Kuzul

As David Ortiz begins the last season of his illustrious career, the Boston Red Sox made sure his final home opener was a day to remember.

Little did Big Papi know, the pregame festivities would be a special moment not just for him but his whole family.

The Red Sox surprised their star slugger by having his 15-year-old daughter, Alex, sing the national anthem before the game, leaving the 40-year-old father fighting back his emotions.

Just an incredible surprise.

While that father-daughter moment alone would have made for a special afternoon, there was more in store for Ortiz.

The designated hitter had the opportunity to throw out the ceremonial first pitch with fellow Boston legends Bill Russell (Celtics), Bobby Orr (Bruins) and Ty Law (Patriots). Even Pedro Martinez and a few of Ortiz’s other Red Sox teammates made an appearance.

And as he has been known to do, Big Papi delivered in the first inning.

[MLB.com]

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FORT MYERS, Fla. — David Price will be the third Opening Day starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in the past three seasons Tuesday in Cleveland.

Boston hopes Price will be the man for that job for the next seven years, and his biggest fan on the 2016 team may be one of his biggest former enemies, David Ortiz.

It turns out Ortiz also gave his blessing when the Red Sox asked him about pursuing the dominant lefty as a free agent. But the two new teammates once enjoyed a public and mutual professional scorn.

Their open acrimony surfaced during the 2013 American League Division Series. It intensified in May 2014, when Price plunked the Red Sox DH during their first matchup of the season.

Ortiz referred to their hostilities as “war” and called Price “a little b—h.” Price objected and said Ortiz “looks like he’s bigger than the game of baseball.”

That was then.

This is now.

Millions witnessed images of their bromantic clubhouse hug on Feb. 22, posted by the Red Sox on social media.

“With the hug, there was media everywhere. I mean, he wasn’t going to punch me or act mad,” said Price, who admitted he had been nervous about meeting Ortiz as a teammate.

But few outside of Price and Ortiz saw what truly made him feel like he was a friend and teammate of Ortiz, and by extension, a bona fide member of the Red Sox.

It was an unexpected but welcome text message.

“The biggest thing, and this is the first time I’ve said it, was probably a week or two after that hug. We had a day game. I’m home. It’s probably nine o’clock at night. David just sends me a text,” Price told Bleacher Report in an exclusive clubhouse interview.

“He’s asking me: ‘How are things going? Is there anything [I] can do to make it better?’ He wanted to know if there was anything he could do to make this process go more smoothly. That text he sent me that night, while he’s at home with the family. To do that, it was special.”

For Ortiz, the text message was a natural extension of him being the team’s in-house leader and a star in the final year of his career with dreams of one more World Series.

“There’s no way you can win by yourself. I can’t pitch. I have no clue about pitching,” Ortiz acknowledged with a laugh. “David is our ace. I want him to do well. I want him to feel comfortable.”

“I know how everything works around here. I wanted to make sure everything was going well with him at the time. And if there’s anything he would like to know, when it comes down to putting up with the media and the stuff around here, I wanted him to feel open to call me and ask me any type of questions. I’m wide open for it. I want him to be peaceful.”

As Big Papi knows all too well, finding that peace in a city like Boston is a different story.

“He’s a quiet guy. He’s not a guy who likes the attention much. Playing here, there’s no way you can stay away from it. So I wanted him to know that if he ever had any questions or problems, he could hit me up.”

Ortiz hasn’t been simply reacting to Price’s arrival with hugs and text messages during spring training; he was helping to facilitate his acquisition in the offseason.

“When you add someone like David to your starting rotation, you’re going to add a lot of W’s. The [Red Sox] organization let me know they were chasing him,” Ortiz said.

“They asked me, and I was like, ‘Oh yeah, oh yeah, we need him.’ You saw how bad we struggled with pitching last year. And you know that making a move to sign a guy like Price is not an easy move to make. There’s a lot of money involved. Once something like that happens, you already know that you’re going to have an ace.”

Ortiz reassured what was once a “war” in 2014 is now nothing more than a one-off moment of the past.

“That incident happened between me and David one time. But I did my homework. I asked around about David. Everybody loves him. We got to know each other. He’s a super nice guy. You see everything he does. You look at his Twitter account. There’s no way you can have any issues with that guy.”

With Ortiz’s support both in the clubhouse and at the plate, all the 6’5″ Price must do now is justify his $217 million contract—the largest ever given to a pitcher.

Price was MLB‘s premier free-agent pitcher this offseason, going 18-5 with an AL-best 2.45 ERA in 220.1 innings for Detroit and Toronto in 2015. In December, he signed with Boston through 2022, though the deal includes an opt-out clause after the 2018 season.

The citizenry of Red Sox Nation watched the so-called “five aces” of Boston’s 2015 rotation transform into a house of cards last summer. Boston’s mudslide in the standings was triggered in large part by a mysterious elbow injury to Clay Buchholz that ended his season on July 10.

No one on the Red Sox payroll questions Price’s role as the team’s “ace” this season.

“Everything has been as advertised,” manager John Farrell said of Price. “He’s shown his leadership qualities and personality in the clubhouse. [At times this spring], his command was almost midseason form, as well as he was following the glove around the strike zone.”

“His willingness to take some young left-handed starters under his wing—Eduardo Rodriguez and Henry Owens particularly—to impart some of his experiences on them. David Price has been everything we have hoped for to date. David has been a very good presence in our clubhouse and a very good teammate.”

Dave Dombrowski, Boston’s president of baseball operations, acquired Price when he was the general manager in Detroit. Dombrowski knew the opportunity to bring him to Boston could not be missed, despite the historic price tag.

“He brings to your rotation and your club a big presence as the No. 1 guy. And he is legitimately that. No. 1 starters are not easy to find. He also brings the intangible aspects. The worth ethic. The leadership. He’s really the whole package. To have someone like that in the organization is a real plus.”

Price is also aware of any bullpen’s limitations, even with Boston’s addition of closer Craig Kimbrel and setup man Carson Smith (currently on the disabled list).

“I expect to go nine and get 27 outs every time I step on that mound,” he said. “I take a lot of pride to give those relievers that day off. I’d rather go eight and give up one run, than go six and give up none.”

One of Price’s former proteges, Toronto pitcher Marcus Stroman, said he’s “given about 30 million interviews” on Price this spring. But he is still quick to laud Price as both a huge role model and mentor.

“I try to take down how he went about his business on and off the field, and how he treated everyone. He’s a true leader. A true ace. I was just lucky to play with him as long as I did. He’s a friend that I’ll have forever.”

And Price is still dispensing advice to one-time Rays teammate Chris Archer.

Boston has seen many of its recent splurges in free agency backfire. Look no further than $90 million signing and current bench player Pablo Sandoval.

But Price is far more prepared for the best and worst of what Boston can offer, according to Dombrowski.

“If you’re going to invest those type of dollars, you want that player to bring everything to the table. I had the pleasure and fortune of being with him in Detroit. I thought he’d be able to handle the Boston spotlight. He can handle it. And he has no difficulty with the communications and intellectual aspect of it.”

So what is the difference between the David Price who closed out Game 7 of the 2008 ALCS against the Red Sox and the David Price now carrying the hopes of a beleaguered Boston fanbase?

After all, it’s been 14 whole months since the city’s last duck boat parade.

“I had two pitches then, a straight fastball and a slider. I didn’t have the fastball command that I needed. My velocity allowed me to get away with a few more mistakes. I threw a good amount of sliders that night. That was my best pitch coming out of college,” Price said.

“I probably threw two changeups in college [Vanderbilt], and maybe five before I got to the big leagues. I realized very quickly that it doesn’t matter how hard you throw at this level. You have to be able to locate and change speeds. I take pride in being able to make adjustments on the fly.”

Price began developing a changeup in 2009, and he picked up the one he uses today back in 2011 courtesy of then-teammate James Shields.

“It’s a feel pitch, but you have to have trust in it,” Price said. “You’ve got to throw it. You’ve got to take it to the game. I don’t care how good it is in the bullpen; you’re not going to have confidence in that pitch unless you go and throw it in a game.

“Where you get that first swing and miss, or that first ball off the end of the bat for a ground ball, that’s going to give you confidence to throw that first pitch in a big situation.”

Ortiz carries a .250 average with nine strikeouts and just two of his 503 career home runs in 54 plate appearances against Price. He cites Price’s “experience” as the biggest factor in his evolution as a pitcher.

