Baseball Legand Carl Yastrzemski said that David Ortiz is the best hitter in the world next to Ted Williams.

"I think so, yeah. I would put [Ortiz] ahead of me," Yastrzemski told the Boston Globe. "He had more power than I had."

Yastrzemski is a Hall of Famer and one the best players in Red Sox history, while Ortiz's name has been linked to Yastrzemski because of his great performance last week. The young major League Baseball player just recently also passed the Hall of Fame for the record of the best home runs.

"I would say as a hitter, I would say he's next to Ted [Williams]," Yastrzemski added.

However, Ortiz was respectful when he knew about Yastrzemski's prideful words.

"Yeah, right," Ortiz told ESPNBoston.com. "I'll tell you one thing: I'm not playing any 23 years."

Yastrzemski played for 23 years at Boston, where he won two American League championships. He was also an All- Star for 18 times, a Gold Glove- winning left fielder for seven times. He was MVP in 1967.

"He's a Hall of Famer in my eyes," said Mike Napoli, Red Sox first baseman, talking about Ortiz.

However, some critics argued that Ortiz is not worthy to be in the Hall of Fame, because he has spent most of his career as a designated hitter. Nevertheless, Yastrzemski believed that Ortiz still deserved it, as he also said that being the DH (designated hitter) is actually a difficult job.

"DH-ing is very difficult, and he seems to have mastered it," Yastrzemski told the paper. "It's not that easy. When I DH-ed my last year, I hated it.

"To go to the plate and get yourself mentally prepared, it's not easy to do when you're not in the game. You're watching the game, and then all of a sudden it's like, 'Boom,' you've got to go up there. I give him a lot of credit."

With reports from: espn.go.com