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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 21, 2022 3:12:00 GMT -5
Alex Cora jokes Red Sox need to stop seating David Ortiz next to him during games: ‘It’s non-stop. It’s not Fort Myers, bro’
Updated: Jun. 21, 2022, 3:07 a.m. | Published: Jun. 20, 2022, 10:54 p.m.
By Chris Cotillo | ccotillo@MassLive.com
BOSTON -- Red Sox manager Alex Cora always enjoys seeing his good friend and former teammate David Ortiz. But Cora joked Monday night that Ortiz -- who has sat in the seat next to Cora’s perch in Boston’s dugout for two of the last three games -- is becoming too much of a distraction.
“At some point, we’ve got to seat David somewhere else,” Cora joked. “It’s non-stop (talking). It’s not Fort Myers, bro. I love it.”
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Like he was Saturday, Ortiz was on hand at Fenway Park on Monday night. This time, he was at the ballpark to present another former teammate, Manny Ramirez, with his Red Sox Hall of Fame plaque. Ortiz and Ramirez sat right next to the Red Sox dugout for Boston’s 5-2 win over the Tigers.
According to Cora, Ortiz’s mid-game conversation topics are wide-ranging.
“At one point, he started talking about this thing they did on FOX. Stuff and pitchers not throwing strikes,” Cora said. “He doesn’t understand how hitters are struggling when (pitchers) don’t throw strikes. I mean, this was going on for five minutes. I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ Just listen and laugh and give him (sunflower) seeds so he can stay quiet.”
Cora played with both Ortiz and Martinez in Boston from 2005 to 2008. He gets to see Ortiz, who holds a part-time role in the organization, more often than Ramirez. But having Ramirez on hand to be honored Monday -- after he missed the induction late last month -- was special.
“It’s the only guy that misses his Hall of Fame induction and comes and throws out the first pitch on a Monday,” Cora said. “That’s why he is who he is. He was actually in the cage. I haven’t seen him in a while and to catch up with him was great. He looks great. He looks in great shape. Having fun.”
Cora, who frequently mentions how valuable former players like Maury Wills and Steve Garvey were to him as he was coming up in the Dodgers’ organization, happily welcomes any former Red Sox greats who want to come back and help the team. During spring training each year, legends like Ortiz, Carl Yastrzemski, Dwight Evans, Luis Tiant and others help out in Fort Myers.
“When the big guy (Ortiz) is here, it’s awesome,” Cora said. “The players love it. He goes to the cage and he talks to them. Some guys hitting hadn’t seen Manny in a while. To meet him, I know it means a lot. The more the better. I’m a big believer that those guys around here, they bring a lot to the equation.
“I know it was special for David and Manny and they had a great night,” Cora said. “Well, it sounded like it.”
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Post by Kimmi on Jun 21, 2022 8:24:48 GMT -5
Alex Cora jokes Red Sox need to stop seating David Ortiz next to him during games: ‘It’s non-stop. It’s not Fort Myers, bro’Updated: Jun. 21, 2022, 3:07 a.m. | Published: Jun. 20, 2022, 10:54 p.m. |
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Post by seabeachfred on Jul 7, 2022 16:11:33 GMT -5
Alex Cora jokes Red Sox need to stop seating David Ortiz next to him during games: ‘It’s non-stop. It’s not Fort Myers, bro’Updated: Jun. 21, 2022, 3:07 a.m. | Published: Jun. 20, 2022, 10:54 p.m. I'm hopeful of getting a chance to meet Big Papi in person and have my picture taken with him when I go to Cooperstown for his induction. Sad to say I was one of many who were down on him in 2009 when he was in a horrendous slump and couldn't seem to buy a hit, let alone give us some of the power we needed. Blew that one, didn't I? He rallied to put a impressive finish to his last years in Boston helping the Red Sox come from last to first in 2013 to win the World Series, and I believe his last season in 2016 was as good a year as any player in history has recorded in hitting over 300, knocking in over 100 runs and belting more than 35 homers. I really don't believe we would have won any of those three titles or AL Championships without David's contributions. Doubtful there will be another one like him on the Red Sox for quite some time. |
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Post by Kimmi on Jul 8, 2022 14:19:27 GMT -5
I'm hopeful of getting a chance to meet Big Papi in person and have my picture taken with him when I go to Cooperstown for his induction. Sad to say I was one of many who were down on him in 2009 when he was in a horrendous slump and couldn't seem to buy a hit, let alone give us some of the power we needed. Blew that one, didn't I? He rallied to put a impressive finish to his last years in Boston helping the Red Sox come from last to first in 2013 to win the World Series, and I believe his last season in 2016 was as good a year as any player in history has recorded in hitting over 300, knocking in over 100 runs and belting more than 35 homers. I really don't believe we would have won any of those three titles or AL Championships without David's contributions. Doubtful there will be another one like him on the Red Sox for quite some time.