“Here’s a guy with the same stuff. More experience. That’s dangerous,” Ortiz said. “Before, he would try to overpower [you]. Now, he uses his power when he wants. He can throw the ball wherever he wants.”

“You don’t need nothing else. You can be powerful and have three different pitches, but if you don’t throw the ball where you want it, that gets you in trouble. Now, he’s got both power and super-extraordinary control.”

Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia is fifth among active players with 58 at-bats (.276/.358/.431) against Price. None of those 58 were ever easy.

“Whenever you face him, you’ve got your hands full. He’s the kind of guy who will take the ball in a big game. He’s going to be extremely important to us.”

Price has pitched for three AL East champions and is 49-21 against division foes with a 3.15 ERA. He’s been even more effective in Fenway Park, going 6-1 with a 1.95 ERA in 11 career regular-season starts.

This familiarity with division and league opponents breeds both contempt and, eventually, respect. Big Papi may be the well-known feud, but this isn’t the first time Price has turned an enemy into a friend.

“I couldn’t stand Ian Kinsler. I told him that,” Price said. “Then I got to play with him [in Detroit]. Now, Ian’s in my top five of guys I’ve played with and enjoyed being around. Ian’s a really good dude.”

Ortiz has experienced the same change of heart many times before.

“When you haven’t played with someone, in between those two lines, they don’t have to look nice for me. They’re trying to get their job done. A lot of players judge other players on what they see without knowing the guy,” he said.

“I don’t like him for his body language, or whatever he does out there, but once I was in the room with him all the time, and I got to know the guy. I see the intensity in the guy. How he goes about his business. And then, boom, then you get to know the guy.”

Price also knows Boston and his contract will inevitably send a social media barrage his way, but he has scaled back on his interaction of late.

“One third of it’s going to be positive. One third of it will be negative and one third will be about fantasy baseball,” he said. “I don’t read a whole lot of tweets. I’ve gotten a lot more lately and a lot of the decisions I’ve made lately have gotten some people mad. But that’s part of it.”

Jared Carrabis, a Red Sox fan-turned-blogger for the past 10 years, was once an ardent “Twitter troll” of Price. Later, his digital courtship of Price earned Carrabis an infamous “bunk beds” mention during Price’s introductory press conference in Boston.

Carrabis’ reaction to Price coming to Boston was typical among diehard Red Sox fans.

“It felt like a concussion grenade went off when I saw the tweet. I remember my brain actually going numb and hearing that ringing sound in my ears that you get after leaving a concert. I think that was what it feels like to literally have your mind blown,” Carrabis said.

Price hopes to continue converting past haters by winning a World Series in Boston, or seven. He is resolute about ending his “winless as a starter in the postseason” drought this October. His regular season was delayed for a day by bad weather as Monday’s scheduled opener was postponed. 

“I know good things are going to come to me in October baseball. It just hasn’t happened…yet. I’ve thrown the ball well in some games. You’ve got to have some of those hard-hit balls at people. The balls you execute, and there’s weak contact, you’ve got to have that play made and not for that ball to fall into no-man’s land, or to be hit in just the right spot.”

“My time is coming. Is it frustrating? Absolutely. Winning in the playoffs is something I want to do. It’s something I’m capable of doing. Hopefully, this year, we can get going and start a streak on the right side.”

And Ortiz and the rest of Price’s new Red Sox teammates will be there to watch his back.

All quotes were obtained firsthand by Bleacher Report unless otherwise specified.

Bill Speros is an award-winning journalist who first covered the Red Sox in 1987. He Tweets at @RealOBF and @BillSperos.

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FORT MYERS, Fla. — Once more around the block with David Ortiz, then the retirement papers take effect after the 2016 season and it’s off to Legendville. What a ride it’s been, fabulous and funny, dramatic and dynamic.

The Minnesota Twins acquired him in September 1996, literally as a player to be named later for third baseman Dave Hollins.

Two secrets, from a guy who was covering the Twins as a beat man in those days for the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press:

One, David Ortiz cries real tears. One of my most vivid memories, still, is March 29, 1999, when he was one of the last players cut by the Twins during spring training that year. Long before he became Big Papi, a disappointed and angry Ortiz disappeared into a back room of the spring clubhouse, alone, sobbing.

Two, David Ortiz has never changed. The jovial, outsized personality he is today, he was back then. Only difference is, though sometimes it seems the opposite, you don’t become a legend overnight…

A Player to be Named Later

David Hollins, Phillies scout, former first/third baseman 1990-2002: My kids and people back home bring it up. They think it’s funny that I was the guy traded for him. I’m amused by it.

A.J. Pierzynski, Braves catcher, Twins teammate 1998-2002: I played against him when he was with the Mariners in the [Class A] Midwest League. He was David Arias. I remember we traded for him and we got David Arias, but when he showed up in the spring he was David Ortiz. I was like, “Wait a minute! Did we trade for the wrong guy?”

David Ortiz, Red Sox DH: That is my mother’s last name, but thing is, they got it wrong from the get-go. And then I gotta fix it because they normally call you by your dad’s last name, but I’m David America Ortiz Arias. There was nothing wrong, but they started calling me David Arias instead of David Ortiz.

LaTroy Hawkins, former pitcher, Twins teammate 1997-2002: He got traded from Seattle and when he got [to Minnesota], we all went out to dinner. I guess he wanted to order a drink and the lady asked for an ID and he pulled out, like, five different IDs. It was like, “Dude, what are you trying to do?” He was like, “Don’t worry about it. Don’t worry about it.”

Jacque Jones, Nationals assistant hitting coach, Twins teammate 1999-2002: His English wasn’t very good, so some things he said were more funny than he meant them to be. I remember one night he fouled a ball off of his foot in the batter’s box. He’s jumping around, falls down and the trainer comes out. “Dude, what’s wrong? You OK?” And he says, “I fouled a ball off of my f–king finger!” And the trainer goes, “Finger?” And he says, “Yeah, yeah, my finger right here. My big finger.” The trainer says, “That’s your toe!” He comes back to the dugout, and everyone is cracking up. It was hilarious.

David Ortiz: I was a couple years in the country. For all of us coming from a different place, it’s a learning process. I remember when that happened I was just hurting. I didn’t know what to say. I was in pain. I used to let the ball get too deep [at the plate] and foul balls off of my feet all the time, off my toes. And at same time, I was learning how to speak the language. It was crazy, but it was funny.

A.J. Pierzynski: In A-ball, we used to take grounders at first base every day. We’d bet a Coke on who missed the most grounders. He would get so mad when he had to get me a Coke out of the fridge.

David Ortiz: [Laughing] That’s a lie. Once in a while, he would win. But he knows I’ve got the hands. It was fun. We have a great time.

After being cut that spring, once the tears dried, Ortiz spent almost all of 1999 at Triple-A Salt Lake. He wasn’t called back to the majors until that September…

Jacque Jones: I just remember him not being happy about it, him pressing and getting off to a slow start. He righted the ship and eventually went back up there. In 2000 he had a decent year [.282, 10 homers, 63 RBI] and then hit some homers the next couple of years [38 in ’01-’02 combined for the Twins], and then it was either sign him back for a couple of million, I guess it was at the time, or sign Doug Mientkiewicz and Matt LeCroy, and that’s what they did. Then he went to Boston, didn’t start off too hot and almost got released there. Seems like he’s been hot ever since.

David Ortiz: I knew I belonged in the big leagues. But you know how the Twins used to be. I think the way they used to make decisions was wrong, but you can’t complain to Tom Kelly about anything because he was the one who ran the show. It was a take-it-or-leave-it situation. I just went down to Triple-A and did what I was supposed to do.

Tom Kelly, Twins manager 1986-2001: He was green. Obviously, you knew he had power, that’s an understatement. But the biggest problem for David, the first few years here he got hurt. A hamate bone. A knee. He was having trouble getting some consistency going.

He used to get mad because I used to holler at him, “Left field!” It was always pull, pull, pull with him. And eventually, he figured all that out. But the day in Kansas City when he broke the hamate, he hit a home run as good as you can hit it. You go, “Oh my God.” Then he comes back and he was shaking his hand. He took his next at-bat and hit another home run. It was just monstrous. And then he was shaking his hand again, and the next at-bat he couldn’t swing. He was out for however long it was and started over again. He was just starting to get it, and then he got derailed again. 

