David Ortiz Confirmed That Pedro Martinez Was "110% Responsible For Bringing Him To Boston", And Also Said He Would Dominate Today's Game With Its New Rules
This past weekend I got the opportunity to interview one of my childhood heroes, Big Papi David Ortiz.
Forgive me for sounding like a bumbling, stumbling, idiot during my conversation with him. I don't get star-struck too often, but this guy is on another level.
Ortiz hosted his 16th Annual David Ortiz “Weekend with Papi” Celebrity Golf Classic this weekend in Marco Island, FL. I was supposed to go down and DJ the golf tournament and the after parties for it but I was stuck tending to work in Chicago so I couldn't make it. Ortiz and his team were nice enough to hop on a zoom with me and bust my balls a little, but to also tell me all about the incredible things his charity, The David Ortiz Children’s Fund, and the event, have done over the years, and the thousands of lives it has impacted. (Shout out to my friend Lindsay Rotondi)
The David Ortiz Children’s Fund provides critical pediatric healthcare to children in New England and the Dominican Republic. The David Ortiz Children's Fund has provided over 1,600 children with lifesaving heart surgery in the Dominican Republic and has helped thousands more throughout New England region. In 2011, David Ortiz was awarded the Roberto Clemente Award by Major League Baseball for his work with the David Ortiz Children’s Fund. For more information, please visit: www.davidortizchildrensfund.org.
The foundation works hand in hand with one of the greatest medical facilities on the planet, Mass General Children's Hospital, (a place that helped save my life when I was younger), home to some of the most brilliant doctors on Earth. With more than 300 physicians, 50 medical specialties and 15 surgical services, plus complete access to the resources of the world-renowned Massachusetts General Hospital, MassGeneral Hospital for Children is dedicated to providing high quality, personalized, developmentally appropriate care for infants, children and adolescents. For more information, please visit: www.massgeneral.org/children.
Papi has also set up an outpost for children and their families in his home, the Dominican Republic. CEDIMAT Cardiovascular Center is the first center in the Dominican Republic that performs neonate cardiovascular surgeries. It’s a Pioneer center in many interventional as well as surgical procedures. Through their social program and with the help of foundations like the David Ortiz Children’s Fund, over 2,200 children have received pediatric cardiovascular carefree of charge. For more information please visit: http://www.cedimat.com/cardiovascular/cardiologia-pediatrica/.
What he has done is nothing short of incredible.
MARCO ISLAND, FL (November 25, 2024) – From November 22-24, 400 friends and supporters traveled to the JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort in Florida to attend the 16th annual David Ortiz “Weekend with Papi” Celebrity Golf Classic. Hosted by the ten-time All-Star, three-time World Series champion and MLB Hall of Famer, the three-day destination event has raised a record-breaking $1.739M (and counting!) for the David Ortiz Children’s Fund whose mission is to provide lifesaving heart surgeries and care to children in Big Papi’s native Dominican Republic and New England. To date, the surgeries made possible by the David Ortiz Children’s Fund have saved the lives of 1,611 children and aided an additional 16,540 kids.
In between hearing the touching stories of some families the Fund has assisted, the star-studded event had plenty of fun and surprises. Amongst the more than 40 celebrity guests who attended included Papi’s former Red Sox teammates Pedro Martinez, Johnny Damon, Gabe Kapler, Dustin Pedroia, Brock Holt, Jackie Bradley, Jr., Kevin Youkilis as well as manager Tito Francona; fellow MLB Hall-of-Famers Barry Larkin, Derek Jeter and Jim Rice as well as World Series Champs Carl Everett, Dontrelle Willis, Orlando “El Duque” Hernández, Jorge Posada, Shane Spencer and Jim Leyritz; MLB greats Félix “King Félix” Hernández, Jose Reyes, Michael Tucker and Mychael Givens; former Boston Bruin and Stanley Cup Champion Shawn Thornton; NBA Champions Julius “Dr. J” Erving and Rashard Lewis; three-time Super Bowl champ Lonie Paxton and three-time Pro Bowl-er Jevon Kearse; from different rings, WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair and two-time boxing world champion Winky Wright; from Hollywood, actors Anthony Mackie and Anthony Anderson; and more.
On Saturday night, Ortiz led an emotional tribute honoring Johnny Damon as their “Tim Wakefield Man of the Year” for his unwavering support of the David Ortiz Children’s Fund since its inception. A true family affair for Big Papi this year, his daughter, Alexandra Ortiz – who recently joined the Fund’s Board of Directors – and his son, D’Angelo Ortiz, were on-hand to lend their enthusiasm. An announcement also was made that next year the Fund will be hosting the event at an exciting new venue, PGA National Resort (Palm Beach Gardens, FL), from November 13-16, 2025.
After telling me about his philanthropic efforts, I got to ask Ortiz a few questions. After having just recentlyt watched the incredible Netflix documentary, The Comeback, based on the epic 2004 Red Sox post season, I had to ask him about a few things they mentioned in it, that were previously unknown to the public.
(I wrote about it here)
First and foremost, was Pedro really the reason Ortiz became a member of the Red Sox?
You can watch the full interview up above, it's not long, but I also asked him about the rumor he didn't know Dustin Pedroia's real name for 9 years (he said "half true"), and also what he thought about the state of the game today and what he thinks about the new rules- the pitch clock, and mound visits.
He said he would benefit so greatly from them, to the point he would "dominate", because when he stepped into the box, he was locked in, and that catchers would always visit the mound and take forever in the middle of his at bats. He also said that managers not being able to make pitching changes every time he came up to the plate (the 3 batter rule) would be an even bigger advantage for him. (Something I didn't even consider before he mentioned it.) It's hard to picture a more dominating David Ortiz, but I don't see how you can argue with his reasoning.
This was a great 15 minutes with a true-legend, and an icon who has never forgotten the importance of giving back. Hats off to Big Papi.
You can read more about his foundation here.
And you can read more about this year's event, and see pictures from it, at MLB.com
Ortiz sees living proof all the time of what his foundation has accomplished.
“Now that I live in the Dominican, I see people who are working in places where our foundation has been able to take care of their child. They come to me, thanking me. A lot of people, they don’t have the funds to be able to pay for this surgery. It’s been amazing,” said Ortiz.
How did open heart surgeries for children become the focal point of Ortiz’s foundation?
“I had a friend that basically showed up at my house, and he wanted me to give him five minutes, he wanted to show me something,” said Ortiz. “When we went to the hospital, they had this empty room with two kids and their surgery was done, but they were struggling. I remember one of these kids, he was my son’s age at the time.
“All I thought about was me being that child’s parent and not having the opportunity or the money to be able to provide for his surgery. That was my motivation to begin, and you see what we’ve got going on 16 years later.”