David Ortiz Retires

Andrew Bulieris
Sports Editor

​           On October 3rd Red Sox great, David Ortiz graced the baseball field for the last time ever in his historic twenty-year career. The Red Sox were eliminated after being swept by the Cleveland Indians in the AL divisional round. Nobody seemed to care in that moment that the Sox had just been eliminated; all eyes were on Big Papi and how he would never put that Red and grey uniform on ever again.  It was such an emotional day that even Ortiz couldn’t hold in his emotions, knowing this would be his final goodbye to all Red Sox fans. 

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​           David Ortiz debuted his MLB career in 1997 with the Minnesota Twins going up and down between the Majors and Triple A affiliates. Ortiz then proceeded to sign with the Red Sox in 2003; after the Minnesota Twins were unable to trade him, his career took off from there. He would go on to be one of the greatest and most remembered players for the Red Sox in all of their team’s history. He was not only a great leader on the team but also in his community. Ortiz owns his own charity called David Ortiz Children's Fund to support a range of his favorite causes, helping children from Boston to the Dominican Republic and beyond. In 2013 when Boston was struck with the horrific Boston Marathon Bombings, David Ortiz gave one of the most memorable speeches to the Boston crowd in their first game at Fenway Park since the incident, saying “This is our city, and no one will dictate our freedom.” This is a speech that will be remembered for giving the fans of the Red Sox and the people of Boston the hope they needed.
            Big Papi was mainly known for his superb play on the baseball field. In the 2004 ALCS, Ortiz hit two walk-offs against team rival New York Yankees in games 4 and 5. This would eventually go on to define a series that the Yankees lost and the Red Sox heroically won by coming back from a 0-3 deficit and winning 4 games in a row. The Red Sox to this day is still the only team in the entire MLB to come back from that margin. The Sox would eventually go on to win the World Series that season, mainly because of Ortiz. Throughout his entire career he won three Championships with the Red Sox in 2004, 2007, and 2013. He owns the Red Sox single season Home-Run record with 54 homers in 2006. Ortiz is a 10x All Star, 3x World Series Champ, 2013 World Series MVP, 2004 ALCS MVP, 6x Silver Slugger, and a 3x AL RBI leader. Ortiz will be remembered for the person, player, and leader he was not only on the Red Sox but in the entire Boston community for fourteen years.