Ortiz was part of a close group of core prospects in those years with the Twins, guys such as LaTroy Hawkins, Eddie Guardado, Corey Koskie, Doug Mientkiewicz, Matt Lawton and others who came of age together. They remain close today…

Eddie Guardado, former closer, Twins teammate 1997-2002: Me and Hawk [LaTroy Hawkins] were by our lockers in the Metrodome. You know how David has two left feet, right? He comes up one day and says, “You got any extra shoes I can wear? Mine are all messed up.” Spikes. I said, “I got a [protective] pitching toe on my spikes. What size are you, anyway?” And he says, “What size are you?” I go, “I’m a 10 ½ right now.” He goes, “Damn—I wear from nine to 11.” No wonder why he’s got two left knees! He wore any size.

Torii Hunter, former outfielder, Twins teammate 1997-2002: One of the funniest things was when Corey Koskie put peanut butter in his underwear during a game in spring training. David was messing with him all day, so Corey put peanut butter in his tighty-whities. David took a shower after the game, put his clothes on and he never knew there was peanut butter in there. There was ice in the pockets to distract him. He took five steps to the door and realized something’s not right. He turned around and started screaming. The whole team started laughing. I was in tears. David had to take it all off and take a shower again. He took it like a champ.

David Ortiz: [Laughing] Oh my God, I couldn’t believe they brought that in. Man, they used to do everything. We used to do a lot of crazy things. Corey Koskie. It was fun, man. We were kids.

The card games on the team bus and charters remain legendary…

Eddie Guardado: He was a cheater, dude. A cheater! You’re talking about big money in there. And we’re not making big money. So that was important. We watched him with the cards playing poker. David Ortiz always had his hand a certain way on the cards, and we used to watch him. I remember this clearly. One day I [wasn’t] even worried about what I was doing. He needed another card, the pot’s 300-some dollars or whatever it might have been. I’m watching, he says, “I need this card, I need this card.” He gets a queen from the bottom of the deck. I’m like, “Really?” We all called him out. We said, “You’re cheating, dude!” And he’s like, “Aw, you got me!”

LaTroy Hawkins: All those guys said they took a pay cut when he went to Boston.

Eddie Guardado: Absolutely. That put a dent in my pocket.

David Ortiz: [Still laughing] Well, I was a really bad card player, so that’s why I don’t play cards anymore. I quit playing cards, I would say, since I first got to Boston. Because I’m terrible. I’m not good at it. They were right about that.

Besides, his future was in long balls, not poker…

Tom Kelly: He kept working at first base, trying to be a total complete player. I always felt he was OK for a day or two over there. I don’t know if you wanted to live with it on a consistent basis. But he could go over there and pick you up for a day if you got stuck. We just couldn’t get that consistency from him. We had a hard time putting it together for a period of time.

David Ortiz: The way they did me over there I never understood what was going on. It seemed like they didn’t know what to do with me. In 2002, when they let me go, I hit 20 homers and had 75 RBI and I barely played. I got [412] at-bats. So they made the poor decision of releasing me. They didn’t even trade me. They didn’t even let me be a free agent after the season.

Terry Ryan, Twins general manager 1994-2007, 2011-present: I made a mistake. I certainly regret that we haven’t benefited from all that he can bring to a ballclub and to an organization, and I admire his career. I respect a lot of the things that he’s done with his wife and his family, the charities. It’ll be interesting to see as he goes through the schedule here how everyone responds to him because he’s one of the most popular guys, not only fan-wise but I think player-wise. He’s a lot like Kirby Puckett in that wherever he goes, people want to introduce themselves and talk.

Squeezed by roster and financial decisions, the Twins released Ortiz on Dec. 16, 2002. He was on the market for more than a month until the Red Sox signed him on Jan. 22, 2003…

David Ortiz: I got lucky that I bumped into Pedro Martinez in a restaurant in the Dominican Republic. We talked, he asked me how things were going and I said, “I just got released by Minnesota a couple of days ago.” And he was like, “What? They must be out of their mind. You’re the best hitter they’ve got. I’m going to call the Red Sox right now.” He called the Red Sox, and two days later the Red Sox hired me. The rest is history.

Theo Epstein, Cubs general manager; Red Sox GM 2002-11: I had been talking to Terry Ryan about the possibility of trading for him earlier in that offseason. They asked for a pretty good prospect, and it started to have the feel that maybe if he couldn’t trade him that David was going to end up on release waivers rather than getting tendered a contract. So I wasn’t surprised to see him on waivers.

We were just lucky, because that offseason one main focus for us was to add a couple of bats at the corner spots. We didn’t have any money to spend. We wanted to buy low on a number of players and let them fight it out. Through volume, we thought we’d get some quality players and add depth to the lineup. So we traded for Jeremy Giambi. We claimed Kevin Millar off of release waivers and signed him to a two-year deal to keep him from going to Japan. We signed Bill Mueller to a two-year contract coming off the broken knee. And David, I was talking to his agent all offseason.

We went through a complicated process to sign him. It involved Dave Jauss [currently on the Pittsburgh Pirates coaching staff], who was managing the Licey team in the Dominican and worked for us. We had Dave put him through a workout at first base when David was the best player on the legendary Escogido team. Those are the two big rivals down there. It would be the equivalent of Joe Girardi working out Dustin Pedroia or something.

And then Pedro Martinez called and lobbied for David and his character in the clubhouse. We finally were able to get something done in January, maybe a million and a quarter.

By no stretch of the imagination did we think we were getting Big Papi. We signed David Ortiz and we ended up getting Big Papi.

The Rise of Big Papi

David Ortiz: I think it was Jerry Remy [Red Sox TV analyst] who first called me “Big Papi” because I used to call everybody Papi because I’m bad at remembering people’s names.

Bronson Arroyo, Nationals pitcher, Red Sox teammate 2003-05: What I love about David is sometimes what you see with guys in the media and what you see personally is the opposite. David is a big teddy bear and always has been. That big laugh. He came to the park every day, he didn’t judge. Watching him turn into Big Papi was pretty amazing.

Doug Mientkiewicz, former first baseman 1998-2009; Twins teammate 1998-2002, Red Sox teammate ’04: His first year in Boston, he’s playing a spring training game [at the Twins complex]. We knew he was on the trip, we ran over during the game and stole his clothes and put a small convict suit in his locker, all orange. He came in our clubhouse wearing it, still wet from the shower, and gave that face: “Come on, man.” When he came in with the jumpsuit on, bright orange Fort Myers prison outfit, that was just priceless. He came over in shower shoes and wearing that because he knew we had his clothes. We cried laughing.

Theo Epstein: He got off to a slow start because we were mixing the rotation of the guys and he wasn’t playing every day through April and May. Giambi was playing a lot, Millar was playing, Bill Mueller was playing. At the end of April, David sent his agent to meet with me, saying he loves it here, he appreciates the opportunity, but he feels like he needs to play every day, so can you please trade him? I’ll never forget, it was in the players’ parking lot in Fenway Park. I told the agent, “Hey, we’re working on a trade that should free up playing time for David.” And we ended up trading Shea Hillenbrand to the Diamondbacks for Byung-Hyun Kim. That opened up a lot of DH at-bats for David.

The Sox traded Hillenbrand to Arizona on May 29, 2003. To that point in the season, Ortiz had two home runs…

Theo Epstein: The players in the clubhouse were calling him Juan Pierre [using the slap-hitting former Marlin to tease Ortiz and his paucity of power to that point]. That was his nickname. And then he hit [21 home runs] in the second half of the season and went into the postseason, and he was Big Papi from then on.

Tom Kelly: I think when he finally got to Boston and didn’t get signed until the spring, I think he probably realized that maybe I’ve got to do something or I’m going to be out of the game. Who knows? But he started hitting that Monster over there, started whacking it over that fence and off of that wall, boom, boom, and his whole game turned.

David Ortiz: My first year I was hitting behind Manny Ramirez. They were having a hard time finding someone to hit behind Manny, and I came in and hit really well. And then we almost go to the World Series, and the following year we won the World Series. [That] was when people really got to know me.

That 2004 World Series run, of course, one of the most dramatic in baseball history, was fueled by Boston’s stunning comeback in the ALCS. Down 3-0 to the New York Yankees, following Dave Roberts’ iconic stolen base in the ninth inning, Boston won Game 4 on Ortiz’s two-run, walk-off homer in the 12th inning. Then, in Game 5 in Boston, Ortiz battled Yankees reliever Esteban Loaiza in a 10-pitch at-bat that ended with another Big Papi walk-off hit, a single in the 14th inning…

Tim Wakefield, former pitcher, 1992-2011; Red Sox teammate 2003-11: That’s when David Ortiz became Big Papi. The amount of clutch hits he got in the ’04 postseason was incredible. We were all in survival mode. It was like you could feel the momentum switch to our favor. We were getting killed.