That's great that you're going to Papi'a HOF induction. I hope you are able to get a picture with him! |
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 15, 2022 17:51:47 GMT -5
David Ortiz’s daughter, Alex Veda, will sing national anthem ahead of dad’s Hall of Fame induction
By Peter Abraham Globe Staff,Updated July 15, 2022, 2 hours ago
David Ortiz won’t be the only member of his family in the spotlight at the Hall of Fame induction next Sunday.
His daughter, 21-year-old Alex Veda, was selected to perform the national anthem before the ceremony in Cooperstown.
“I’m so happy to have this opportunity,” she said. “That’s the way our family works. If we have the ability to help each other, we do. There’s no shyness. To be there for my father means a lot to me.”
A rising senior at the prestigious Berklee College of Music, Veda is preparing for a career in music production but also has performed for years.
She chose Alex Veda as her professional name in part to distinguish herself from her famous father.
Veda sang the anthem at Fenway Park when she was 16 and has since performed at other venues, including a packed house at Amalie Arena before a l
“This is a huge opportunity for me as a performer and musician,” she said. “Anything you can do to get your name out there helps. I love collaborating with other people and producing. I’d rather be Dr. Dre than Beyoncé. But performing is something I still love.”
The key to the anthem, Veda said, is to start strong and maintain a good pace.
“I’m not shooting for a particular time but I never want to drag it out,” she said. “People don’t like that.”
Veda’s favorite memory of her father’s career is not any particular game. It’s more the fun she had at the Family Day events the team threw for the children of the players and coaches at Fenway Park every year.
She also was with her father in January when he got the call saying he was elected to the Hall on the first ballot.
“His family in the Dominican Republic, they were all there with us and everybody was crying,” she said. “But he earned it. My brother [D’Angelo] and I were talking about how he was always the first one at the park and the last one to leave.
“He always gave his utmost to baseball and his prime was longer than most. He’s reaped the benefits, especially the Hall of Fame.”
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Post by Kimmi on Jul 17, 2022 8:38:33 GMT -5
David Ortiz’s daughter, Alex Veda, will sing national anthem ahead of dad’s Hall of Fame inductionBy Peter Abraham Globe Staff,Updated July 15, 2022, 2 hours ago |
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 20, 2022 10:08:03 GMT -5
Catching up with Carl Yastrzemski, who calls Hall-bound David Ortiz the better hitter
By Dan Shaughnessy Globe Staff,Updated July 20, 2022, 1 hour ago
In the 1990s, when Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio made rare public appearances together, DiMaggio would insist on being introduced as “the greatest living ballplayer.”
The gracious Teddy Ballgame never objected and Willie Mays was not asked for his opinion.
I thought of that this week when Carl Yastrzemski returned a call and agreed to spend a few moments talking about David Ortiz, who will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday. Like Ted and Yaz, Big Papi was elected in his first year of eligibility.
So, Yaz, what is Ortiz’s place in Red Sox history?
“He was one hell of a hitter, you know?” says Yastrzemski, who turns 83 next month. “One of the best hitters the Red Sox ever had. Probably the only guy that was a better hitter was Ted.”
Generous. And probably true. But, Yaz, are you telling us Ortiz was better than you?
“Yes,” acknowledges Yaz. “He was a better hitter.”
So, there you go. Yaz is secure in telling us that Big Papi is the second greatest hitter in Red Sox history.
I didn’t push him on “greatest living Red Sox player.” Everybody knows Ortiz was a career designated hitter, while Yastrzemski was a seven-time Gold Glove outfielder, contributing with his glove and arm for most of his 23 Red Sox seasons. We can save the “greatest living Red Sox player” debate for another time and maybe ask Pedro Martinez what he thinks.
Meanwhile, Yaz and Red Sox Nation are preparing for a long-weekend Papi-palooza, which will extend into Tuesday when the Red Sox honor Ortiz in a pregame ceremony at Fenway Park.
Yastrzemski isn’t making the trek to Cooperstown but plans to be at Fenway to celebrate Ortiz.
“I didn’t go to spring training this year and I’m not going to the induction,” says Yaz. “I’m kind of cooling things with the COVID situation and all. With all the people around and stuff, I can’t take a chance, especially after having bypass [surgery in 2008]. It’s been a while since then and I’m very lucky.
“This is a great honor for David. I remember when we first got him [in 2003], you kind of had doubts those first couple of months, but he turned that around quick and became one hell of a hitter. I think Ted would be very happy for him because he’s done so much for the Red Sox. I know I am.
“Going into the Hall of Fame is a great, great thrill,” adds Yaz, who was inducted along with Johnny Bench in 1989. “It’s great he gets to have his family there. My dad was there when I got in and he was very proud. Very few players make it and this means you are one of the few. David will always have that plaque. It’s just one hell of an honor.”
‘I think Ted would be very happy for him because he’s done so much for the Red Sox. I know I am.’
