The Boston Red Sox announced Sunday that they will retire David Ortiz‘s No. 34, according to Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal.
The honors for Ortiz won’t end there, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweeted:
Ortiz, 40, has had a legendary career. He’s a three-time World Series champion with the Red Sox, a 10-time All-Star and was the 2013 World Series MVP. In his 14 years with the Red Sox, he’s hit .290 with 483 home runs, 1,530 RBI and 1,204 runs.
Ortiz has hit 541 home runs in his 20-year career, which is the 17th-most in MLB history.
He’ll always be remembered for his performance in the 2004 American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees. With the Yankees leading the series 3-0, Ortiz hit a walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the 12th inning of Game 4. In Game 5 the next night, he hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 14th.
The Red Sox won Games 6 and 7 in New York and then swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series to end their 86-year title drought.
Ortiz’s impact went beyond his play on the field, though. After the Boston Marathon bombing and ensuing manhunt in 2013, Ortiz took to the microphone in Fenway Park and told the crowd, “This is our f–kin’ city. And nobody’s gonna dictate our freedom.”
He was clutch, entertaining, charitable and, ultimately, iconic. There have been better players to don the Red Sox uniform, but few have had the impact of Ortiz.
You can follow Timothy Rapp on Twitter.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com