David Ortiz kicks off final Fenway series with decisive 2-run home run
BOSTON -- It was cold, rainy and the fans refused to leave their seats Friday evening at Fenway Park, screaming for the man of the hour.
Big Papi.
David Ortiz, who’s having the greatest farewell season in baseball history, spent the afternoon answering questions at his press conference, walked out onto Fenway Park’s soggy field for the first edition of the Boston Red Sox’s retirement ceremony trilogy, and then ends his night.
And, then, he ends the night hitting the game-winning home run, leading the Red Sox to a 5-3 comeback victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Of course.
Should we expect anything different?
“I don’t think you could write a script better than that,’’ Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “It’s a story book ending about David Ortiz. He just turned the place upside down.’’
Really, no one in New England can believe what they’re seeing. This season has been as dynamic as any in his career, with 38 homers and 127 RBI. He even managed to do something he’s never done before in his career, homering on the last day of September, and now has homered on all but six possible dates in his career.
“It is what it is,’’ Ortiz said, 40, laughing, who joins Ted Williams as the only Red Sox players to drive in at least 125 runs in four seasons. “What can I tell you? Pretty good season.’’
Uh, yes, considering he is hitting .318 with a major-league leading 48 doubles, 86 extra-base hits,.625 slugging percentage and 1.027 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage), and tied for first in the American League with 127 RBI.
“I’ve really run out of things to say,’’ Farrell said in his office afterwards, watching Ortiz drive in the first run in the first inning, before his two-run homer in the seventh. “It’s unbelievable what he’s doing.’’
The Red Sox, who clinched the AL East title with a date against the Cleveland Indians in the first round of the playoffs, are becoming an after-party for Papi’s retirement extravaganza.
This is Big Papi weekend in Boston.
You walk along Boylston Street, turn right onto Yawkey Way, and you see Big Papi banners.
Take a few more steps, and there’s the new Big Papi gift shop down the street.
Why, all over town, there are Big Papi billboards, Big Papi countdowns, and Big Papi thank-you posters.
When the Red Sox arrived to the clubhouse Friday, walking past the 2016 AL East championship banner, there were Big Papi commemorative baseball caps to be worn all weekend.
There was the 30-minute Big Papi press conference.
The Big Papi pre-game ceremony, with a video montage focusing on his work with the David Ortiz Children’s Fund, credited with saving 563 lives, and, of course, presented another oil painting.
And then they played the game against the Blue Jays in front of a sellout crowd of 37,661, on the grass with Papi’s image carved in center field, and using baseballs that are authenticated each time Papi comes to the plate, with the Fenway scoreboard disclosing the age of each player at the time of Papi’s major-league debut, and showing Papi highlights in between innings.
And that was just for Day 1.
We move into Day 2 of the Big Papi weekend on Saturday, with the grand finale scheduled Sunday afternoon, with the Red Sox advising anyone with a lucky ticket to get to their seats at least an hour early.
Considering this is the first Red Sox’s retirement ceremony since Carl Yastrzemski in 1983, the Red Sox have had 33 years to dream up ideas for the proper send-off.
Big Papi says he appreciates the ceremonies and all of the gifts -- everything from a surfboard to cowboy boots to a broken phone to a golf cart to barbeque sauce -- but honestly, he can’t wait for this weekend to end.
“I’m not going to lie to you,’’ Ortiz said, “it can be a distraction. But we are at the end of it. The best thing about it, once we walk into the playoffs, there won’t be all of this distraction.
“We worked extremely hard during the regular season to get into the playoffs. And I don’t want to blow that. I like to be focused.’’
The real fun, he says, begins Thursday in the first round of the postseason, where he has led the Red Sox to three World Series titles, and has become a New England legend right along with the likes of Larry Bird, Bobby Orr, Tom Brady and Bill Russell.
When the Red Sox’s season ends in October, or perhaps early November, then he will sit back, relax, and wait five years until he’s eligible for the Hall of Fame.
“When it comes down to voting five years from now,’’ Ortiz said, “I’ll probably start thinking about it a little more. But I’m not sitting at home worrying about all those things I’m thinking about right now.
“All I want to do is just what I’ve been doing throughout my career, send the right message to everybody, and try to do the right thing.
“It’s going to be up to them."
Papi, a 10-time All-Star Star with 541 homers and 1,768 RBI, will get this writer’s Hall of Fame vote. He’s one of the greatest hitters of this generation. Sure, he may be a full-time DH, and failed an anonymous drug test in 2003, but it makes no difference.
He’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
"I’m super proud of what I have done," Ortiz said. "My story of my career, it has been really good. I was a big-time underdog. I (wasn't) somebody who came to the big leagues with this really ridiculous talent. It wasn’t that bright at the beginning’’
Ortiz, who signed originally with the Seattle Mariners, and spent six years with the Minnesota Twins organization, never became Big Papi until the Red Sox took a chance on him 14 years ago.
He hit 31 homers with 101 RBI his first year with the Red Sox in 2003, and a year later, with two walk-off home runs in the American League Championship Series agonist the New York Yankees en route to their first World Series title in 86 years, he became a legend.
“I figured one thing out,’’ Ortiz said. “If you keep working, don’t listen to people, because people are always going to have things to say. People are always going to judge you. People are always going to put you down, not everybody, but some people.
“The reality is that you are the owner of your own future. It’s all about how hungry you are. It’s all about how good you want to be. It’s all about how successful you want to be.
“That has been my career, and I’m happy and proud of the things that I have done, but that’s all I can control."
Really, Ortiz has done possibly everything he could imagine in his career, well, except for that one little piece of history in right field.
That red seat.
Seat 21, Row 37, Section 42.
The one that marks the longest home run ever hit at Fenway Park, 502 feet away, by Ted Williams on June 9, 1946.
The final question of Ortiz’s 30-minute press conference, he was asked if he was finally going to hit that famous seat with a home run.
“I’ve been trying to hit it for 15 years,’’ Ortiz said, laughing. “I give up.’’
It may actually be the first time he uttered those words in his wondrous career, with only two more regular-season games left in his 40-year-old body.
“The reality is I don’t really feel like it’s hit home yet,’’ Ortiz said. “I’m so busy doing so many things, I haven’t really had time to sit down and think about things. That’s good. The sentimental part, it’s just not there yet.
“I don’t expect anything ever, but everything is so beautiful. It’s been an honor being honored by this ball club.’’
Two more days, two more games, and two more celebrations to go during the regular season.
To be continued. ….
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