playKurkjian, Passan take stock of Ortiz's HOF career (2:01)
The Baseball Hall of Fame elected David Ortiz. There is a time limit.
In his first year on the ballot, David Ortiz was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He put up huge numbers at the plate, and Big Papi was a larger-than-life presence off the diamond as well, with a boundless charisma that affected teammates and opponents alike. We asked the people who knew him for their favorite stories of the man.
Alex Rodriguez: 'A Babe Ruth-type savant'
After playing against each other in the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry, David and Alex shared a desk on the Fox show. They have a relationship that goes back to when they were teenagers in the SeattleMariners organization. Rodriguez was drafted by Seattle in the summer of 1992 after he was drafted as a free agent.
Rodriguez became a household name in 1996 when he finished second in the American League Most Valuable Player voting. After moving to the Twins in a trade in 1996, Minnesota became impatient and released him following the 2002 season. The left-handed hitter would thrive in The Ballpark in Arlington, where the wind mostly gusted to right field, so Rodriguez worked to get the Rangers to sign him for $1 million.
If the Rangers had been able to trade Rodriguez to the Red Sox, he would have been the teammate of Ortiz in 2004. After Rodriguez was traded to the Yankees, they became enemies. They would continue to help each other.
Rodriguez was struggling early in his career with the Yankees, and after a game in Boston, he went to the home of David Ortiz to talk about his swing. Rodriguez had to hit high-velocity fastballs on the inside corner, and that's what he had to do. If Rodriguez could get his front foot down early, he would be in a better position to react to anything. Rodriguez had complete respect for the man.
Rodriguez said that he was a Babe Ruth-type savant. An A-plus work ethic, A-plus in his video work and an A-plus for playing at a high level.
How did he become a Boston legend?
Ortiz, Griffey, A-Rod and an epic HR Derby
Love him or hate him, Ortiz is an icon
As Rodriguez tinkered and Ortiz talked about what he saw as a necessary change, the two of them stood up to swing imaginary bats until three or four o'clock in the morning.
There were rumors that the Red Sox might dump him or even move him after a few years, because he wasn't always playing against left-handed pitchers. Rodriguez remembers talking about the need for Ortiz to get away from processed foods when they went to his New York home. Rodriguez told him to stick to the outside edges of the grocery store, where fresh fruit and vegetables are typically located.
Rodriguez said with a laugh that he was so right about the prediction, that he would get back to being a huge performer again.
Torii Hunter: 'Hey, whatever you do, be careful when David comes up'
I knew when I was running that I was going to die. You know when someone is walking behind you and you are about to die. I hung out with David. I talked to him the night before. He was feeling good. I told Joaquin to be careful when David comes up.
I didn't know that Benoit threw the ball down the middle. He destroyed it. I am running and thinking about what he said to me the night before, how he is feeling. I ran after the ball and said there was no way I was not going to the World Series. I had a concussion and my back was hurting. I played through the ALCS. I played well, but I was throwing up. I was sick.
I didn't know where I was when it went over the fence. I said that they tried to take me out of the game. I waited two more years. I stayed with it. I had to go after that ball because I was thinking about David Ortiz hitting it. It was one of my best friends in the game, and when he hit it, I wanted to get the ball. I am happy that it was David. I am happy for my friend. I was not happy in that moment. I was happy that my friend was able to do something so great.
Dustin Pedroia: 'There is no one in the game that has done that'
I played with David the longest. His ability to slow the game down in a big moment was second to none. Everything was in slow motion from the beginning. He was able to come through in moments where he wanted to be as a kid. He did it many times. There is no one in the game that has done that.
Gabe Kapler: 'A moment was never too big for him'
According to Kapler, it is known that David Ortiz made an individual handshake with each of his teammates. It has been almost two decades since Kapler and Ortiz played on the same team, but Kapler is certain that if they bumped into each other today, each of them could replicate that handshake. For Kapler, it's proof of how well Ortiz treated his teammates, from superstars to part-timers.
Kapler said that he treated everybody with a high level of respect.
Kapler and Ortiz played in the Florida State League together, and Kapler found him to be humble.
Kapler witnessed the emergence of one of the greatest October hitters of all time when he saw the emergence of one of the greatest October hitters of all time when he saw the emergence of one of the greatest October hitters of all time when he saw the emergence of one of the greatest October hitters of Kapler is a sponge for information, for objective data, and there might have been a time in his life when he was skeptical about the idea of a clutch player.
David had the experience of watching players as a manager, so he has a clutch-performer gene.
Kapler said a moment was never too big for him. He was a very thoughtful man. It was very measured. He was able to succeed in those moments because of his measured, calm heart rate.
