"David Ortiz spent six years terrifying opponents alongside Manny Ramirez and then three years pining for someone to replace him. So when Ortiz says the following about Adrian Gonzalez, it should not be taken lightly:

"This guy, in one week, he has impressed me more swinging the bat than Manny did the seven years I played with him," Ortiz said. "And that's saying something."

Indeed it is. As Gonzalez continues to take Boston by storm, the one player he's conjuring images of, at least from a pure production standpoint, is Ramirez.

Yesterday, Gonzalez kept the good times rolling with yet another opposite-field home run, this one a two-run blast off tough left-hander Brett Anderson. It gave the Red Sox a 5-1 lead in a 6-3 victory.

What Gonzalez is doing at the plate continues to leave Ortiz slack-jawed, and Big Papi's no slouch himself, with .325-13-30 totals en route to what looks like another All-Star berth.

"This guy in Toronto (last month)," Ortiz said. "I mean, (expletive). I've been hitting homers my whole frigging career. But this guy hits three homers opposite field like it was nothing. I mean, I can go deep opposite field, and then I might hit one to center, right, right, center, and then maybe opposite field again. But three like that? That's unbelievable."

The reverential tones teammates once reserved for Ramirez, they're now using on Gonzalez."