David Ortiz isn’t technically the last active member of that team, because Bronson Arroyo is still kicking around, hoping someone will take a flyer on a pitcher who will be 40 next year, and who in the two years since he last threw a pitch in a big league game has torn both his UCL and rotator cuff. As much as I’m sure we all would like to wake up tomorrow morning and have it still be October 10, with an opportunity for a redo at Game 3, it’s time for Red Sox Nation to accept the end of an era. Before the game, Ortiz came in front of all the fans and got them hyped up talking about how Boston is their city and no one can take that away from them. When they scored their first fun in the fifth inning on Monday, it ended a 15-inning stretch without a run scored. Hanley Ramirez was 3 for 12 with a pair of doubles and 2 RBI, but he struck out four times. Ortiz quickly became the everyday designated hitter in June of 2003.
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Two batters later, second baseman Jason Kipnis smashed his first postseason home run over the wall in right field.
This season though, the no-nonsense Farrell helped swing the team’s fortunes as they won 93 games and took home the division title, leading many to consider them a World Series favorite.
After two minutes, Ortiz retired to the dugout and retired for good, ending to a career that brought three World Series titles to Boston and transformed the once-futile franchise into winners. The farewell tour is over, the Red Sox season is in the books, and you have played your last Major League Baseball game. His enormous contributions are all over the record books, but perhaps his most indelible legacy is the seemingly unbreakable bond he built with the fans. “That’s how we feel about what we do because we love what we do”. “I thought it was an honor to be on the field for his last game”.
“Ever since Dusty (Baker) moved me into the two-hole, I just felt like my job is to get on base for the animals behind me”, said Werth, whose three hits tied a postseason career high. I really care about the emotion that they live through. It’s the whole package. “We just have to come out and relax and keep believing”.
Making it their goal to send their beloved Big Papi out as a victor, the Red Sox managed to win the AL East – the second time in four seasons they went from worst to first. Ted Williams once spit on a group of spectators in 1956 and Yastrzemski was infamous for his surly demeanor.
But the team has never given up in the face of diversity, and they’re not going to start now.
Despite Boston lefty David Price being on the mound in Game 2, Francona went against the book and started left-handed hitter Lonnie Chisenall, who batted just.217 against lefties during the regular season.
Boston’s lineup without Big Papi is going to be a odd sight. “It’s a pleasure to play for him, and a special experience to come in and do this, and I’m happy to be here”. “I think it’s important, but there’s other things that I think are probably more important”.
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Reminders of Ortiz’s 14 seasons in Boston greeted him from the moment he arrived at the ballpark. The fact that it happened in a rare moment of failure, rather than triumph, is a reminder of how good the ride has been.
