Did I miss the fanfare? I found no mention of it in the news accounts. But according to the B-R Split Finder, when he led off the 6th inning Friday, David Ortiz became the all-time leader in plate appearances as a designated hitter.* He passed Harold Baines in his 3rd trip to the plate that night, which also became his 3rd single of the game. He later walked to help produce the winning run.

Big Papi already held most other DH records — Runs, RBI, HRs, doubles, total bases.

Baines still leads in Hits, by 1,690 to 1,636 over Ortiz. Edgar Martinez leads in times on base and in walks, along with BA, OBP and OPS (among those with 1,000 PAs in the role; see list below).

David Schoenfield recently discussed Ortiz as a Hall of Fame candidate — not advocating, just trying to guess how he’ll look to the voters. I don’t want to go there yet, since Ortiz is still building his credentials, batting .328 with a 1.040 OPS and 175 OPS+ in 114 games since 2012. There will be many complicating factors in the vote, including PED taint.

But he is a remarkable hitter, and probably the best who was ever released outright at age 27 after failing to impress in over 1,500 PAs in the big leagues. He’s certainly had the most MVP recognition of any DH, placing 2nd to 5th for 5 straight years (2003-07) and amassing 2.49 Award Shares. (That’s just behind Roy Campanella, who won it 3 times.)

One notable point in Ortiz’s home/away splits: While his BA and doubles are much higher at home, he’s hit far more home runs on the road — 223 to 185, with a rate split of 5.9% away to 4.7% home. This is consistent with Fenway’s general impact on lefty batters. Thus, his OPS split does not show a huge home advantage, .964 to .894. That .894 road OPS is tied for 18th among the 157 men with at least 2,500 road PAs during Big Papi’s career, and the .964 home OPS is tied for 13th.

And wherever you stand on the DH, it should still be clear that Ortiz would have been a valuable player even if he’d had to play the field. It seems unlikely that he would have been much worse than such low-rated first basemen as HOFers Willie McCovey and Jim Bottomley, MVPs Jason Giambi, Ryan Howard and Mo Vaughn, or “superstars” Mark McGwire, Carlos Delgado and Prince Fielder.

1,000 or more Plate Appearances as Designated Hitter* (through Saturday, May 18, 2013)

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* There might be a small margin of error in the search results: I don’t know how the database treats games played at DH plus a fielding position, or as pinch-hitter for the DH. (By Rule 6.10(b)(4), a PH for the DH is a DH.) Neither Ortiz nor Baines had many times up in either of those circumstances — Baines totaled 100 PAs, Ortiz 18 — so it’s clear that even if Ortiz doesn’t officially hold the record now, he will soon. (I searched for stories on this record, but found only one from April 2012 noting that Ortiz was 361 PAs behind Baines.)