With one of his final games at Yankees stadium just hours away, David Ortiz wrote a thank you letter to New York Yankees fans that will make Red Sox fans love him even more.
Published in the Players Tribune, the letter is titled, "Thanks for the Memories, New York." Big Papi promises that if fans do moon him at Tuesday's game, which might actually happen, he will laugh until he cries, and then hit a home run.
Big Papi tells Yankee fans that he has love for them.
"When I came to this country and I was trying to make it to the big leagues, I looked at guys like Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, and I was almost in awe. When I got to play against the Yankees my first few years, I would watch some of the things Jeter would do in the field like I was just a fan.
I learned a lot from watching DJ. I never got to tell him that when he was playing, but I did. The way he handled his business, and how much respect he had for this game, it made me want to be a better player.
For real, I looked forward to hitting doubles against the Yankees so I could get to second base and say what’s up to DJ."
Ortiz writes that the rivalry between the Yankees and the Red Sox is part of what made playing baseball so fun.
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"Our rivalry with the Yankees made me who I am. The intensity of that competition is what I’m gonna miss the most when I’m done. I could wake up in the morning and my body could be feeling like shit, but as soon as the bus pulls up to Yankee Stadium and I see that white fence on the upper deck, I’m like, It’s on."
While growing up in the Dominican Republic, Ortiz says that everyone not only wanted to go to New York, but they rooted for the Yankees.
"We looked at New York City like the American dream. The Yankees were like a symbol of everything. If you wore a Yankees hat, maybe your cousin or uncle sent it down to you from New York, and it was like that hat was a symbol of everything you were dreaming to be."
Ortiz says that he was able to bring his mother to new York City while he was playing Double A in '97, but she died in a car accident before he got to the Red Sox.
"My life has turned out amazing, but the only thing I wish is that she could be here for all this. When I take the field at Yankee Stadium for the last time, she’s not gonna be there to see it. That’s kind of tough, to be honest with you. But I know she would be so proud that we made it to the top of the world."
And even though he grew up loving New York, that's not where he belongs.
"Boston is not just my team. Boston is my city. I consider myself a Bostonian, and it’s the thing I’m most proud of in the world.
The Red Sox let me be me. You see my beard? The Yankees wouldn’t let me have that beard. I’d be shaving twice a day. But it goes beyond that. The Red Sox let me say what I feel. They let me be myself. If I was a Yankee, I’d be just like my boy, DJ."
Ortiz ends the letter thanking Yankee fans, but promising that he's bringing his all Tuesday night.
"When our bus pulls up to Yankee Stadium today, I’m gonna be ready to go. And when I hear you boo me, I’m gonna try to hit the ball over that white fence, all the way to the mother******* choo choo train.
Respect."
Cox Media Group
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