You might be concerned about the Red Sox and their 3-9 start to their season as defending World Series champions.
David Ortiz isn’t.
“These guys are going to regroup,” the legendary slugger told reporters on the State House steps Wednesday, following an event to launch the New Hampshire Lottery’s new Red Sox scratch tickets. “The beginning of the season is always rough. … At some point you’ve just got to put it together and fight back.”
Ortiz recalled some of his slow starts at the plate to open a season and how it can be humbling, even coming off a World Series title.
“Sometimes it’s good to get the struggle out of the way early so you know that it’s not that easy,” he said. “Fans here know how hard it is to win and these guys are capable of it. It’s a matter of time, I would say.”
A couple hundred Red Sox fans crowded around the stage set up on the State House plaza to catch a glimpse of Ortiz. After meeting with some youth softball and baseball teams inside, Ortiz tossed a few Nerf baseballs to the crowd – some lucky fans may have caught one with his signature. Others tried to get an autograph, holding out baseballs and bats and caps along with a black marker.
The anticipation had been building as the event got off to a late start.
Before Ortiz arrived, several fans waited and peered toward Park Street on the north side of the State House as a big silver Chevrolet suburban pulled up. Perhaps they expected that only a vehicle this large could carry the man who helped bring three World Series titles to New England.
It wasn’t him, though, and the anticipation continued building as fans munched on popcorn and took pictures with Sox mascots Wally and Tessie.
Finally, a white stretch limousine turned onto Park Street and came to a stop near a side entrance to the State House. This time, the fans didn’t wonder.
“Papi” chants began to ring out as Ortiz stepped out of the limo, turned toward the crowd and waved.
Ortiz is used to this reception. He was met with similar cheers when he’d step to the plate at Fenway Park, especially when the game – or the season – was on the line.
But as much as Ortiz might miss those moments, he says he’s happy to be in retirement and hasn’t strayed too far from the game. He continues to play a role in the Red Sox organization as a mentor to the players.
“My time was up,” he said. “We continue winning and I continue to be a part of the organization, working with the guys and doing things here and there. I’m happy. I’m happy with the way things are going.”
Ortiz retired after the 2016 season when he led the American League in RBI (127) and led the majors in doubles (48). While fans hoped Ortiz would make a surprise return, such desires haven’t materialized. New Hampshire Lottery Commission Director Charlie McIntyre even asked Ortiz if he would return, drawing more cheers from the crowd.
Ortiz said he hopes Rob Gronkowski, the Patriots’ star tight end and three-time Super Bowl champion who recently announced his retirement at the age of 29, enjoys his future off the field.
“He did what he was supposed to on the field while he played, and he’s still young,” Ortiz said. “He’s about to experience a new chapter in his life, so hopefully he’ll stick around and people get to enjoy him.”
That has been Ortiz’s story so far in retirement. While he continues to work with the Sox, Ortiz also stays in the public eye doing television ads and in-person events, such as Wednesday’s with the lottery.
And even though the Sox are heading into their third season without Ortiz in the lineup, he remains a spectacle to Sox fans and a hero to younger ones.
David Mezzapelle, a Concord High freshman, missed out on a David Ortiz autograph when he went to his first Red Sox game a few years ago. It was Ortiz’s last season, and Mezzapelle thought it was his only chance to see Boston’s legendary slugger up close.
He thought it was happening again on Wednesday, as Mezzapelle – along with his younger brother, Daniel, and their father, Greg – tried to move through a crowd of a couple hundred fans to get a ball signed.
Mezzapelle didn’t make it to Ortiz at first, but he caught him on his way back to the white limo. Emerging from a scrum of fans crowding around the stretch, Mezzapelle stuck his arm up high, holding a signed ball in his hand.
“This is one of the biggest days of my life,” said Mezzapelle, who was born in 2004, the year the Red Sox broke an 86-year drought and won the World Series. “He’s everything. He’s Big Papi. He just means so much.”