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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 4:43:33 GMT -5
Red Sox’s David Ortiz recalls most memorable moment of Hall of Fame career; ‘With one swing, everything changed,’ he says of 2013 grand slam Updated: Jan. 25, 2022, 9:04 p.m. | Published: Jan. 25, 2022, 9:04 p.m.
By Christopher Smith | csmith@masslive.com
What was David Ortiz’s most memorable moment of his 20-year Hall of Fame career? Of course it was his grand slam against Tigers reliever Joaquin Benoit.
Ortiz was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday. He received 77.9% of votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America. A candidate needs at least 75% to gain election.
On a Zoom call with the Boston media Tuesday, Ortiz pointed to his eighth inning grand slam in Game 2 of the 2013 ALCS as the most memorable moment of his career.
The Red Sox were down 5-1 in the bottom of the eighth when Ortiz stepped to the plate with the bases loaded against Benoit who had just replaced Al Alburquerque.
The DH belted Benoit’s first pitch into the Red Sox bullpen, tying the game 5-5.
Torii Hunter flipped completely over the wall trying to make the catch while Boston police officer Steve Horgan was seen raising his hands in celebration.
“It’s one of those moments that it’s hard not to talk about it,” Ortiz said. “We were playing the Detroit Tigers, one of the best teams in baseball at the time. You’re facing (Max) Scherzer, dealing his best and all of a sudden with one swing, everything changed. And we ended up winning it all. Winning a World Series is hard. Everything’s gotta go your way for you to end up winning it. Because remember, once the playoffs kicks in, you’re playing against the best of the best. So anything can happen. And beating that ballclub right there, we just started creating momentum and the rest was history.”
Scherzer had allowed just one run, two hits and two walks while striking out 13 in 7 innings. The Tigers used four different relief pitchers during the eighth.
The Red Sox ended up winning Game 2 on Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s walkoff single in the ninth. Instead of falling behind 2-0 in the series, Boston tied it 1-1 and went on to win in six games.
“The one thing I’m most proud of is being able to perform at the highest level while I played for the Red Sox,” Ortiz said. “There’s a lot of pressure over there. I know we changed things around. I remember when I first got to the Red Sox, everything was very negative. And I don’t blame anyone for that. I blame the history of not being able to win for over 86 years. Even myself, I thought about, ‘Man, what happened if a black cat just goes across the field when we are one out away from winning the World Series?’ But we were able to accomplish so many good things and stay positive and change people’s mentality.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 4:47:41 GMT -5
Red Sox Nation Stats @rsnstats · 10h Former #RedSox manager and fan favorite Terry Francona earlier today on David Ortiz: "He’s not just a big player, he’s got a big personality and he’s so engaging…the room just brightens up.
Some guys, they go to Boston, they shrink a little bit. David, his lights got brighter.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 4:48:32 GMT -5
Don Orsillo @donorsillo · 10h So happy for @davidortiz . Had the honor of calling his 500th HR, countless walk-offs, and was the greatest clutch hitter I have ever seen. Mostly honored to call him a friend. #HOF #BigPapi
Red Sox Nation Stats @rsnstats · 8h Team principal owner John Henry says Hall of Famer David Ortiz transformed narrative around #RedSox "from one of curses and superstitions to tales of clutch moments and a collection of championships.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 4:48:57 GMT -5
Red Sox Nation Stats @rsnstats · 7h #MLB players with 500+ home runs and 3+ #WorldSeries titles, All-time:
Babe Ruth Mickey Mantle Reggie Jackson DAVID ORTIZ <<<
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 4:49:49 GMT -5
Red Sox Nation Stats @rsnstats · 6h Most Late Inning XBH (Inning 7-9) #RedSox, All-Time:
1. Carl Yastrzemski, 313 2. Ted Williams, 301 3. Dwight Evans, 294 4. DAVID ORTIZ, 245* 5. Jim Rice, 221
*Including 57 with #Twins is 17th-most in #MLB history (302 in 2231 games); Hank Aaron was tops (422, 3035 games).
In the 19 seasons since David Ortiz joined #RedSox no lefty batter has had more hits that resulted in his team taking the lead (316).
