Boston Red Sox: David Ortiz Send Off at Yankee Stadium Will Be a Class Act

Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz will play his final game at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night. The Yankees will be honoring him with a pre-game ceremony. Unlike the Red Sox treatment of Mariano Rivera when he was recognized at Fenway, the Yankees will show themselves to be the class organization they are.

When the Yankees announced a few weeks ago that David Ortiz would be honored in a pre game ceremony during his final visit to Yankee Stadium, the talk radio switchboards in New York caught fire in a stream of protest. “Say it ain’t so”, was the cry as Yankees fans tried to process what they couldn’t believe.

And while those protests have died down since then, the time has come and David Ortiz will take center stage tomorrow night as the Yankees host the Boston Red Sox.

The Yankees organization will attempt to control and set the tone for the ceremony and that is important for a number of reasons. First, memories are still fresh from the Red Sox ceremony honoring Mariano Rivera at Fenway. In that one, the Sox got a little too cute (some would say nasty) when they accented their comeback in the 2004 World Series and not the feats accomplished by Rivera.

Yankees who were around at the time still can’t get over it. C. C. Sabathia, for instance, had this to say to the New York Daily News today, “It wasn’t playful,” Sabathia said. “It was more about the Red Sox than it was about Mo, them wanting to show what they’ve done. Mo’s got five World Series rings to their three. Don’t even go there.”

The Yankees won’t go there. They pride themselves on being a class organization and they will be watched closely by everyone as to how they handle what is obviously a very hot potato. Red Sox fans will be watching too. And although the rivalry between the two teams has waned in recent years, all it needs is for a tiny piece of kindling wood to start smoking.

Honestly, when I first heard that David Ortiz was retiring and that he was self promoting his farewell tour, the first thought that came to mind was, “What a pompous ass this guy is.” And then he topped it off by saying he was “Jeterlike” and deserved to be treated that way. Case closed, I thought to myself.

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Except that as a fan of baseball, no one can ignore the season David Ortiz has had. The numbers are astounding and I would bet a year’s pay (but I haven’t done the research) that no one in the history of baseball has ever had a better year in their final season. And yes, that does include Derek Jeter.

So, there’s been somewhat of a thaw on both sides. And the Yankees will prove that and strengthen the goodwill by putting on a classy show that will be immediately followed by a major league ballgame.

Because the fact is that even Ortiz has softened, or maybe he’s just grown up a bit over the last year too. Just published today, for instance, is a article appearing in The Players Journal titled “Thanks For The Memories, New York”. It’s a good read and it was written by David Ortiz himself. Not to go unnoticed either should be the fact that the publication is Jeter’s own.

Diehard Yankees fans can boo Ortiz all they want once the game begins. Given the hurt that David Ortiz has put on the Yankees over the years, that would not only be understandable, but it would also be appropriate.

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But if you are a fan of baseball and can remember when the Boston Red Sox pulled him out of a garbage can the Twins had left at the curb in 2003, and you are aware of the numbers he’s put up on the board since then – then you should be able to stand up and cheer David Ortiz for what he is – one helluva baseball player.

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