pitches, a stat recently added to the ESPN box score agate arsenal. And in case a few Yankfans out there are silently crowing about the Papster's relatively low (thinking Otto Velez here) .219 batting average, remember: the always smiling-but-dangerous-free-swinging-doubter-of-urine-tests still forced opposing Texas pitchers to throw 19 pitches!

Nineteen pitches!

This is sad.

Remember Giambi at the end? The announcers would talk about his batting eye, how the pitchers were still frightened of him, how any day now, he would start hitting. But when he ran to first base, you could see the relief in his eyes: They walked me. They remember! It was like Sally Fields winning the Oscar: You love me, you really love me! The walks are the last vestige of a slugger's career.

Nineteen pitches.

Big day for Papi.