Carl Yastrzemski on David Ortiz
Yaz-in-retirement is our Lion In Winter, rarely heard from or seen, but he’s working out with a trainer regularly and gets enormous joy staying up late to watch his grandson, Mike, hit homers for the San Francisco Giants. Mike Yaz hit a walkoff grand slam last Friday and humble grandpa says, “The big thing is that it won a game for the Giants.”
In September 2019, the Yastrzemski clan gathered at Fenway to see Mike play for the Giants and they got their reward when Mike hit a 401-foot homer to center off Nate Eovaldi.
“That was a great thrill for me, seeing him in Fenway and especially him hitting a home run,” says Yaz. “I talk to Mike once every couple of weeks. I don’t bother him too much with the time difference and everything. He likes it out there. He likes the players, his manager, the hitting coach, so he’s happy. I didn’t think he’d be this much of a power hitter. He can hit the ball a long way when he hits it.”
Yaz still plays golf but doesn’t fish as much as he used to.
“A lot of guys I fish with aren’t fishing anymore,” he explains. “The places I’d go … we used to stay in touch so everybody knew where you were and if something happened they’d come and get you, you know? Going out by yourself is a little scary for me now.”
Workouts with a personal trainer are a particular passion.
“I work out three days a week with a private trainer at the Y in Andover,” Yaz says. “I work out for an hour and do a lot of squats. Today I did eight sets of 10 squats and that keeps the legs in pretty good shape. I’ve got a great trainer and one-on-one is great and he pushes me.’’
Yastrzemski was never around the Red Sox clubhouse during Ortiz’s championship run and didn’t develop a relationship with the 21st century slugger.
“This is his time,” Yaz says, softly. “I don’t even talk to my grandson about hitting.”
Like the rest of us, Yaz is impressed with Ortiz’s post-career role as a goodwill ambassador for the Red Sox.
“Ortiz is young and he likes doing it,” says Yastrzemski. “I never did much of that. Once I retired, that was it. Everything went out of me.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 21, 2022 6:15:36 GMT -5
‘They call me Super Papi’: Remembering David Ortiz’s greatest quotes with the Red Sox
Big Papi was a Hall of Famer with the mic, too
By Steve Hewitt | stephen.hewitt@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald
July 21, 2022 at 5:30 a.m.
David Ortiz was one of the best ever with a bat in his hands, which is why he’s heading to Cooperstown this weekend. But he was also a Hall of Famer with a microphone in front of him.
When he’s inducted into the Hall of Fame on Sunday, the chances are high Ortiz will say something memorable during his speech. Whether it was during clubhouse interviews or on camera, the Red Sox legend was never shy about speaking his mind throughout his career. It was what made Big Papi, well, Big Papi.
With his induction now just days away, here’s a look back at some of the funniest and most memorable quotes of Ortiz’s career – in no particular order.
A simple approach – July 10, 2006
With 541 career home runs – 17th on the all-time list – on his resume, one may think Ortiz had a complicated way of hitting. Not so fast? As he began to produce a monster 2006 season that included a career-high 54 homers, Ortiz explained his methods.
“I just swing hard in case I hit it,” Ortiz said. “That’s it.”
Easy enough.
‘Big Elephant’ – Aug. 8, 2011
There weren’t a lot of situations when Ortiz created runs with his legs. But in a Red Sox win over the Twins in 2011, Big Papi was a different character. As Ortiz slid home for a play at the plate, Twins catcher Joe Mauer dropped the relay throw, prompting this line.
“I think he heard the big elephant coming,” Ortiz said. “He was shaking when I was coming in.”
Can’t say we blame Mauer.
‘Rice and beans’ – March 11, 2005
Ortiz certainly didn’t like it, but he was frequently tested for steroid use as MLB began trying to crack down on use of performance-enhancing drugs. In typical Ortiz fashion, he had a quip for that, too.
“They pick me every time,” Ortiz said (via the Globe). “I don’t know why. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a big guy, or what, but all I know is all they are going to find is a lot of rice and beans.”
Feat of strength – July 21, 2016
It may have been his last season, but Ortiz, then 40 years old, was still doing amazing things with his bat. During batting practice at Fenway Park before a game against the Twins, he hit a home run that connected with Pesky’s Pole – and somehow got lodged in the pole.
“You’re only going to see a bad (expletive) like me doing that,” Ortiz said afterward (via MassLive). “You have to hit the (expletive) out of the ball for that (expletive) to happen.”
The Price feud – May 30, 2014
Before they became Red Sox teammates, Ortiz and David Price – then with the Rays – had a “war,” as Ortiz described it. The feud started in Game 2 of the 2013 ALDS, when Ortiz hit two homers off Price – the second of which he admired, which irked Price. The next time the two faced each, in May 2014, Price plunked Ortiz.
After the game, Ortiz went on a rant against Price.
