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Caption this: 5 guesses at what Ortiz said to Ross

Boston Red Sox / Twitter

Boston Red Sox legend David Ortiz made his presence felt before Game 2 of the World Series on Wednesday, when the retired slugger dropped by Progressive Field to pick up his Hank Aaron Award as the AL's top offensive player.

He apparently gave one heck of a pep talk to retiring Cubs catcher David Ross, too.

The former teammates were photographed by the Red Sox official Twitter account during what appeared to be a particularly candid moment in which the three-time champion Ortiz was likely sharing some advice with the 39-year-old Ross. The photo is too good not to caption, so we took a handful of guesses at the gospel Big Papi was preaching:

"Even if you win this World Series, you still won't have as many rings as me."

Ortiz would be correct in saying this to his championship-winning teammate from the 2013 Red Sox, so it's funny imagining he actually did. Similar to the current Cubs, Ortiz's first championship with Boston marked the end of a historic 86-year drought, so he knows a thing or two about breaking curses.

"The older you get, the less people expect out of you."

It's ironic because both Ortiz and Ross had two of the best seasons of their careers in 2016. Ortiz smashed records for home runs and RBIs by a player 40 or older, while Ross, in limited playing time, matched his third-most homers in a season (10) and notched his highest OPS (.784) since 2010.

"Only 10 homers this year? Man, when I was your age I hit 37."

That he did. A year before Ortiz went deep a record-setting 38 times this season, the Red Sox designated hitter launched 37 dingers in 2015 - his most since his career-high 54 in 2006.

"I liked you better in red."

Ortiz is a man of style - look at that all-black ensemble for Wednesday's press conference with Aaron and Rob Manfred - and perhaps he was simply reminding Ross that he looked better in Boston red. Ross spent parts of three seasons with the Red Sox, appearing in just eight games in 2008 before suiting up for 86 contests during his second stint in Boston from 2013-14.

"Look at me - I'm still the Captain."

Ross is one of the veteran staples of the young Cubs clubhouse - Chicago started six players aged 24 or under in Game 2 - but Ortiz is always "The Man" wherever he goes. For this caption, we like to imagine Ortiz was doing his best "Captain Phillips" impression. Mookie Betts said it best during an interview with theScore earlier this season:

"He's not like a dad, but kind of like a baseball dad. He overlooks everything. Anything you do or want to do, you go ask David. He's been there and done it."

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