Doug Mientkiewicz: Craziness. He made Manny look mortal. Everything we needed to get done, he did. Seemed like every time we needed a big hit, he was up. Not taking anything away from Manny because he’s one of the best right-handed hitters ever to play. But he’s hitting singles and David’s hitting homers and doubles. I was on deck during the Loaiza at-bat, watching him foul balls off and foul balls off and finally fight one off to center. You kept thinking, “We can’t keep leaving it up to him. He can’t keep doing it every night.” And he did.

Larry Bowa, Phillies coach; Yankees coach 2006-07: I compare him to a Derek Jeter. Jeter wasn’t a home run hitter, but they weren’t afraid of the moment. They could have failed on Monday with the bases loaded, and on Tuesday they wanted to be up with the bases loaded.

Theo Epstein: What he did in the Yankees series was as transformative a performance as I think you can have in baseball over a couple of days. No one in baseball wins a game single-handedly—maybe a dominant starting pitcher on a single day—but we were so down and out and he was so feared in that lineup, yet they still couldn’t avoid him enough. We were so desperate for another breath. We just wanted to keep surviving, and it was David who kept delivering to give us that extra breath. It almost felt like we rode to New York single-handedly on his shoulders when we went back there for Game 6.

He was drained emotionally because he was carrying us so much. He’s very serious about hitting and about baseball. He takes things to heart, and that kind of responsibility of being the guy looked to come through for the big hit as a player relatively new in the spotlight, it took a toll on him. I remember he was drained by the time we got to New York, but he kept delivering time and time again, seemingly beyond belief.

Jonathan Papelbon, Nationals pitcher; Red Sox teammate, 2005-11: You hear all the stories about how clutch he was, you saw how clutch he was, and then I walk in and see him and my first reaction was, “Man, this dude don’t know how to dress. This dude is wearing fake jewelry.” I couldn’t believe it. So over the years, as I got to know him a little bit more, I helped him out with his style. I showed him how to be a little more of a baller. When you’re a baller on the field, you’ve gotta dress like a baller off the field. I’ll take credit for that.   

David Ortiz: [Laughing uproariously] That’s a lie. What a lying bastard. Hey, tell that clown that I was here way before him. That guy is like a brother to me. That’s my boy. But he’s always dropping jokes like that. I’ve always been clean.

Jonathan Papelbon: There wasn’t a dinner we went out to, there wasn’t a night when me and Ashley [Papelbon’s wife] and him and Tiffany [Ortiz’s wife] went out that he didn’t take care of dinner. He was someone who always took care of the younger guys. And it didn’t matter if it was a young guy trying to take his job. He always took care of the underdog. Through all of his charity work, through all of the things he’s done, he’s always taken care of the underdog.

In 2007, the Red Sox won again, sweeping the Colorado Rockies in the World Series as Papelbon’s Riverdance became the thing to do in Boston…

Jonathan Papelbon: I tried to teach him that Riverdance, but David don’t dance. He boogies, know what I mean? I tried to teach him a few things when I was there.

David Ortiz: Well, you don’t have to move much [when you boogie]. You don’t have to go crazy with your feet. You just move your hips.

Perhaps the only blemish on Ortiz’s career came in 2009, when a report leaked that he had failed a test for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003, the year before new PED rules went into effect in the game. He called a press conference in New York and aggressively defended himself…

David Ortiz: I always looked at it as a setup, because you can just point fingers at someone without any proof. Here I am playing baseball and doing my thing and, what, 11, 12 years later negative comments come out. I’ve never gotten into trouble for anything.

You’re not going to make everyone happy. That’s basically the way I look at life in general. If you want to put attention to that, it’s up to you. If you want to put attention to things I have done in my career, especially in the steroid era when we all are getting drug-tested…there’s not one player who has had more drug tests than myself. And I’ve never failed one [since current rules were put in place in 2004]. … Everything today is based on how much money I can make. And yes, whoever [leaked] that, they probably got their piece of cake. But I’m proving you wrong. Bro, if you look at the real picture, what I have done in my career, looking at that issue where there was no reality involved with it, it’s up to you whether you want to believe that.

Terry Francona, Red Sox manager, 2004-11: I remember talking to him. I said, “Hey, tell me about this.” He walked me through it. I remember when he went to do the press conference in New York, I stood behind him. Because even though he speaks good English, it’s his second language, and that’s not an easy thing to do. I was proud of the way he stood up there. Things that are done behind closed doors, there’s a reason the doors are closed, but I have a lot of faith in David, and that’s never wavered. I had some questions for him and he answered them. Just things I wanted to ask him, and my faith in him never wavered.

From All-Star to Legend

In the Red Sox’s first game at Fenway Park after the Boston Marathon bombing (played Saturday, April 20, 2013), Ortiz gave an emotional speech to a sold-out crowd, punctuating his remarks by saying, “This is our f–king city.”

Clay Buchholz, Red Sox starter 2007-present: The best part about it was, it was on live television and for him to say a curse word like he said and to still feel as heartfelt as anything that has ever been said, it was pretty inspiring knowing that everybody understood what he was talking about and that’s the way he responded to it and that’s how he could express what he felt and how strongly he feels about the city of Boston. It gives me chills, still, thinking about it now.

(Warning: video contains profanity.)

David Ortiz: I was angry, and when you’re angry, anything can come out. When I was talking like that, I was speaking just like any other citizen. I guarantee you everybody on that field felt the same way. Because there’s no way, there’s no way when people are trying to help people you come in and boom, damage that. I was so angry. I didn’t plan on saying what I said. It just came out because that’s how I feel. They told me a couple of minutes before, we want you to go say something to the fans so they can feel supported. I was in Boston the whole time when that was happening. And I was angry. And the bad word comes out, and I still didn’t get any fine or suspension because that’s how everyone felt. There was a lot of tension, a lot of bad things running around. I guess I did the right thing.

Clay Buchholz: I actually pitched that game. I was warming up. I was listening to it. It was crazy, a pretty surreal moment given what went down and how it happened. Even being, in my mind, a first-ballot Hall of Famer, he’s about as down to earth as it gets.

Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox second baseman 2006-present: I just caught a first pitch and I couldn’t hear him because I was talking to some people. I didn’t find out what he said until after the game. He said what everyone was feeling, but people didn’t say that. A lot of people wouldn’t have the nerve to say that, but he did. That was pretty special.

John Farrell, Red Sox manager 2013-present: When someone is speaking to the magnitude and importance in their second language and you understand the importance of the moment, when you step back, only David Ortiz could say what he said. Without any FCC penalty or anything. He’s unique, and one of the very few superstar athletes that transcends all walks of life.

At the other end of a season that started with tragedy came another magical October. The Sox began the postseason by beating Tampa Bay in the first round of the playoffs, a series that saw a dust-up between Ortiz and then-Rays ace David Price that included Price’s postgame Twitter rant…

Jake Peavy, Red Sox teammate 2013-2014: David Price had our number that year, really gave it to us. In Game 2 of the ALDS, David [Ortiz] comes in dressed like he was getting ready to have dinner with the Pope. Some of the guys gave him a hard time about it: “It wasn’t travel day; we’re going to travel tomorrow.” David simply responds, “You guys think I’m dressed like this for travel? Come on. I’ve been in the league however many years.” “So what are you dressed like that for?” “My press conference,” he says. And he hit two home runs off of David Price, came in and put that suit on and [went to] the press conference looking very suave.

Then the Sox beat Detroit in the ALCS, ignited by Ortiz’s game-tying Game 2 grand slam that sent his former teammate Torii Hunter tumbling over the wall…

Torii Hunter: In those [pregame scouting] meetings, I was standing up saying, “Don’t pitch to David. He knows what’s coming. We know his history of clutch hits. If we can stay away from David Ortiz, we’ve got a good chance.” So for some reason, we had a guy throw the ball right down the middle. When he hit it, it was in the lights in right field. I sprinted to the wall with my head down, looked up and when I saw the ball, I saw it late. I jumped up and left my body exposed trying to make the catch. I knew I was in no-go zone. You can’t go after the ball after a certain point in Fenway Park or you’re going to go flipping over the wall. But I didn’t care. It’s the playoffs—I’ve gotta get to the World Series. I went over the wall, flipped, got a concussion, shoulder problems and it took me a year to recover. …

We’ve never talked about it. We’ve hung out several times since then and never brought it up. We don’t talk about it. We talk about life. He’s my boy. There’s more to it than just the game.