“First at-bat of the season against him, he drilled me,” Ortiz said. “That means it’s a war. It’s on. Next time he hits me, he better bring the gloves on. I have no respect for him no more. …
“You can’t be acting like a little girl out there all the time. You give it up, that’s an experience for the next time, but you’re gonna be acting like a little bitch every time you give it up, bounce back like that and put your teammates in jeopardy. Oh yeah, I was going to let him know. …
“I respect everybody in this league, and I get a certain respect from everybody. If you’re mad because I take you deep twice, I’m gonna let you know. I got almost 500 homers in this league. That’s part of the game, son.”
The two later buried their beef when Price signed with the Red Sox and became teammates with Ortiz for the slugger’s final season. But their feud was a memorable late chapter of Ortiz’s career.
‘Super Papi’ – Sept. 20, 2014
Ortiz defied age as he continued to put up big numbers over the final years of his career. After hitting two homers in a win over the Orioles – which put his season totals at 34 homers and 103 RBI to that point – he was asked how he was still doing it.
“They call me Super Papi,” the 38-year-old Ortiz said. “That’s right. Put it down like that. What else?”
The speech – Oct. 27, 2013
There weren’t any microphones nearby, but the cameras were on during Game 4 of the 2013 World Series, when Ortiz huddled his teammates around him in the dugout and rallied them with a speech that sparked the Red Sox – who were trailing the series, 2-1.
It’s not certain exactly what Ortiz said, but he did stand on top of the dugout steps and shouted, “This is our time!”
The gist of the speech: The Red Sox had come a long way to get to this stage, they were better than what they were showing and it was time to “get this job done.”
“Hey, remember, the World Series is not in months,” Ortiz said after. “It’s about 10 days. You’ve got to bring your 'A' game every day. It’s like I told my teammates, you think you’re going to come to the World Series every year, you’re wrong. You know how many people we beat up to get to this level? A lot of good teams. That doesn’t happen every year. It took me five years to get back on this stage. … Take advantage of being here.”
Whatever he said, it worked. Jonny Gomes hit a go-ahead homer soon after, and the Red Sox – fueled by Ortiz’s bat and words – didn’t lose again as they went on to win another championship.
'This is our (expletive) city' – April 20, 2013
Ortiz’s finest moment in a Red Sox uniform. Days after the tragic Boston Marathon bombings, the Red Sox returned home to Fenway Park, where Ortiz grabbed a mic and lifted the spirits of the city in one of the most powerful moments in franchise history – and one that cemented him as a Boston icon.
“This jersey that we wear today, it doesn’t say Red Sox, it says Boston,” Ortiz began. “We want to thank you, Mayor (Thomas) Menino, Governor (Deval) Patrick, the whole police department for the great job that they did this past week.”
Then, after a brief pause…
“This is our (expletive) city, and nobody gonna dictate our freedom. Stay strong.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 21, 2022 9:25:32 GMT -5
DAVID ORTIZ | HALL OF FAME 2022
David Ortiz hit so many home runs, he may have forgotten a few. The pitchers he hit them off haven’t.
By Peter Abraham Globe Staff,Updated July 21, 2022, 1 hour ago
David Ortiz hit 541 regular-season home runs during his career off of 360 different pitchers.
The first was on Sept. 14, 1997, against Texas righthander Julio Santana. Ortiz was a 21-year Minnesota Twins rookie.
The last came on Sept. 30, 2016, off Toronto lefthander Brett Cecil. By then, Ortiz was a 40-year-old Red Sox legend with three World Series rings.
Along the way Ortiz hit at least one home run off pitchers whose last names started with every letter of the alphabet besides U and X. From Fernando Abad to Barry Zito, he was an equal-opportunity masher.
Alas, Ortiz missed his chances against Koji Uehara (0 for 7) and Ugueth Urbina (1 for 4 with a single), and he never faced a pitcher whose last name began with an X.
His most home runs against one pitcher were his six off the late Roy Halladay, a fellow Hall of Famer. They faced each other 109 times from 2001-09.
Halladay was the pitcher Ortiz faced the most in his career and vice versa. Theirs was a frequent, but respectful, rivalry.
“He was a good friend of mine. But you know how it is when you jump on the field — it was you against me,” Ortiz said. “That was a guy, when he was on, it was mission impossible.
“But I knew that he was going to challenge me. I was the type of guy that, I used to make my living from pitchers’ mistakes, and he wasn’t out there making too many mistakes.”
Related: With David Ortiz headed into the Hall of Fame, we asked Yaz: Who was the better hitter? | Shaughnessy
Ask Ortiz to recount a particular homer and he often needs a few details to jog his memory. When you hit as many as Ortiz did, they start to blend together.
The 17 in the postseason? Those he remembers.
So do the pitchers who allowed those home runs, and often in vivid detail.
Michael Wacha was a 22-year-old St. Louis Cardinals rookie when he faced Ortiz in Game 2 of the 2013 World Series. He remembers thinking the entire country wanted the Red Sox to win a championship that season in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings.