Hunter: 'We thought that was so funny, man'
When he was in Boston, Koskie took his outfit out of his locker and put a Lee County Jail uniform in it. David wore a Lee County Jail orange uniform in spring training and was such a sport that he wore it on the field.
David was messing withCorey all day and he was going to get him, so he put peanut butter in his underwear. He put peanut butter in his underwear. All of us took showers. David is always laughing and cracking jokes. He is cracking jokes after the game is over. He gets in the shower. Everyone is sitting in their locker and will not leave because they know what happened. When David got out of the shower, he walked over to his locker, put his shirt on, socks on, and underwear on, and then he took a couple steps. He turned around and said, "You motherf---ers!" We are falling out of the chair. We asked if he was used to having something in between his underwear.
David Ross: 'Be your nature'
David is smart. We were talking hitting in the back of the plane, and he said he was a s--- hitter. Don't lose sight of who you are if you get in the box. If you are a fastball hitter and they are throwing you a bunch of bull crap, then lay off it and hit the pitch.
He hit a bomb off a changeup, and I asked about it. He went up to watch at-bats against lefties. He was so smart that he asked what they were going to throw him. He made a changeup that day.
The baseball skills were not as important as the heart. He had parties after every win. Everyone was invited. His pastor is his ownership. He is a special human being.
Everyone knew he was going to put on a show when he stepped out of the dugout. It was a pretty special presence that he brought.
Alex Cora: 'He knows the game'
Alex said that David Ortiz is a rock star with expensive clothes, necklaces and sunglasses. Every time they see each other, they ask about Alex's daughter and his twin sons. He is a very genuine guy.
Cora saw a genuine respect for the input of coaches and scouts. In 2007, he was 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 His adjusted OPS+ was the highest of his career that year. He was at his peak that year. The hitters met with David Howard and Todd Claus to discuss the tendencies of the Anaheim pitchers. One of the scouts that presented the intel to Ortiz was believed to be Howard, and he could fully anticipate that John Lackey would throw him a curve if he got ahead in the count with first base empty. The scouts thought that Ortiz could sell out and look for the curve.
The advice ran counter to conventional wisdom because of the fact that Ortiz was Boston's third baseman. The man batting behind him was usually challenged with the pitcher's pitches.
A few hours later, he was in the batter's box. Kevin Youkilis was on second base, Ramirez was on deck. He fell behind in the count. This was the exact situation that the scouts had presented to Ortiz, and he followed their advice and looked for a curve. The pitcher threw a curve. In the first game of the series, the Red Sox took a three-run lead on a two-run home run by David Ortiz.
He knows the game and is very committed.
In his second year of retirement, Ortiz was working for Fox when the Red Sox won the World Series. As he walked into the Boston locker room before the game to inform the players they were on the verge of a championship, Big Papi was more excited than the players were.
Big Papi was right again.
Jed Hoyer: 'You expect the heroics'
There is always a constant debate about clutch. He is my single example that I will always use. Yes, it does because I watched David for a long time.
Being able to watch him night after night is one of the highlights of my career.
After we left Boston, I was on a flight with Theo out to the West Coast and we were delayed so we were watching Game 2 of the ALCS against Detroit on our phones, when he hit that grand slam to tie it in the eighth. Before he got to the plate, we had to figure out how many players we had. It would be tied if they could just get it to David. He ties it. What player would you do that with? There was no one like that. You expect the heroics, as told to Jesse Rogers.
Theo Epstein: 'The rest is history'
We really wanted to build a relentless lineup and improve the depth of our roster, that was my first offseason. We had to cut payroll, so we let Cliff Floyd walk and try to find impact and value at 1B-DH 3B, knowing if we found quality options we could let it sort itself out during the season. We signed Bill and David knowing we could trade for a pitcher at some point. I said on the teleconference that we thought David could be an impact middle-of-the-order bat for us, but we also knew that things would be crowded early in the season.
It was difficult for David to not play every day. He wanted to get into the lineup and hit around.200. The guys were teasing him, calling him Juan Pierre for the lack of power.
David tried not to let it affect the club, where he was already a beloved and unifying personality. Fern Cuza was sent to see me and we talked in the player parking lot after the game. Cuza said that David was crazy because he wasn't in the lineup. David wanted to be traded if we could get him in the lineup. We would find a way to get David in the lineup if Fern gave me a week. After we traded Hillenbrand for Byung-Yun Kim at the end of May, David was put in the lineup every day. He had a monster second half and started hitting immediately. As told to Jesse Rogers.
