Winner of three World Series for Boston Red Sox, and the Most Valuable Player of the 2013 World Series, David Ortiz was interviewed on the David Letterman Show on Monday 4 November.
“You have become the standard bearer for ‘by God this is our city’,” Letterman commented as he asked Ortiz to describe his reaction to the tragic events of the Boston Marathon in his own words. In his first day at Fenway after the bombing at Boston Marathon, he spontaneously expressed the way he felt at the time with his famous “This is our ‘bleep’ city!” statement.
Ortiz said that his team was strongly motivated by the event that had never happened before. “Because of the year before, nobody expected us to be where we were.” Letterman and Ortiz joked about beer and chicken and players slacking off in the clubhouse. “This is a different team, maybe not as a big a force in baseball as previous teams that won the Series.” Ortiz said it was “heart” that made the difference and joked about the beards. He also described what he told the team in St. Louis and told them about his experience, and players who were goofing off. “I let them know ‘you don’t come to the World Series every day. This is a special moment, a once in a lifetime thing’.”
Ortiz also told the history of his fascination with basketball, and how his father encouraged him to be a baseball player. He said his dad set him three goals: get to big leagues, go to the All Star Game and win the World Series.
The Senate will recognize David Ortiz today, Thursday 7 November.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8YTLbsNYII