Thursday, June 26, 2014

David Ortiz Goes All 'Babe Ruth' For Kids

(Ortiz And Ne-Yo)
When Hollywood someday makes The David Ortiz Story (with Ne-Yo in the title role), this incident will be front and center. According to WEEI.com's Rob Bradford, before yesterday's game, David Ortiz told a group of kids that he would hit a home run for them. In his first at-bat, he did just that. The kids, who were touring the Red Sox visiting clubhouse at SAFECO, are from Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon. Rehabbing Mike Carp was playing host to the group, when he asked Big Papi if he'd say "hi". According to Carp, Ortiz said, "I'm going to hit a home run for you guys today. I'm going to the moon!" Come to think of it, maybe he was actually going all 'Ralph Cramden'. Said Carp, "It was Babe Ruth-style. Legendary. It's one thing to tell your teammates, 'Hey, I feel good today, I'm going to hit a home run' You tell little kids, 5 or 6 years old, that you're going to hit a home run, they believe you. Then the very first swing you take is off the glass, you have to be kidding me." Indeed.