John Farrell: Off the field, that same postseason, [David] had a gathering in his home after every series. It was his way of opening up himself, wanting to take care of so many around him, and I think that’s the way he’s lived his life. He’s had such an impact on so many people, whether it’s here, in his home country in the Dominican, he’s thoughtful in trying to help so many of those around him.

Jake Peavy: I can vividly remember laying on a recliner in David Ortiz’s basement watching Tampa Bay beat out Cleveland [for the AL wild-card spot]. Jonny Gomes, bless him, [was] standing in front of that TV waving on Tampa Bay, like, “Bring it on.” The whole team was there. Wives, families, children. It just kept us together.

The Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals in six games in the World Series with Ortiz being named the MVP. He hit .688/.760/1.188 with two homers and six RBI and started at first base in all three games in St. Louis…

Mike Matheny, Cardinals manager 2012-present: He was as hot as any player we’ve seen. Reminded us of Carlos Beltran against us in 2004 when he was with Houston before he moved over to the Mets. One player can make that big a difference. We tried to figure out how to pitch around him, but we got into situations where we couldn’t and he made us pay.

Dustin Pedroia: Obviously, when he’s on a roll like that, you don’t talk offense with him. You just leave him alone. But I had to worry about him playing defense next to me. My job was to protect him, take care of him and take the pressure off of him there. He’s got great hands. He can play first.

Jake Peavy: In Game 4, he comes off the field playing first base and has a team meeting in the dugout. He realized we were playing maybe a little differently than we had. We were down two games to one at that time, and we were down in Game 4. It was the right spot, and he was the right man to do that. He was telling us to relax, quit pressing. The whole team was huddled up around him in the dugout. That doesn’t happen except in special moments.

Mike Matheny: Some guys get onto that bigger stage…it’s all a big stage here, but when he got to Boston, there’s a whole lot more attention that can come, and that either makes guys sink or swim. And he’s a guy that took off swimming.

David Ortiz: I believe in God. And he picked us at the right time to do the right thing. I believe in that. I believe you are here for a reason, you are committed to something and when that time comes, it’s your time to shine, to do the right thing, to get it done.

Papi Everlasting

Ortiz begins this, his final season, with 503 career homers (27th all-time, third among active players), 1,641 RBI (30th-all time, third among active players) and a .284/.378/.547 slash line. He is a nine-time All-Star and, in Boston’s 2013 mayoral race, finished third behind Marty Walsh and John R. Connolly by receiving the highest total of write-in votes…

David Ortiz: I never take for granted the way things went down [in Minnesota], because it was the base of what I am right now. I learned one thing in Minnesota, and it was you’ve gotta come in every day and give everything you have. I learned they didn’t hand things to no one. I keep that for myself, you know what I mean? There was a lot of positive that I learned and still put it in play today. And I developed lifelong friends.

[But] Boston has embraced me, and I really appreciate that. I feel sometimes like I came to the big leagues once I started playing in Boston.

Tim Wakefield: Oh my God. He’s the face of the franchise. And he has been for many, many years. Probably since he became Big Papi. He’s carried the torch well. He means as much as Tom Brady means to the city of Boston, what Larry Bird meant to the city of Boston. He is the elite of the elite athletes to ever step foot in the city of Boston. And he’s represented the city very well.

Joe Girardi, Yankees manager 2008-present: He’s been a great, great player for a long, long time, and I know there’s always talk about do you get rid of the DH. Do you keep the DH? Do you put it in both leagues? He’s the reason you need to have it. Because a player who has that type of impact on the game, you can get him out there every day when he gets older because he can DH. I think he’s been a good ambassador for the game. He loves the game, he loves to play, he loves to shine in the big moments and he has the ability to do that.

A.J. Pierzynski: He’s the one guy on the team who, when he hits, he talks constantly. He asks about your mom, your family, everything. He asks how they’re doing. Then he says mean things about them later in the game. He’s the one guy I look forward to seeing hit.

David Price, Red Sox pitcher; Rays pitcher 2008-14; Tigers pitcher 2014-15; Blue Jays pitcher 2015: My mom and dad, he’s one of their favorite players. Before [I signed in Boston], my dad was like, “You better not hit You Know Who.” I was like, “Dad, stop.” My mom said it, too. My dad called me before every start, [shot] me a message or [gave] me a call.

I remember in 2010 or 2011, we’re at Tropicana Field and my parents are standing there in the tunnel outside the clubhouses, and my dad talks to him and he gives my dad his cellphone number, says text me if you need anything. That blew my dad away. It brings my dad to tears. Big Papi is just a normal dude like anybody else. To me, that’s what is so special about him.

It became a running thing in the Price household over the next few years, and now, surely, Price’s father is happy to see his son on the same team as Big Papi.

As impressed as teammates are with Ortiz on the field, they are in awe of his charitable work away from the ballpark…

Tim Wakefield: I’ve been involved in most of his golf tournaments in the Dominican Republic and to see what he gives back. … It’s a party, but the serious side of it is he’s saving lives. He was head of getting it together with Massachusetts General Hospital to fix the degenerative heart problems of kids in the Dominican Republic. He’s saving kids’ lives. It’s amazing.

Dustin Pedroia: We went [to the Dominican Republic] in 2010. I went with Andre Ethier, whose son fell down some stairs and dislocated his elbow. I think he was four. We had to take him to the hospital. David got everything set up, arranged. Just the way he treats everybody. Doesn’t matter who you are.

Jake Peavy: He’s just got a spirit about him that’s larger than life. That whole Babe Ruth aura. It all hasn’t been roses. It’s been ups and down. But he has been a tremendous, tremendous ambassador for the game.

Reggie Jackson, Hall of Famer (1993): Here’s a guy who was well liked by everybody, who spoke for the team at times and said the things that the club needed said. Not necessarily what they wanted to hear but what needed to be said. I recognize him as a guy who was maybe the best clutch player of his era.

Paul Molitor, Twins manager 2015-present; Hall of Famer (2004): I think about a guy who, in one of the more historical organizations in our game, has a chance to leave the game as one of the most popular players in its long history. You talk about Carl Yastrzemski and some other people, but David Ortiz went to a Boston organization starved for championships and somehow over a period of 10 years put three World Series championships in the front office. And I don’t know how many of them they would have won without him.

Theo Epstein: He’s probably the single person most identifiable with this decade-plus run of success the Red Sox have had. He got there in ’03 when we got five outs from the World Series, and then he was right in the middle of it when we won it the next year, and he’s still there trucking along after all these years.

If the face of your franchise is a happy, smiling stud in the middle of your order for 10-plus years, that’s a really good thing to have. He’s really helped transform that franchise. He definitely did more for us than we did for him.

David Ortiz: I have made a lot of friends in the game. And additionally, I have touched a lot of souls, a lot of people in a good way. That’s how I would like to be remembered. As a person people feel comfortable around. Even being who I am.

I see a lot of athletes in a lot of sports where, when they are good, they act like it. Bro, you know, God gave you the gift to be good. That doesn’t mean you’ve got to act like Superman, or untouchable. I think that the more humble you keep it, the more people appreciate what you do and want to be around you. … That has been me since day one, since I played for the Minnesota Twins. Everybody in the clubhouse liked me, everybody in the clubhouse wanted to be around me. It’s still the same here. You can see how even the younger players come around and talk to me like we’ve been together for the past 20 years. That makes me feel good.

Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

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If you’re not a fan of bat-flipping, don’t tell that to David Ortiz.

The Boston Red Sox slugger has been known to flip his bat after hitting a home run throughout his 20-year career, and he is not a fan of the chatter that occurs when talking about showmanship at the plate.

“People want to talk about old school. I am old school,” Ortiz said, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. “How many [expletives] are in the game right now who played in 1997 in the big leagues?”

It’s not just Ortiz who has expressed himself by flipping a bat after launching a baseball over the wall. Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays had an infamous bat flip in Game 5 of the American League Division Series against the Texas Rangers. It was a blast that gave Toronto the win in the series, as seen below:

Ortiz, who has hit 503 homers in his career, thinks the bulk of that chatter has come from pundits who have never played baseball, per Speier:

Whenever somebody criticizes a power hitter for what we do after we hit a home run, I consider that person someone who is not able to hit a homer ever in his life. Look at who criticizes the power hitters in the game and what we do. It’s either a pitcher or somebody that never played the game. Think about it. You don’t know that feeling. You don’t know what it takes to hit a homer off a guy who throws 95 mph. You don’t know anything about it. And if you don’t know anything about it, [shut up]. [Shut up]. Seriously. If you don’t know anything about it, [shut up], because that is another level.

