Ortiz's chunky gold amulet explained

It's not hard to miss the swagger of a superstar, and at 40, David Ortiz is still radiating with it.

He's nowhere without a chunky gold chain around his neck – embellished with a hand and an eye. It's especially noticeable when he's trotting around the bases after crushing a ball out of the park for the Boston Red Sox.

Rob Bradford of WEEI recently found out what that the symbolism is all about.

“It’s for protection and good luck,” Ortiz said of the "hamsa" necklace. “It’s for real. And when the eye comes out, it’s protecting me from something.”

Ortiz received the amulet as a gift after he was made aware of the symbology earlier this year.

The hand is accompanied by its own prayer, which among other things, asks that "no trouble come to these arms". Bradford notes the veteran slugger also has a bracelet in his repertoire, and has the symbol tattooed on the back of his right hand.