Among all #MLB batters in that time only Albert Pujols (425) and Miguel Cabrera (396) have had more.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 4:50:32 GMT -5
Dennis Eckersley @eck43 · 6h Congratulations @davidortiz ! Welcome to the Hall of Fame! Great career. @redsox @baseballhall #redsox #hof
Alex @ac13alex · 8h David #HallOfFamer. That’s sounds great! Congratulations @davidortiz . Fisted handRaising hands
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 4:51:09 GMT -5
Luis Tiant @realeltiante · 7h Felicidades @davidortiz what a proud moment for you and your family! You are like a son to me, and have always treated me and my family with so much love and respect @baseballhall #redsox #redsoxnation @redsox #BigPapi
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 4:51:57 GMT -5
KOJI UEHARA @teamuehara · 8h わぉ〜、朝から素晴らしいニュースが…Clapping hands signClapping hands sign
パピーがアメリカFlag of United Statesで、野球殿堂入りBaseballDouble exclamation markDouble exclamation mark
おめでとうParty popperCircled ideograph congratulation
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 8:04:43 GMT -5
David Ortiz’s swagger earned his Hall of Fame nod and changed Boston Red Sox fandom forever | Matt Vautour Updated: Jan. 26, 2022, 6:15 a.m. | Published: Jan. 26, 2022, 6:15 a.m.
By Matt Vautour | mvautour@masslive.com
As he spoke to the media after his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame became official, David Ortiz recalled how far he and Boston came together.
“When I first got to the Red Sox everything was very negative. I don’t blame anyone for that. I blame not being able to win for over 86 years. Even I thought about, man what happens if a black cat runs across the field if we are one out away from winning the World Series,” Ortiz said with his signature deep chuckle. “We changed people’s mentality when they think about the Red Sox.”
Along the way, he went from being a platoon DH/first baseman to becoming Big Papi, one of the sport’s signature players and people and now a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Both leading up to and right after the announcement that he’d be inducted, the national narrative about Ortiz’s election was how his power numbers and postseason success overcame any questions about being just a DH and the positive steroid test that even the commissioner questioned the accuracy of. And with good reason. He hit 541 career home runs including 13 walk-offs, had a .455 batting average and a 1.372 OPS in 14 World Series games and led Boston to three championships.
Locally that all added up to something larger and harder to quantify. For Boston, induction isn’t just a player being validated, but an entire happy chapter of the city’s history being enshrined and celebrated. Ortiz is right. The combination of all those numbers and all those moments changed New England. Fans stopped waiting for disaster. An improbable backbreaking play or the next Bucky Dent/Aaron Boone moment no longer felt inevitable. They expected the Red Sox to come through in big moments because Ortiz always did. He unearthed an optimism that didn’t exist here before he arrived as the region adopted his swagger.
The fact that Ortiz’s career and Tom Brady’s overlapped in Massachusetts enhanced both of their legends. But Brady’s relationship with New England was different than Ortiz’s. Perhaps by Patriots design, Brady was outwardly careful and measured. Ortiz attacked life like he did the ball. The region admired Brady like a four-star restaurant with fancy cuisine and orchestral music, while Ortiz was everybody’s favorite bar — big, loud and happy.
When they inevitably get around to commissioning a David Ortiz statue, it would be as appropriate in Copley Square or Boston Common as Fenway Park because Ortiz and Boston loved how the other made them feel. It’s why his “this is our bleepin’ city’ moment after the Boston Marathon bombing resonated so deeply when it came from him.
Come July, there’s likely to be traffic on the MassPike and the Thruway through the Berkshires into upstate New York’s Hudson Valley as Boston fans head to enshrinement. For a day or two, Cooperstown will be his bleepin’ city too.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 11:00:05 GMT -5
A larger than life figure, David Ortiz represented many of the great little things in baseball
And made an incalculable impact on so many baseball fans in Boston and beyond. By Matt_Collins@MattRyCollins Jan 26, 2022, 9:01am EST
As I’m sure you know if you’re reading this, David Ortiz was officially elected to the Hall of Fame on Tuesday night. It was no sure thing, even in the hours leading up to the announcement, but by the end of the night the Boston Red Sox legend was the lone player voted in by the BBWAA. It’s clearly well-deserved, as Ortiz was one of the best hitters of his generation even taking away all of the other postseason and general clutch moments that helped form his legendary aura. For his career he finished with 541 homers while hitting .286/.380/.552 for a 140 wRC+, indicating he was 40 percent better than the league-average hitter over the course of his entire career.
Honestly, just speaking for myself it didn’t really matter whether or not he actually got in. Obviously I am thrilled that he did and I am always happy to take an excuse to look back at his incredible career. But even if he didn’t get in, I remember everything he meant to myself and all other Red Sox fans, and those memories exist whether or not the BBWAA voters decide to acknowledge it or not.