“Going into Fenway Park there was a lot of emotion with the fans and the pregame ceremonies,” Wacha said. “But we had a job to do.”
Wacha did his well, allowing two runs over six innings and striking out six in a game St. Louis won, 4-2.
But Ortiz got him in the sixth inning. After starting him with two fastballs, Wacha threw Ortiz four consecutive changeups. The last was up and over the plate. Ortiz stayed on it and drove it the other way for a home run over the Green Monster.
“I remember everything about it, I threw too many changeups in a row,” said Wacha, who now pitches for the Red Sox. “He was a great hitter and he got me. I needed to get that last one down and I didn’t do it.”
Then Wacha smiled.
“But we won the game.”
It was the last postseason home run Ortiz would hit. Wacha joined a list of October victims that includes Hall of Famer Mike Mussina, David Price, John Lackey, David Wells, and Tom Gordon.
“I’ll tell you what, it was a lot better being his teammate than pitching against him,” said Lackey, who was a member of the 2013 Red Sox.
Outside of the postseason, Ortiz’s two most memorable home runs came on Sept. 12, 2015, at Tropicana Field. They were Nos. 499 and 500 of his career.
Matt Moore allowed both.
The lefthander was coming off Tommy John surgery that season and to that point had pitched only 31⅓ innings.
“Where I was in my rehab, I felt like I was ready to go even though I was still a little stiff and my fastball was maybe 92-93 [miles per hour],” Moore said. “That wasn’t where it was generally, but it was time for me to get back into competition.”
Ortiz hit No. 499 in the first inning, a three-shot shot to right field.
“A 1-and-2 heater, exact same spot as the one before it. He didn’t miss it,” Moore said. “It was a good swing.”
Ortiz popped up to center in the third inning. He came up again leading off the fifth and became the 27th player in history with 500 homers.
This time, Moore threw a curveball on a 2-2 count.
“I wanted to start it inside to a lefthanded hitter but it went to the middle,” Moore said. “He was probably geared for a fastball and he did a good job to get to it.”
Ortiz faced Moore in three other games before he retired and was 0 for 7.
“To this day if folks ask me who is the toughest hitter I faced, I say it’s David Ortiz,” said Moore, who is now a reliever with the Rangers and pitching well at 33. “You could try to get him to chase and he wouldn’t. He’d take the walk.”
Moore would rather Ortiz had hit his 500th home run off somebody else. But he doesn’t rue his place in history.
“We had a lot of good battles,” he said. “He’s a Hall of Famer for a reason.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 22, 2022 9:43:19 GMT -5
Pete Abraham
@peteabe
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17m
This is the (fairly new) exhibit at the Hall for David Ortiz. He loaned the Hall his WS rings to exhibit.  
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 22, 2022 13:18:55 GMT -5
‘He’s my hero’: Boston’s Dominicans cheer David Ortiz’s entry into Hall of Fame
By Alexander Thompson Globe Correspondent,Updated July 22, 2022, 2 hours ago
Freddy Cabral pointed out the window of his convenience store across Centre Street in Jamaica Plain.
“You see that car over there? He was parking over there.”
That’s how close, many years ago, Cabral got to the man whose photo sits above the window, watching over the store: Red Sox legend David Ortiz.
“He’s my hero,” he said.
Standing behind the counter Thursday at Freddy’s Market Bodega, with Latin music playing on the radio, Cabral said there’s a chance he might finally meet Ortiz this weekend. He and hundreds of other local Dominicans will travel to Cooperstown, N.Y., to watch Ortiz’s induction ceremony into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday.
For the Boston area’s Dominican community, Big Papi’s ascension to the pinnacle of America’s pastime is not just a crowning moment for one of their own, but a recognition of how far their entire community has come in this country.
“When we see David Ortiz get the phone call, we celebrated like crazy here, because we’re Dominicans and we love David Ortiz,” said Yoleny Ynoa, a Dominican community organizer in Salem.
Junior Pepén, the Red Sox’s Spanish-language play by play announcer who co-hosts a daily sports radio show on WJDA with his brother, organized four tour buses that will leave Hyde Park Sunday morning to ferry 220 Dominicans from the Boston area to attend the ceremony.
Many more will travel on their own from Boston, Pepén said.
“Dominicans are very loud,” Pepén said with a laugh. “In Cooperstown, they know already with Pedro and Vladimir that Dominican people are very loud.”
Pepén, who had Ortiz on his show essentially every week while he was playing, ran into the baseball great on a flight back to Boston from Los Angeles on Wednesday. The two chatted and Pepén said Ortiz is very excited for the ceremony and grateful to have been chosen.
“I know how hard he had to work to be a legend,” Pepén said. “He comes from the bottom to the top.”
There are about 81,000 Dominican immigrants in Greater Boston, second only to the New York City area, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
Many of them are baseball fans, and all of them are fans of the longtime Sox designated hitter, said Ynoa, 53.
