I found out on Tuesday it
was being reported that David Ortiz will retire following the 2016 MLB season
and it saddens me. First, let me say that I am not a Red Sox fan. Never have
been. The dislike has been carried since 1986 when Boston eliminated the
Toronto Blue Jays on the penultimate weekend of the season to capture the
American League East title. And nearly thirty years later, I still get a tingle down
my spine and a smile across my face every time I see a replay of Mookie’s
ground ball going through Buckner’s legs.
However, that aside, while the
Red Sox will never be one of my favourite teams, David Ortiz will always be one
of my favourite players. The intimidating stare, the intimidating batting
stance and the intimidating swing as he drives one high and far and into the
second deck—a shot that was blasted so hard that he can almost stop before his
swing is ended and watch the majestic height of the ball before breaking into
that slow home run trot—is something that I have always appreciated.
He was signed out of high school
by the Seattle Mariners in 1992 and played for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, a
Class “A” affiliate of the M’s, until 1996 when he was traded to the Minnesota
Twins. After making his MLB debut with the Twins in September of 1997, Ortiz
never impressed while playing in Minnesota, often battling injuries during his
tenure there. Over parts of six season, he played in 455 games, hitting .266
with 58 homers and 238 RBIS.
A trade was what the Twins
sought but after finding no takers, he was unceremoniously released following
the 2002 season. In January of 2003, he was signed by the Red Sox and it would
prove to be the best thing that happened to both parties. In fact, I think it’s
safe to say that Ortiz would not have had success without the Red Sox, and the
Red Sox would not have had success without Ortiz.
After riding the bench for the
first two months of the 2003 season, Ortiz was inserted into the starting line
up as the designated hitter at the beginning of June, and has been there ever
since. In his thirteen seasons with Boston, he has been an All-Star nine times,
led the American League in home runs in 2006 with 54, lead the AL in RBIS in
2005 and 2006, finished in the top five in Most Valuable Player voting five
times, compiled a .288 average, smashed 455 home runs (for a total of 503),
added 1403 RBIs (totaling 1641) and even stole 11 bases. (I know, not many but
pretty good for a guy weighing 230 pounds.)
But most importantly, he has
led the Red Sox to the World Series Championship three times (2004, 2007 and
2013) and was named the MVP of the 2013 World Series. During that Series, he
also proved that despite his primarily being a DH, he was no slouch with the
glove either as he played three games at first base against the Cardinals and
held his own.
His dramatic walk-off home run
in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series against the Yankees in
2004, helped paved the way for the biggest comeback in baseball history as the
Red Sox, down three games to none at the time, came back to win the series in
seven games. (He was named the MVP of the 2004 ALCS.)
But despite all his on-field
accomplishments, it was his professional character off the field that won my
favour. From 2002 until 2014, I worked at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Toronto, the
last ten years of which as a front desk agent. The Park Hyatt was the home of
the Red Sox whenever they were in Toronto to play the Blue Jays. I got the
chance to meet and deal with Ortiz on a regular basis (by that I mean usually
three times a year.)
While working at a four-diamond
property—and especially at the front desk—you get to deal with your fair share
of jerks. Ortiz does NOT fall into that category. He was always polite, greeted
you with a “How’s it going?” or “How you doing?” and was never rude, arrogant
or demanding. As far as I know, he looked after the bellman (which is something
his former teammate and fellow countryman Manny Ramirez did not do—but that story
for another time) and was generally just a class act. With that type of
attitude—and I also saw it from other Red Sox like Dustin Pedroia, Mike Lowell
and Jason Varitek—it was hard to cheer against Boston.
And I have to admit that my
dislike for the Red Sox has diminished over the years due to the class of
players like David Ortiz.
I once wrote that Ortiz was one of the players I expected to hit a home
run every time he came to the plate and that won’t change in 2016. It will be
hard to watch a Red Sox game starting in 2017 and have him not in the lineup.
But I won’t think about that just yet. I will just make sure I enjoy watching
him play one more season, and make sure I get back to Toronto at least once
next year to see him play in person one more time.
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