I was born in 1991, started following the Red Sox in 1998, but didn’t really start following them with intensity until 2003. That was, of course, the year in which Boston signed Ortiz. So in that way, Ortiz’s career spanned most of my baseball-watching life, and he impacted my life as a baseball fan more than anyone else save for maybe Pedro Martinez. The definition of a larger than life figure, the thing that strikes me as I reflect back on watching him is how much he embodied the little things about baseball that make me gravitate toward the game to the degree that I do.
If someone were to ask me to pick the one thing about baseball that separates it from other sports, I would say it’s the one-on-one aspect of the game that is played within the larger team game. The battle between batter and pitcher, especially in the tensest of moments, is something for me that cannot be matched in other sports. And nobody I’ve ever seen was better suited for those one-on-one matchups than Ortiz.
Generally speaking, I think sports fans are too quick to declare whether or not a player is “clutch,” but that’s not the same thing as saying clutch doesn’t exist. I think it’s human nature for some people to be better under the spotlight in those one-on-one situations and some to be worse. I’ll be the first to admit I’d be in the latter category! But Ortiz thrived in an almost impossible way in those tense situations, the moments that make baseball the sport that it is.
He’s also perhaps the best example of players defying expectations and coming out of nowhere. This isn’t something that is totally absent in other sports, of course, but given the long road it takes to even make the majors in the first place, and the small changes and bounces that can totally turn the perception of a player, it certainly seems like baseball is more likely to produce that kind of story. I’ll put it this way. The Red Sox have had two DH’s in the last two decades, and both players were cut outright earlier in their career.
We all know the story of Ortiz at this point, getting cut by the Twins after the 2002 season, Pedro Martinez convincing Red Sox brass to take a chance on him, and Ortiz immediately taking the organization into a new era with more success than most could dream of. Thinking back on the rise, what really strikes me in hindsight is how quickly this stuff happens and how you barely notice. You have this guy on Opening Day who you’re just starting to remember the name and face, and the next thing you know he’s the most important player on the team.
One of the other cool things about baseball that is certainly more true here than just about any other sport is how many different types of people can succeed, and different in everything from nationality, geographic location growing up, class, and even body type. Ortiz was, let’s say, not a small dude. He was a towering figure and an intimidating one standing in the batter’s box. He spent a significant portion of his career alongside Dustin Pedroia, who is basically the exact opposite, physically speaking. They’re two of the best Red Sox players I’ve seen in my life, and they couldn’t be more different.
And then, to bring things back to Martinez and Ortiz, who were fittingly together when the latter received the news, both of those players really showed baseball’s ability to capture a person’s levity alongside their intensity. In my truly formative years, it was Martinez putting that on display, but Ortiz did it just as well. Almost all of the time he was shown in the dugout (which was a lot thanks to the whole DH thing!) he was goofing around, showing his bubbly personality. Then there were the times in the batter’s box when he was just staring daggers into a pitcher whose heart he was about to rip out, not to mention the times telephones talked trash.
In Cooperstown or not, Ortiz was always and is always going to be one of the most important players in the history of the Red Sox, and one of the most iconic players in the modern era of baseball. In so many ways, Ortiz was a massive presence, coming through on the biggest of stages and just generally playing a loud game at the plate. But at the same time, he ushered in a whole generation of baseball fans in Boston and really all around the country and world, and in the process put on full display some of the greatest aspects of baseball.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 11:01:47 GMT -5
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 11:06:01 GMT -5
After giving so much to Red Sox fans, no one deserves the Hall call more than David Ortiz By Chad Finn Globe Staff,Updated January 26, 2022, 1 hour ago
David Ortiz’s achievements during his 14 history-altering-in-all-the-good-ways seasons with the Red Sox are accessed easily enough in the highlight reels and box scores tucked away in our minds. (YouTube and Baseball-Reference.com are also helpful, yes.)
So it came as something of a surprise Tuesday when I saw a statistic during MLB Network’s buildup to the announcement of the Cooperstown class of 2022 that didn’t seem quite right, yet was.
The stat: In his 20-year career, the first six spent miscast with the small-ball Minnesota Twins, Ortiz hit 11 regular-season walk-off home runs, and two more in the postseason.
Thirteen walk-off homers, total? That’s a lot, my friends.
And yet that felt like, oh, approximately 34 shy of how many he seemed to hit during his tenure as — let’s make sure we get his title correct here — the greatest clutch hitter in Red Sox lore, chief exorcist of pinstriped ghosts, and the man who came through, again and again and again when the moment demanded it and 86 years of franchise history suggested we were asking for too much.