“Everywhere you go in my country you see someone playing baseball,” he said. “The Dominican Flag is our symbol and David Ortiz is the face of the Dominican Republic in Boston.”
Ortiz will become the fourth Dominican player inducted into the Hall of Fame, after Juan Marichal, who played most notably with the San Francisco Giants, in 1983; Ortiz’s Sox teammate Pedro Martínez, in 2015; and Expos and Angels legend Vladimir Guerrero Sr., in 2018. There are currently about 150 active MLB players who were born in the Dominican Republic, according to the online Baseball Almanac.
Jose Estrella, 62, an accountant and tax preparer in South Boston, is also headed to Cooperstown with Pepén this weekend. He said that if he gets a chance to speak to Ortiz, he’ll say how proud he is of Ortiz and how proud he is of the work that he does for the Dominican community in Boston and back on the island.
“He means everything for this community,” Estrella said.
Many Dominicans bring up with pride the work that the legend’s charity, the David Ortiz Children’s Fund, does to provide cardiac care to children in need in the Dominican Republic and in New England. They also talk about how connected how down to earth and connected he is to the local community.
This spring, Ynoa attended a talk Ortiz gave at Salem State University and came up to him afterward.
“He gave me a high five, and he said, ‘Hey my man, you are de lo mío!’” Ynoa recounted, using a Spanish phrase which means, roughly, “you’re one of my people.”
Dan Rivera, the Dominican American former mayor of Lawrence, where many of the region’s Dominican population call home, drew a parallel between Ortiz’s story and every immigrant’s journey.
“David’s greatness, all the hard work that got the team where it was going … it’s what the immigrant experience has been in the United States,” Rivera said.
Everyone has favorite memories of Ortiz’s career on and off the field. Many cite the 12th inning, walk-off homer he hit in game four of the 2004 American League Championship Series against the Yankees. Others say it’s his “This is our [expletive] city” remarks after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.
The constant in the memories is a player who brought hope and pride even when things seemed bleak.
“In the moments we needed hope and progress the most, he didn’t let the moment scare him or push him back, he met the moment,” Rivera said.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 22, 2022 13:21:10 GMT -5
The business of being Big Papi: How David Ortiz’s fortunes have changed now that he’s a Hall of Famer
By Michael Silverman Globe Staff,Updated July 22, 2022, 9:10 a.m.
See all our stories about David Ortiz’s Hall of Fame induction here.
The business of being David Ortiz was flourishing before his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot.
Now, it’s boom time.
Since the announcement in January, Ortiz’s appearance and signing fees have jumped 20 to 35 percent, his list of regional and national endorsement partners has grown to 10, his licensing deals to eight, and he has a long-term contract with Fox Sports and Fox Bet that ensure Big Papi’s booming laugh, sartorial flair, and baseball insights will be seen and heard from coast to coast, especially in New England, for years to come.
“It’s a validation, a first-ballot Hall of Famer — rhetorically, what better description can one give that’s better than that?” said Alex Radetsky, president and founder of Radegen, the sports and entertainment agency he founded, with Ortiz as one of his first two clients, in 2010. “Now it’s just up to David on how much he wants to do. He could continue at a very high level of being front and center like Charles Barkley and Shaq [O’Neal] are in the NBA, and some NFL names. He’ll have to work, but the opportunities will be there.”
Ortiz earned a little more than $160 million in salary in his 20-season major league career. Calculating his earnings as a pitchman and celebrity is more difficult because of companies keeping such deals private and the fluctuation of equity stakes.
But considering Ortiz has had a national profile for at least 18 years, thanks to three World Series titles with the Red Sox, MVP awards in the World Series and the ALCS, the Boston Marathon speech, and multiple spoofs on “Saturday Night Live” by Kenan Thompson, a responsible estimate would be in the high eight figures, possibly even low nine figures.
Unlike most players, even the best, that off-field earning power hasn’t plateaued in the six years since Ortiz played his final game.
Yes, there was a pause on the commercial front three years ago after Ortiz nearly died in a shooting in the Dominican Republic. Even with some unanswered questions surrounding the incident, Ortiz’s public perception on that front has remained sympathetic.
And with baseball commissioner Rob Manfred stepping in to assure the public and enough BBWAA voters that Ortiz’s 2003 positive test for performance-enhancing drugs could have been a false positive, Ortiz cleared, on his first attempt, the remaining hurdle to baseball immortality.
Combined with Ortiz’s infectious personality, and of course his production on the field, his staying power as a bankable personality is remarkable.
Bobby D’Angelo, vice president at ‘47 Brand, one of the licensers of Ortiz apparel (Fanatics is another), said Ortiz is “by far” the biggest-selling Red Sox name, ahead of Ted Williams.
“He’s relevant because he’s still visible. He’s on commercials, he’s on this, he’s on that,” said D’Angelo. “David Ortiz represents winning World Series, and people have a good feeling for David Ortiz. We keep selling Ortiz because, unfortunately, there’s not a lot of Red Sox current-day players that are relevant, as crazy as that sounds.