Of course as a pitcher you’re not going to like it if I take you deep, but after I do it, suck it up, man. Take it like a man. I don’t mind anybody doing anything when you strike me out or get myself out. You’re never going to see me criticizing anybody, because you know what? Whatever you do out there, you just motivate me. You just motivate me. If I take you deep and I pimp the [expletive] out of it, that should be motivation for you to try to get me out in my next at-bat, instead of just talking [expletive]. That’s the way I see it.

The game of baseball is constantly changing, and not just in the rulebook. The old-school narrative Ortiz refers to is something Major League Baseball is trying to change. But younger and more athletic players are ushering in a new era of baseball, and once Ortiz retires, it’s hard to imagine baseball toning down the showmanship and not allowing players to express themselves.

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The 2016 season will be the last in the legendary career of Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz.

Fans will remember him for bringing three World Series championships to Boston, but some forget that Big Papi started his career with the Minnesota Twins. And in some ways, Ortiz doesn’t want to remember his time in Minnesota, either.

“[Former Twins general manager] Terry Ryan doesn’t feel bad just because he let me go,” Ortiz said, per Patrick Reusse of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “He feels bad because he also knows the Twins treated me bad.”

Ortiz made his major league debut with the Twins in 1997. He played six big league seasons with the club and was on the 2002 Minnesota team that won in the American League Division Series. Since then, the Twins haven’t reached the American League Championship Series.

Big Papi was the No. 9 hitter in a lineup that featured star outfielder Torii Hunter. Jacque Jones hit 27 home runs that year for Minnesota, which also had a star pitcher on the rise in Johan Santana.

Had Ortiz stayed in Minnesota, he thinks the results would’ve been better.

“The Twins would’ve won another World Series,” he said, per Reusse.

However, the team released him in December 2002. He then signed with the Red Sox and went on to become a nine-time All-Star. Two years later, he was a member of the 2004 World Series championship team that broke the 86-year championship-less curse in Boston.

“Anyone who says [releasing Ortiz] was a financial decision is dead wrong,” Ryan said, per Reusse. “It was a very bad baseball decision. We thought we had better options. We were wrong in a big way. It’s on me, nobody else. I’m the general manager. We don’t release big league players without the general manager’s approval.”

After Ortiz left, the Twins added future All-Stars Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. While the Twins won five more American League Central titles, they never got out of the ALDS again. 

Had Ortiz stayed, they could’ve had the best offense in baseball for a number of years and may have even won a World Series or two.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

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The Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees are involved in one of the best rivalries in all of sports, so it’s not often that either fanbase would ever show the opposition any love.

However, when an iconic player decides to hang up his cleats, it is acceptable for fans to give a rival a standing ovation. And that’s exactly what Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz is hoping will happen in the Bronx this season.

“You know what I want most of all?” Ortiz said to Kevin Kernan of the New York Post on Tuesday. “I would love it if the fans at Yankee Stadium gave me a standing ovation.”

The 40-year-old Ortiz announced back in November that the 2016 season will be his last. Big Papi has racked up three World Series titles, nine All-Star selections and more than 500 home runs over his 20-year career.

If he has it his way, the best retirement gift he will receive during his farewell tour will be a standing ovation from the Yankee Stadium crowd on Sept. 29.

New York fans may initially scoff at the notion of showing Big Papi some love. After all, this is the player who clubbed 47 home runs off their favorite team, not to mention he led the historic 2004 American League Championship Series comeback. However, it was not that long ago that Boston fans put the rivalry aside to pay their respects to retiring Yankees legends Mariano Rivera (here) and Derek Jeter (here and here and here).

Ortiz has undoubtedly caused the Yankees and their fans plenty of heartbreak throughout his Red Sox career. But for one night, New York fans should reciprocate the respect Bostonians showed outgoing Yankees stars in recent years and give Big Papi cheers (not Bronx cheers) in his final game at Yankee Stadium.

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At the end of 2016, Hub fans will finally bid adieu to Big Papi. And also, welcome his heir.

David Ortiz made it official two months ago that the 2016 season will be his last. When he did, he set a countdown to the moment when the Boston Red Sox will part ways with a player who’s slugged 503 home runs and won three World Series titles on his way to becoming one of the franchise’s great icons.

Lucky for them, at least they have a player who’s ready to fill Ortiz’s shoes. His name is Mookie Betts, and 2016 should be the year he becomes the new face of the Red Sox.

Now, let’s grant that the Red Sox aren’t short on candidates to wear their face after Ortiz calls it a career. The 40-year-old designated hitter is surrounded by star newcomers David Price and Craig Kimbrel, ol’ standbys like Dustin Pedroia and a wave of fresh-faced youngsters in Xander Bogaerts, Blake Swihart and Eduardo Rodriguez.

But the 2016 season should be all about Betts. That’s in part because young homegrown studs who play every day are the best franchise-player candidates, and in part because the 2015 season was all about Betts.

Though the Red Sox endured their second straight last-place finish in 2015, Betts was a major bright spot. Whether you consult Baseball-Reference.com or FanGraphs, wins above replacement pegged the young outfielder as Boston’s best player. And according to FanGraphs, Dan Szymborski’s ZiPS projections system predicts that Betts will once again be the best player on the Red Sox in 2016.

Hard to believe? Hardly.

Though Betts wasn’t the best hitter on the Red Sox in 2015—that honor naturally belongs to Ortiz, who OPS’d .913 and slugged 37 dingers—there’s no doubt he was Boston’s best overall player. His first full season saw him hit .291 with an .820 OPS, 18 home runs and 21 stolen bases, with plenty of highlight-reel plays in center field on the side.

And because Betts did all that at the ripe young age of 22, it’s only fair to have big expectations for what he might do at the age of 23 in 2016. If you’re, say, Buster Olney of ESPN.com, you might even be thinking about Betts as a potential American League MVP contender:

These are some high hopes, all right.

But in Olney’s defense, having high hopes isn’t the same thing as having unreasonable hopes. Though Ortiz and his grand farewell will be front and center for at least the start of 2016, it’s not at all difficult to imagine Betts will steal the show.

When dealing with great all-around players, there are typically areas where you can count on continued greatness without any second thoughts. With Betts, those would be his baserunning and defense.

Though Betts stole “only” 21 bases in 2015, FanGraphs’ BsR metric (baserunning runs above average) actually rated him as MLB‘s best baserunner. That’s thanks to all the more under-the-radar plays he made on the bases. And according to the defensive metrics, Betts’ defense in center field was somewhere between above average and way above average.

This had much to do with Betts’ plus speed, which is likely still years away from declining. The only question is whether his proposed move from center field to right field will hinder his defense, but it’s not much of a question. Right field at Fenway Park is basically a second center field, and Betts teased at the end of 2015 that he’s up to the challenge.

If there’s a more palpable sense of doubt, it’s in regard to whether Betts can repeat his offensive performance from 2015, much less improve on it. But this, too, is an area where there’s room for only so much doubt.

The ideal hitter is one that has patience, can put the ball in play and can hit the ball hard. Betts showed in his rookie season in 2014 that he had the ability to do all three, and 2015 was basically more of the same. He got even better at avoiding strikeouts and hitting for power, and beneath his slightly subpar walk rate was a 26.2 chase percentage that easily beat the MLB average of 31.3.

Or, in Holmes-to-Watson terms: After teasing he could be one in 2014, Betts established himself as an advanced hitter with power in 2015. A rare breed, them.

And as far as Betts’ advanced approach goes, even better is how it was actually more advanced at the end of 2015 than it was at the beginning.

While Betts had a tough time hacking at off-speed pitches in April, Brooks Baseball can show that he got better and better at laying off the stuff as the season went along. That speaks to his ability to adjust, which assistant hitting coach Victor Rodriguez very much approves of.

“That’s one thing that makes him different, the ability to adjust from one at-bat to another, or sometimes from one pitch to another,” Rodriguez told Tim Britton of the Providence Journal last May. “It seems like every game, he puts together good at-bats, not necessarily results, but working counts, taking pitches, making hard contact, taking a walk when they’re giving it to him. That’s a good sign.”