Ortiz is the ballplayer who first made Red Sox fans — scarred, cynical, hoping-against-hope Red Sox fans — believe words that another Minnesota athletic expatriate would crystalize after the Celtics’ 2008 championship.
Anything is possible!
Kevin Garnett howled it. Seasons before, David Ortiz made it so. It was moments like these, a two-run homer in the 10th inning to help the Red Sox sweep the Angels in 2004 en route to their first World Series title in 86 years, that David Ortiz will be remembered for.
That’s why it was so satisfying Tuesday to see Ortiz elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, with 77.9 percent of the vote. In his first swing, wasn’t it fitting that Big Papi crushed it?
The news that he had made it – the only player elected by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America this year – didn’t quite trigger a euphoric reaction like, say, WEEI Red Sox voice Dave O’Brien’s “David Ortiz! David Ortiz! David Ortiz!” call of his grand slam that left both the baseball and Tigers outfielder Torii Hunter deposited in the bullpen during the 2013 American League Championship Series.
But truth be told, the reaction here wasn’t that far off, either. Ortiz was the Pied Papi of Baseball, helping to deliver three championships to Fenway and sharing an immeasurable amount of joy. He deserves this. And don’t ever forget how close he came to not making it to this moment after his June 2019 shooting. It’s a blessing that this occasion is not submerged in sadness.
This is how it should be. After Ortiz gave Red Sox fans so many reasons to celebrate through the years, fans now get to celebrate him in the buildup to the induction ceremony July 24.
Because his feats – particularly the walk-off homer in the 12th inning of Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees and the walk-off single in the 14th inning of Game 5, those twin sparks of hope when all seemed lost – are part of Red Sox canon now, it could be easy to forget how implausible his recurring heroics might have seemed when he first began producing them.
The Red Sox have a long history of charismatic, exceptional hitters putting together singularly extraordinary seasons. Carl Yastrzemski, ‘67. Jim Rice, ‘78. Mo Vaughn, ‘95. Ted Williams, in pretty much every season he wasn’t called to serve his country at war. But none could deliver the hits that would bring the Yankees to their knees, or the hits that would clear the bases and the path to the championship at once.
Now that he’s Cooperstown-bound, I’ll say it with more assurance than I ever have before, and you know I’ve said it before: David Ortiz is the best thing to ever happen to the Red Sox.
Now that the crowning achievement has been bestowed, I keep thinking back to when it all began for Ortiz in Boston. The Twins, with their banjo-hitter fetish, had dismissed him after the 2002 season. The Red Sox brought him in, partially on Pedro Martinez’s recommendation, with some hope that he’d unlock his power, but Jeremy Giambi, the backup first baseman in his own family, got an opportunity before Ortiz did.
Ch. 4 sports producer Joe Giza posted an old clip earlier this week of Ortiz introducing himself to general manager Theo Epstein at 2003 spring training. Epstein, who will join Ortiz in Cooperstown someday, had no idea what he had in Ortiz, or what he’d become. No one would have even thought to dare he’d become this.
Ortiz’s legacy here isn’t all about the walk-off homers, and the other assorted walk-off hits, and all of the tone-setting home runs he walloped early in games (think Game 7 of the ‘04 ALCS). He was so charismatic (has any Boston athlete other than perhaps David Pastrnak made more audacious wardrobe choices that somehow work?) and engaging (he unofficially led the league in bro-hugs at least six straight seasons) that you felt like you knew him even if you never met him. And if you did meet him, chances are he left you smiling at the silliness of that old expression, “Never meet your heroes.”
Ortiz didn’t just play for Boston or represent Boston, he became Boston. Which is why it was so fitting in the heavy, hazy aftermath of the 2013 Marathon bombings that he was the one who sauntered purposefully to the center of Fenway Park and found just the right words, FCC protocols be damned, to provide some desperately needed, don’t-mess-with-us catharsis.
With his bat and his words, Ortiz always knew how to lift up those around him and carry them to better days. This summer, he’ll get the beautiful day in Cooperstown and the enshrinement deserves. Something tells me we won’t soon forget that speech, either.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 27, 2022 2:59:24 GMT -5
Jon Couture @joncouture ·
Jan. 22, 2003, in the Globe. Buried inside. "He'll share time with Jeremy Giambi and perhaps Shea Hillenbrand."
Perhaps not. Hilarious to the end of time.
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Post by Kimmi on Feb 1, 2022 16:39:13 GMT -5
I am just over the moon about Big Papi getting in Him and Yaz are my 2 favorite Red Sox players Can not wait until this July to watch his induction. This is awesome, absolutely awesome.
I am so happy for Big Papi and for Red Sox fans.