“Xander [Bogaerts] is a good player but not a big deal as far as selling, and [Rafael] Devers, he’s good but he’s not great [in sales]. The good thing about old-time players is that they’re already retired. Am I supposed to invest in Xander Bogaerts now, is he going to be on the team next year? Nobody knows. So, we help boost Ortiz’s popularity because we carry his merchandise. We make sure that he’s still relevant, because we need to sell somebody.”
There was a bump in Ortiz sales right after January’s announcement, and there will be another bump this weekend when Ortiz is inducted, said D’Angelo.
“This will re-instill vigor in his name, so we’re riding this Ortiz thing,” said D’Angelo. “I mean, we’re not going gangbusters, but we think it’s going to be good.”
Radetsky said that on the merchandising, memorabilia, and licensing front, many of Ortiz’s deals had been timed to expire at the end of 2021, before the Hall of Fame results were known. Talks with potential brand partners took place in the months leading up to the announcement but decisions were put off.
“If I had a dollar for every time I, or my team and I, would say to people, ‘If David is lucky enough, or fortunate enough to be elected, then this and that,’ ” said Radetsky. “We didn’t want to jinx it and we didn’t want to be cocky about it because nobody knew. We were saying this for six or nine months, literally talking to companies in advance. And then, once it happened, it triggered the, ‘OK, here we go.’ ”
On the endorsement front alone, Ortiz is pitching for 10 companies: Mastercard, Dunkin’, Zenni Optical, FTX, loanDepot, eternalHealth, Eastern Bank, DIRECTV, WhistlePig, and Famous Ink.
Ortiz has cut a commercial for eternalHealth, a Massachusetts-based health-care company geared toward people who are Medicare-eligible. Ortiz is 46, and eternalHealth’s founder and CEO, Pooja Ika, is 25 and was in second grade in Southborough when Ortiz helped the Red Sox to their first World Series title in 86 years in 2004.
By the time Ika founded eternalHealth while still in college in 2019, she had targeted Ortiz as the licensing of her company.
“I knew that I wanted David,” said Ika. “I know that he wasn’t Medicare-eligible, I knew he wasn’t 65 and fit the consumer-like description, but I knew how loved he was across the state and I also knew that he was someone people really trusted, someone who people loved because of how friendly he was.”
Ortiz resonates with people, and that keeps him in demand with businesses.
He didn’t have to sell many people on his Hall of Fame credentials, but an awful lot of visitors to Cooperstown in the decades to come will recognize the face on that plaque from seeing it on an advertisement as opposed to a baseball diamond.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 22, 2022 13:23:53 GMT -5
You know who else is excited for David Ortiz’s Hall of Fame induction? The people of Cooperstown.
By Michael Silverman Globe Staff,Updated July 22, 2022, 9:15 a.m.
See all our stories about David Ortiz’s Hall of Fame induction here.
In the eyes of voters, David Ortiz’s baseball credentials are Hall of Fame-worthy.
To the Village of Cooperstown, N.Y., Big Papi is a certifiable Pied Piper.
Legions of New England Ortiz fans will hit the road this weekend, filling the streets, stores and motels surrounding the tourism-dependent hamlet. In doing so, they’ll provide a Papi-sized economic relief package that is perfectly timed. It will mark the first “normal” Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum induction weekend since pre-pandemic 2019.
“We still want the Hall of Fame to be cream of the crop and you definitely need that standard in my mind but business-wise, Ortiz really did help us bounce back from the two years that our area has gone through,” said Scott Barton, owner of the Lake ‘N Pines Motel and Hickory Grove Motor Inn. “Even though I’m an avid Yankees fan, a diehard Yankees fan – trust me, he put a lot of heartbreak in us in his time – I’m definitely excited to see him going into the Hall of Fame.”
Twelve hours after the Red Sox icon’s election was announced on Jan. 25, Barton’s lodges went from 50 percent occupancy to 100 percent for induction weekend, with the bulk of new reservations coming from Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
With studies by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum showing that visitors spend approximately 90 cents of every dollar on surrounding businesses, with the other 10 cents going to the museum itself, Ortiz’s election hits the upstate New York region’s sweet spot of timing, geography, and personality.
“When you have somebody with that sort of popularity and whose primary team was that close to Cooperstown, it certainly is going to mean an uptick in not just visitors for this weekend, but in the future,” said Josh Rawitch, president of the Hall of Fame. “People wanting to come and see his plaque, people wanting to purchase the merchandise that we have surrounding the induction because it is such a, frankly, once-in-a-lifetime experience for someone who’s a David Ortiz fan – there’s never going to be another thing like this.
“For the village itself, it’s the feeling that things are going to be back to normal and in a good way,” Rawitch continued. “That there’s just going to be tens of thousands of people here, coming to the local businesses and spending money on restaurants and hotels and bars and souvenirs. All of that, it’s pretty powerful.”
