When the All-Star balloting results were announced earlier in the week, there was a surprise name that is leading all players in votes: Boston slugger David Ortiz. Ortiz is finally getting the recognition that he has deserved for a while now. After leading the Red Sox to their first World Series title in 86 years, Ortiz is not resting on his laurels and is having another monster year. This is coming from a guy that the Minnesota Twins didn?t have room for after the 2002 season. They released him and the Red Sox quickly scooped him up. The Twins had a logjam at first base with Doug Mientkiewicz and another guy in the system Justin Morneau. They felt that Ortiz was expendable. In 2003, Ortiz had a career season with 31 homers and 101 RBI. He hit a home run in the seventh game of the ALCS against the Yankees that the Red Sox eventually lost in extra innings. But 2004 was his year. He hit 41 dingers and drove in 139 runs to set career highs in both categories. He finished fourth in the AL MVP voting but got the most important hardware later in October. Ortiz saved his best for later in games when the Red Sox were down. He had a team high 33 go-ahead RBI and delivered 50 runs when there were two outs. But that was just a precursor to his performance in the postseason. In Game 3 of the ALDS against the Angels, he hit a walk-off homerun to win the series for the Red Sox in extra innings. And that was just the beginning of the story. With the Red Sox down 3 games to none in the ALCS, he hit a two run bomb in the 12th inning of Game 4 to start the Sox on their improbable comeback. Less than 24 hours later, he singled home the winning run again in the 14th inning to send the series back to New York. In Game 7, he set the Red Sox hitting machine in motion with a first inning home run and the Sox never looked back. He was named ALCS MVP for hitting .387 in the series to go along with three home runs and driving in 11 runs. But he will be forever remembered in the hearts of Red Sox nation for those game winning hits in Game 4 and 5. Ortiz has not slowed down in 2005. Through the first two months of the season, he has slammed 13 homeruns and is sporting a .297 batting average. He hit a walk-off home run last week against tough Oriole lefty-closer BJ Ryan. He has also teamed with Manny Ramirez to make one of the most dangerous 3-4 combinations in baseball. Last year, both players become the first AL teammates since Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth to finish the season hitting over .300 with 40 homeruns and driving in 100 runs. Prior to the arrival of Ortiz, teams were able to pitch around Ramirez. But with the emergence of Ortiz, teams don?t have that ability anymore. They are forced to pitch to the two superstars while their stats continue to add up. Ortiz has also become a marketing celebrity in the Greater Boston area. He is the star of a recent commercial campaign for Comcast and quickly becoming the face of the Boston Red Sox. Based on his heroics of last October, Ortiz is finally getting the respect of the fans, as he is the leading vote getter for the All-Star Game. He played in his first Mid-Summer Classic last year as hit a home run in the sixth inning to help lead the AL to the victory. Ortiz signed a three-year contract extension with the Red Sox in the middle of last season. He is dramatically underpaid at an average of $6 million for the next couple of seasons. But you will never hear Ortiz complain, he is the toast of the town right now.