Well deserved.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on May 3, 2022 3:27:42 GMT -5
Surrounded by immortals, Papi tours Hall: 'It is amazing' May 2nd, 2022 Ian Browne
Ian Browne @ianmbrowne
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- Decked out in a white designer jogging suit, David Ortiz joyfully took his orientation visit around the Baseball Hall of Fame on Monday, expressing his awe for Ted Williams, his gratitude for Kirby Puckett and his amazement at so many of the artifacts he got to put his hands on.
In his uniquely Big Papi element, Ortiz made sure to pose for a photo with a high school baseball team from Easton, Pa., that happened to be touring the Hall of Fame after their doubleheader got rained out.
At one moment, Ortiz was gushing about the size of Babe Ruth's bat. "His bat was 36 inches and 40 ounces? I don't think you could do that now."
At the next, he was looking at a display case for Cy Young while noting, "There wasn't anyone who did it better than Cy Young."
Then, he would bump into one of the kids or parents from the high school team and pose for a selfie.
This was Ortiz's warm-up act for July 24, when he will be formally inducted as a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Being surrounded by walls filled with recognition of immortals was a special thing for Ortiz.
"I know what it takes for those guys to be where they're at," Ortiz said. "It seems when you first begin, the last thing that you're thinking of is being part of that pack, because it's extremely difficult but here we are. Here we are."
Ortiz's only previous experience in Cooperstown was when the Red Sox played the Tigers in the 2005 Hall of Fame Game at Doubleday Field. And the team didn't have a chance to see the museum.
Papi made up for that on Monday, seeing everything from the introductory movie that all fans watch upon entry to the Hall to most of the exhibits and down to the basement where many special artifacts are kept, and those VIP guests who get to see them need to wear white gloves to touch them -- as Ortiz did Monday.
The look on Ortiz's face as he held the bat Williams used to hit a homer in his final Major League at-bat was priceless. Moments before, Ortiz was swinging a Babe Ruth bat.
Some of the Hall of Fame officials warned Ortiz to be careful when he swung so he wouldn't damage the precious collectible he was holding.
"Don't worry, I know how to handle this," quipped Ortiz.
Ortiz, a lefty slugger who belted 483 of his career 541 homers for Boston, volunteered why he'd pick Williams over Ruth if he had to choose.
"To go to war a couple of times and be out there for a couple of years and come back and rake, that isn't human," Ortiz said. "I don't care what anybody says. You get out of the game like that under those conditions and come back, basically just [play baseball] like it was normal, he was a unique human being. I would love to know what was going through his mind coming back and playing the game."
Williams missed three full seasons (1943-45) while serving in World War II and most of the '52 and '53 seasons during the Korean War.
While Ortiz never got to meet Williams, he had personal connections with many of the other plaques he made sure to visit on Monday.
The one Ortiz made sure to see was Puckett, the late Twins legend who was the reason Ortiz wore No. 34 in Boston.
While Ortiz was coming up to the Majors with the Twins, Puckett's career had just ended due to a severe right eye injury. As Puckett moved to a front-office role, he pumped a young Ortiz full of confidence.
The first time Ortiz referenced Puckett during his visit was when he saw a Willie McCovey display.
"Kirby Puckett used to call me Willie McCovey," said Ortiz.
"I was just a kid. He said that I swung like Willie McCovey when I was coming up."
The only time Ortiz cried Monday was when he was asked about Puckett just moments after he had gone to visit his plaque.
"Just seeing Kirby's face on his plaque, I started thinking about a lot of things," said Ortiz. "Kirby was a really good friend to me. Kirby cared about me when I was just a kid, when I was nobody. I didn't know who I was going to be or where I was going to end up. But he cared about me. That's what life is all about."
Ortiz took a selfie when he walked up to Pedro Martinez's plaque.
"That's my compadre," Ortiz said numerous times of Martinez on Monday.
When Ortiz saw the 2004 Red Sox display that had a mention of Curt Schilling's bloody-sock greatness, he instantly got back into a time machine.
"I was there when he had his surgery right in the middle of the clubhouse," said Ortiz. "I took off running when I saw all the blood. I can't believe people questioned that it was really blood."
Ortiz was unfazed when he saw his own mementos on display, such as his bat from his World Series MVP performance in 2013.
But he made it clear what his upcoming honor means to him.
"All of a sudden, your face is going to be out there hanging with another 339 guys," said Ortiz. "You think about the amazing number of baseball players who have played the game. And it's what, one percent of the players in the history of the game that made it to that wall? It is amazing."
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