Rafael Devers, who met Ortiz early in his time in the Red Sox organization, said that Ortiz regularly checks in about his family life. One after another, All-Stars testified to the considerable role that Ortiz has played and continues to play in their careers and lives. “Large father, large brother he wears all the hats for me,” said Mookie Betts, who estimated that he still talks to Ortiz at least once a month. Ortiz remains a brother to contemporaries from his playing days, a father figure for those who arrived in the big leagues late in Ortiz’s career or since his retirement, and sometimes both. Yet while Ortiz expresses some befuddlement about the infrequency with which current players contact him, players express amazement about how much he does remain engaged with them even after his playing days. So, it’s kind of like, OK, I did my thing, you do yours.”
it’s not like you receive many phone calls from players trying to figure things out. “In my day, when I was trying to figure things out, I would love to have a friend like David Ortiz who would share his thoughts about the game, about what he knows, about what he learned,” said Ortiz. So it’s somewhat surprising that he feels the current generation of players is not taking full advantage of it. To Ortiz, that responsibility as a mentor, as a person who answers a call from a younger player, is precious. “I can pick up my phone and call him any time he can pick his and call me any time, and every time we talk, he’s just full of wisdom.”
That’s what I admire the most about David Ortiz,” Pujols continued. To me, it’s what he does off the field with his foundation and the impact that he has made and the life changes that he has made for others. “Just forget about the numbers and forget what he did in the field. He used to play for Seattle and was in my backyard,” said Pujols.
“Back in the Dominican Republic, I got in a lot of trouble with my parents because I used to skip school to go watch David Ortiz when nobody knew David Ortiz. David Ortiz has long been larger than life in Boston, and he'll be immortalized in Cooperstown on Sunday.
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