Betts also adjusted how he was hitting the ball. If we refer back to Olney’s tweet and use June 10 as a cutoff, it stands out that Betts stopped trying to drive the ball and just plain started driving the ball. He became less fly-ball happy and better at hitting the ball squarely:

Mind you, all this is arguably dodging the question that really matters: Can a guy listed at 5’9″ and 180 pounds really carry on as such a good power hitter?

As it happens, there are some good answers out there. Betts’ power mainly applies to pitches on the inner two-thirds of the plate, and Dave Cameron of Fox Sports broke down how Betts got really good at not missing those in 2015. And in a piece for Baseball Prospectus Boston, Matthew Kory highlighted how Betts didn’t collect cheap home runs.

Are there things Betts legitimately needs to improve on? Sure. It would be nice to see more plate coverage, for one. For two, he could use more route efficiency to make the most of his speed on defense.

But…that’s…pretty…much…it. The fact is it’s hard to poke holes in Betts’ game. There may not be any one thing in particular that he excels at, but he’s quite good at everything. In him, the Red Sox do indeed have a budding superstar on their hands.

And yet, that’s only half the reason Betts is the right guy to take over for Big Papi as the Red Sox’s next franchise player.

It’s one thing to be great, and another thing to be entertaining. The latter word fits Ortiz just as well as the former. His legacy consists of not just his big numbers and his World Series rings, but also his all-time great flair for the dramatic and his epic bat flips and home run trots. Never mind what he did. Nobody’s ever going to forget how he did it.

Betts isn’t going to copy Big Papi’s special brand of entertainment. But he’s shown he can be entertaining in his own way, mainly because he’s not exactly casual in the application of his many talents. There’s energy in Betts’ game, and on any given day it can lead to one or more “Did you see that?!” moments.

That was never more evident than in Boston’s home opener against the Washington Nationals early last April, in which Betts owned the day by robbing a home run, hitting a home run and tearing up the basepaths. He completely took over the game, making for a hell of a highlight:

That right there was one of the most electric individual performances of the 2015 season, and Big Papi himself was among those who was on the edge of disbelief.

“That was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in baseball,” Ortiz said, per Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston. “I was like, ‘Bro, not even in a few practices you can do that.’

“That kid is an unbelievable athlete,” Ortiz exclaimed. “It’s a no-doubter he’s going be a superstar.”

Well, no argument here. Betts has already broken through as a star, and he has everything he needs to take the next step. By the time he’s done with 2016, he should indeed be a superstar.

And when Big Papi is done with it, Betts will also be ready to become the new face of the Red Sox.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.

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Managers love to talk about the flexibility of not having a full-time designated hitter. They can use the spot to give players rest, giving them in effect a half-day off. They can keep guys in the lineup when a minor injury may keep them from effectively playing in the field.

It’s all true and it’s all great, but there’s a much better way to build an American League team:

Have a DH like David Ortiz.

Sure, there have been times when having Ortiz locked into the DH spot made things more complicated. It happened just this past season when the Red Sox realized they’d made an awful mistake signing Hanley Ramirez to play left field but weren’t able to move him to his natural defensive spot because they had Ortiz there.

What has happened a lot more is that having the best DH in the game has given the Red Sox a big advantage at what should be an important lineup spot. Eight times in Ortiz’s 13 seasons in Boston, the Red Sox have hit more DH home runs than any other team. In all but three of Ortiz’s Red Sox seasons, the Sox have had a better record with Ortiz in the lineup than without him.

Overall, they’re 205 games over .500 with him in the lineup and eight games under .500 in games he doesn’t start.

All of which means Ortiz’s coming retirement—announced last week, to take effect after the 2016 season—will be at least as much a challenge as an opportunity.

Sure, the Red Sox could just use the spot to solve their Hanley problem—if they can’t trade him away and he can’t adequately handle first base and they’re not so fed up with him after another year that they can’t stand the thought of him playing anywhere.

Ramirez was the Red Sox DH 11 times in 2015, and he hit five home runs in the role. But he wasn’t a terribly effective offensive player in any role after April (.644 OPS). He’s hardly a true replacement for Ortiz, who has a .951 OPS in 13 seasons with the Red Sox (and was still a very good .913 at 39 in 2015).

But who is?

Pablo Sandoval, who hasn’t had a .913 OPS in any of his eight big league seasons and hasn’t hit even 20 home runs in any season since 2011? Probably not.

The Red Sox could try to sign Chris Davis, with the idea he could play first base in 2016 and take over for Ortiz the next year. They could hope Jose Bautista or Edwin Encarnacion gets to free agency after next season. But Bautista will be 36, and Encarnacion will be 34 by Opening Day 2017.

Or perhaps they’ll get lucky, just as they did when the Minnesota Twins made the unfortunate decision to release a 27-year-old David Ortiz in December 2002. The Red Sox signed him for $1.25 million a month later.

Thirteen years later, it looks like one of the biggest and best decisions the Sox made as they put together the most successful era in franchise history. But 13 years later, plenty of teams still wonder whether it makes sense to commit to a full-time DH. (Ortiz started 75 games at first base in his first two seasons but only 66 games in 11 seasons since.)

As Chicago White Sox general manager Rick Hahn told John Tomase of WEEI.com earlier this month, it takes a “special type offensive player” to be worth the commitment of a roster spot and the money a top DH commands. (Ortiz will make $16 million next year.)

He’s right. But finding that special type of player gives a team a big advantage. The last four American League pennant winners each had a full-time DH, and for three of the four (Kendrys Morales with the Royals this year, Ortiz with the 2013 Red Sox and Victor Martinez with the 2012 Detroit Tigers), the DH was a key guy in the middle of the lineup.

All three 2015 AL division winners had a full-time DH, all of them special offensive players (Prince Fielder with the Texas Rangers, Morales with the Royals and Encarnacion with the Toronto Blue Jays).

But didn’t the Red Sox finish in last place the last two years, even with Ortiz as their special-type DH? Sure they did. They finished in last place while scoring the fourth-most runs in the majors.

They have Ortiz for one more season. They have a full year to figure out what to do with the DH spot once he leaves.

One more year with Ortiz and one more year to try to find another DH like him.

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

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Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz officially announced Wednesday he’s planning to retire from baseball following the 2016 season.

He made it official in a video for The Players’ Tribune:

Ortiz arrived to the Red Sox in 2003 as a free-agent castoff from the Minnesota Twins. He had to battle Jeremy Giambi for playing time at designated hitter, which illustrates the limited expectations at the time. Little did anybody know he would eventually become a franchise legend.

Red Sox owner John Henry released a statement on Ortiz’s decision, per Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe:

Team president Dave Dombrowski also released a statement on Ortiz’s retirement, per the Boston Herald:

“Having admired David as an opponent for so many years, it has been such a joy for me to now be on the same side as him with the Red Sox. I have the utmost respect for David, and even with my brief tenure in the organization, I have gotten to know that he is a first-class individual that provides invaluable leadership for our ball club.”

Manager John Farrell also expressed his feelings towards the slugger, via the Boston Herald:

“It’s been an honor for me to wear the same uniform as David for my eight years in Boston. The ability to write the name of an All-Star-caliber player with a host of heroic accomplishments in the postseason in our lineup every day for the past three seasons truly has been a pleasure for me. David’s presence in our lineup is such a big part of who we are as a team, and I think I speak for all of us when I say that we all look forward to seeing what he has in store for what will be the final season in his tremendous career.”

“David is one of the greatest hitters ever to wear a Red Sox uniform, one of the top clutch hitters in baseball over the last 13 years, and the best designated hitter in history,” longtime teammate Jason Varitek said, according to the Boston Herald. “I’m happy for David and his family, but the game will miss him.”

The 40-year-old Dominican Republic native will enter his final campaign with a .284 career average, 503 home runs, 1,641 RBI and 1,340 runs scored. Those numbers help illustrate the type of force he’s been in the middle of Boston’s lineup for more than a decade.

More importantly, he’s helped lead an organization that was desperate for a title when he arrived to three World Series championships. He’s hit 17 homers in 82 career postseason games, with 13 of those coming in title-winning years (2004, 2007 and 2013).

During that run of success on the field, Ortiz also became an important figure in the community. He delivered a memorable, emotional speech to the crowd at Fenway Park in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings in April 2013 that showcased the genuine love between him and the city.

The only major blemish on his resume is one that should have never gone public. Bob Hohler of the Boston Globe explained Ortiz failed a 2003 screening test as the league conducted a “suspicionless” drug-testing survey, which was supposed to include a confidentiality agreement.

