Ortiz 'touched' after hitting HR he promised young fan
David Ortiz keeps his word.
On Friday, the Boston Red Sox slugger delivered on a promise to Maverick, a young fan who suffers from a heart defect, that he'd hit a home run later that night against the New York Yankees.
Ortiz admitted Saturday he was relieved he followed through.
"It's not a guarantee. This is baseball," Ortiz said, according to Tim Britton of the Providence Journal. "But what you're trying to do, that video, what I was trying to do was make Maverick feel happy and have that connection with him.
"You throw that out there just to make sure he has a friend he can count on right here. ... I saw the video he sent back and he got all the stuff on and you saw how happy he was. That's something that touches you."
Maverick responded to Ortiz's heroics in a video:
And this is Maverick video back us @davidortiz after home run 2nite. The man touches lives daily and brings smiles. pic.twitter.com/SPUhx7Hmdq
— Kevin Millar (@KMillar15) April 30, 2016
Ortiz's home run off of Yankees reliever Dellin Betances came in the eighth inning and solidified Boston's 4-2 win over its AL East rivals.
(Video courtesy: MLB.com)
The Red Sox slugger has gone deep four times so far in the final season of his career, but it's safe to say Friday's home run was extra special.