Red Sox honor Ortiz's 500th HR with Fenway ceremony
The Boston Red Sox paid tribute to slugger David Ortiz on Monday in a pregame ceremony at Fenway Park, celebrating the 500th career home run Ortiz hit on Sept. 12.
(courtesy: MLB.com)
"I'm not much of a talker. Yeah right," Ortiz joked. "As always, it's more than an honor to be part of this organization. I dream about this organization every day. This organization give me the opportunity to re-group, to build up my career and definitely without you guys, the best fans in baseball, I would never get to this number."
Big Papi was met by the familiar faces of former teammates Pedro Martinez, Tim Wakefield, and Jason Varitek, who personally delivered Ortiz his 500th home run ball.
.@45PedroMartinez, @TimWakefield49, and Tek deliver Big Papi his 500 home run present! #500rtiz pic.twitter.com/PY86eK9wOf
— Boston Red Sox (@RedSox) September 21, 2015
Ortiz also received a new car with a custom licence plate and a video message from Dominican president Danilo Medina, but the greatest present may have come courtesy of Boston mayor Marty Walsh, who proclaimed that Sept. 21 will henceforth be known as David Ortiz Day.
The 39-year-old has spent 13 seasons with the Red Sox, hitting 443 of his now-501 home runs with the franchise.
Ortiz entered Monday's contest against the Tampa Bay Rays hitting .270/.357/.544 with 35 home runs and 98 RBIs.