In a piece for The Players’ Tribune in March, Ortiz said he, like many other players at the time, was taking over-the-counter supplements that were considered legal. He never learned what the positive test was for, but he doesn’t believe it should tarnish his legacy.

“I never knowingly took any steroids. If I tested positive for anything, it was for something in pills I bought at the damn mall,” Ortiz wrote. “If you think that ruins everything I have done in this game, there is nothing I can say to convince you different.”

He also wrote, “Hell yes I deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.”

That’s surely a debate on the horizon. Based purely on his numbers at the plate and his World Series titles, he deserves a spot in Cooperstown. But lingering questions voters may have about that 2003 test and the fact he played DH for most of his career could work against him.

His Hall of Fame status won’t change the way he’s viewed in Boston, though. He helped lay the foundation for a period of success the organization hadn’t witnessed since the 1910s and embraced his role as a key figure in the community when called upon.

That’s why Red Sox nation will always hold a special place in its collective heart for Big Papi. He’ll try to provide the fans with a couple of final moments to remember him by in 2016.

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Feliz cumpleanos, Big Papi.

Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz announced Wednesday he will retire after the 2016 season.

Wednesday is also his 40th birthday. Ortiz should be enshrined in Cooperstown by his 50th.

His only birthday baseball wish at this point would be a fourth championship in 2016.

Life’s tough, after all, when you’re chasing this guy:

Ortiz was about to blow out the candles on his pro career when the Red Sox signed him as a free agent in January 2003. He was the second choice, behind Jeremy Giambi, to be the team’s DH.

Piece of cake.

A month into the 2003 season, Ortiz became Boston’s starting designated hitter. It’s a position he’s held, barring injury and visits to National League ballparks, ever since.

Party time.

Ortiz whacked the game-winning home run in Boston’s memorable Game 4 American League Championship Series victory over New York in 2004, only to follow it with the game-winning single less than 24 hours later.

The Red Sox labored under curses real and imagined for 86 years before Ortiz’s heroics triggered an eight-day biblical flood of baseball good fortune for Boston.

During Boston’s 2007 title run, he quietly hit .370 with three home runs, 10 RBI and a 1.204 OPS in 14 postseason games.

With the Red Sox facing an 0-1 series deficit, his grand slam in Game 2 of the 2013 ALCS erased a 5-1 deficit in the eighth inning. Ortiz batted .688 in the World Series that followed, all the while channeling his inner Bill Belichick in the Red Sox dugout during Game 4, with the score tied and Boston trailing in the series 2-1.

The Red Sox subsequently took the lead and would be riding duck boats six days later.

To baseball fans in Boston, and in his native Dominican Republic, Ortiz has become far more than someone who has 503 career home runs, three World Series rings and a smile that stretches from South Boston to Santo Domingo.

“He created a belief of eventual success, as opposed to an expectation of failure,” Red Sox fan Bob Falfa, 38, who lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, said Tuesday. “Sad to see it’s closing time for Ortiz, but what a hell of a ride it’s been.”

The most passionate moment of Ortiz’s career in Boston had nothing to do with baseball.

It came at Fenway Park in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing and subsequent manhunt on April 20, 2013 (warning: video contains NSFW language):

He angrily voiced the resilience of millions.

“This jersey that we are wearing today, it doesn’t say Red Sox. It says Boston. We want to thank you Mayor Menino, Governor Patrick, the whole police department for the great job that they did this past week. This is our f–king city, and nobody’s gonna dictate our freedom. Stay strong. Thank you.”

Cue the riotous applause.

“People look at me differently because of what I do because I’m a baseball player. But I’m also a citizen,” Ortiz told Bleacher Report in a one-on-one interview the day before he hit his 500th career home run. “It struck all of us. In 2013, we all suffered, not just if you were a baseball player, basketball player or a football player. But as a citizen. We all struggled with that. I said what I felt.”

The feelings returned to many after the attacks in Paris last week.

“I don’t think it was fair. Especially in the marathon, where everybody was racing to try and raise money to fight disease,” Ortiz added. “There’s never a perfect time to do something like that. But the marathon? It was very frustrating. I said what I said as a citizen, as a member of the city of Boston, New England, who was affected by it.”

It was the moment when Boston forever became his (bleeping) city.

Actress Kerry O’Malley, now living in California, has sung the National Anthem before several Red Sox games and once performed Shakespeare at Fenway Park. She was born and raised in New England.

“Big Papi has given me and my family (including brother Mike O’Malley) the most joyous and thrilling moments I will never forget,” she told B/R on Tuesday. “He had lifted us up and delivered so many clutch moments it seems impossible they could all come from the same man. What a huge heart. I love him. This is our (bleeping) Papi!”

There are roughly 103,000 Dominicans in Massachusetts, according to ESPN.com’s Gordon Edes. In the Dominican Republic, Ortiz enjoys cult/national hero status. Officially licensed Red Sox merchandise is available for sale at stores in the nation’s capital.

Satellite-TV sports bars feature photos of Ortiz, most likely unlicensed. Spend a few hours walking through the historic district in Santo Domingo wearing any Red Sox garb. You will soon think your name is “Big Papi.”

“Children in the Dominican Republic learn how to play baseball before they are born,” Santo, a tour guide during a 2014 trip to the island nation, said. “There are three sports here: baseball, cock fighting and dominoes. Baseball is far and ahead No. 1. It is the best sport ever.”

Santo expressed enough knowledge and admiration of the Red Sox to earn a Boston hat as part of his tip.

“It has gotten to the point that Ortiz is more loved than Pedro Martinez. He has the same popularity as Pedro, and who knows, even more. He is like a Tom Brady, Larry Bird, Bobby Orr, for the Dominican community,” Nilson Pepen, host of a sports radio talk show, Conversando de Deportes, in Boston, told Edes.

Hitting 500 home runs once meant guaranteed admission to Cooperstown. That is no longer true since the arrival of baseball’s performance-enhancing drug era.

“Those are tough numbers,” Ortiz, who has hit 20 or more home runs 14 times and 30 or more homers nine times, said. “Not a lot of us get to play 14 seasons or more. Not a lot of us get to stay consistent.”

Ortiz isn’t shy about much, including his willingness to be a role model off the field or his desire to be happy and make others feel the same.

“Born in the Dominican, coming from where I come from, this is something you never dream of,” Ortiz said in his press conference after hitting his 500th home run Sept. 12.

“Every day I thank God for giving me the ability to play the game. I come from a place where people struggle, people who are poor. We want to open a lot doors for the young, talented players coming up. We want them to understand the importance of doing the right thing. I take a lot of pride in that. I never get tired of teaching young players how to do the right thing. Hopefully we’ll have more David Ortizs, more Pedro Martinezs, more Vladimir Guerreos coming up.”

Ortiz tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance in 2003, along with then-teammate Ramirez, during a pilot testing program. The results were supposed to be anonymous, but the New York Times reported them.

Ortiz remains adamant in his denial of knowingly using any banned substances. He told Bob Hohler of Boston Globe in March it would be “unfair” if anyone denied him a Hall of Fame vote because of the 2003 positive. “I was using what everybody was using at the time,” he added.

Ortiz has a simple response to critics who believe his accomplishments are illegitimate: Hitting isn’t as easy as it looks.

“This game is hard enough. Some people look at this game, and they think it’s easier than what it is,” Ortiz told B/R. “This game is not easy at all. This game burns your brain cells, even on your best day. Just for being consistent, and being able to perform at this level for years, I think that I deserve respect.”

He has no doubt earned it.

“We live in world where you’re not going to make everyone happy,” Ortiz added in September. “There’s a lot of things going on left and right. In my case, the people that know me, the people that are around me a lot, know that I’m simple. I’m very emotional. I don’t hold anything back. When I’m right, I’m right. When I’m wrong, I’m wrong and I’ll admit it,” Ortiz said after hitting No. 500. “I don’t judge anyone. I don’t expect anyone to judge me.”

Entrance into Cooperstown, however, requires judgment from hundreds of voters.

Ortiz plans to enjoy the time between his eventual retirement and his eligibility for the Hall of Fame.

“Once you’re done playing baseball, you have to wait another five years. Trust me, I’m going to party and have fun once I’m done with this. I’m not going to worry about the next five years.”

Bill Speros is an award-winning journalist. He writes the “Obnoxious Boston Fan” column and tweets at @RealOBF.

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