The Hall of Fame refrains from making estimates on attendance, but a “normal” induction weekend draws between 30,000 to 50,000. A turnout towards or exceeding the high end of that range looks realistic this yaer.
It’s too soon to say if the crowd will break the record 80,000-plus who came in for Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. in 2007, but there will be a throng all weekend, including a Sunday night “Cooperstown Dominican Latin Fest” with Ortiz and other notables at the nearby Brewery Ommegang — free to the first 5,000 who show up.
The last “normal” induction in 2019 was also when the first unanimous electee, Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, was inducted. Around 55,000 were in attendance.
The following summer was going to be another story.
The 2020 induction ceremony was to feature Yankee icon Derek Jeter and “they were thinking of anywhere up to 100,000″ Yankees fans would make the trek to Cooperstown to pay homage to their captain, said Tara Burke, executive director of Cooperstown’s Chamber of Commerce. “The pandemic really created a challenge there.”
The July 2020 induction was wiped out, and so was the following July’s.
When Jeter was finally inducted in a mid-week, off-season ceremony last September, approximately 20,000 showed up.
While local businesses struggled and adapted to the tourist-less economy for two years, the hospitality industry was hit the hardest.
Otsego County, where Cooperstown sits, has a 4 percent occupancy tax. Revenue from the third quarter — when the traditional induction ceremony as well as the youth baseball tournaments draw players, coaches and family take place — traditionally comprising roughly 65 percent of annual tax revenues.
The total occupancy taxes collected in 2020 totaled just over $612,000, about 72 percent less than the $2.17 million collected in 2019.
“With COVID and having Jeter here, you know, the county kind of got shafted in that and I think Jeter got shafted, too because we thought he’d draw a huge crowd,” said Allen Ruffles, treasurer of Otsego County. “But now that COVID is kind of past us in a way, David Ortiz might give us the huge bump that we were looking for with Jeter because Boston’s still local.”
Jeff Katz, former mayor of Cooperstown, said that it “already feels like a normal summer” in the village. Restaurants are busy, traffic’s picked up, adding up to what is “really a harbinger of induction.”
And while it’s too soon to say if COVID crowd hesitancy or gas prices will impact turnout, Katz senses Ortiz will draw an “above-average” crowd for what Katz describes as “the best baseball block party in the country.”
It’s hard to imagine an Ortiz fan who’d want to miss that.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 23, 2022 4:21:43 GMT -5
D’Angelo Ortiz pens letter to father David ahead of Hall of Fame induction
By Tyler Foy Globe Correspondent,Updated July 22, 2022, 4:57 p.m.
David Ortiz has been receiving praise from his colleagues and fans from around the world in the lead-up to his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame this weekend.
Now, his son has weighed in.
In a letter published by NESN on Friday, D’Angelo Ortiz shared with the world what he thinks of his father.
“Dear Pops,” D’Angelo began, before detailing not just the life his father had, but the influence his father had on him.
“From the time I was 3 years old, I knew what a big-league clubhouse was supposed to look and feel like,” D’Angelo wrote. “I had the coolest childhood a young baseball fan could ask for, and that doesn’t happen without you being you.”
D’Angelo was born three months before Ortiz helped the Red Sox win their first World Series in 86 years..
He was part of his father’s Hall of Fame journey, tagging along for the ride and getting the chance to meet many of Ortiz’s teammates and peers in baseball until Ortiz retired in 2016.
Although the Red Sox had stars come in and out of their clubhouse, D’Angelo noticed his father was always the main piece of the puzzle.
“Superstars cycled in around you during your time with the Red Sox,” he said. “Even though they were great players … you were the guy the Red Sox chose to build around. That’s when I realized you brought something more than just a clutch bat. You had a role beyond the field.”
D’Angelo said he appreciates the accolades Ortiz has garnered — the three World Series rings, the seven Silver Slugger Awards, and the 10 All-Star nods — but it’s what happened off the field that he noticed most.
“Your ability to withstand the change and be a leader is something I take pride in,” D’Angelo wrote.
Ortiz has been able to help his son continue to grow within the sport of baseball. D’Angelo is playing for the Brockton Rox this summer, alongside the children of former MLB players Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez, Keith Foulke, and Gary Sheffield.
While having the opportunity to play is important to D’Angelo, he thinks the biggest thing he learned from his father wasn’t about baseball, but about life.
“You have always been the same guy no matter where we are or what the situation is,” he wrote. “Throughout my life I’ve seen you carry yourself the same way, through good times and bad, and I think that — above all else — is the greatest lesson you’ve ever taught me, on or off the field.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 23, 2022 9:05:12 GMT -5
Pete Abraham
@peteabe
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1h
Dustin Pedroia, Johnny Damon and Mike Lowell are in Cooperstown for David Ortiz’s induction.
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