The top 10 David Ortiz moments in Yankee Stadium heading into his final trip
David Ortiz will appear in Yankee Stadium for the final time this week
By
Matt Snyder
•
3 min read
David Ortiz and the Red Sox begin a series in Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night. It'll be the final series in the outstanding career of Ortiz on the road against the rival Yankees and, boy, have they had tons of memorable affairs.
Just for fun, I'm going to subjectively run down the top 10 Papi-related moments in Yankee Stadium(s). Yes, there have been two, but they have the same name. Both count.
In both Yankee Stadiums, David Ortiz has 31 home runs in 114 regular season games. We've seen plenty of work in the postseason, too. Let's run some down.
10. The PED press conference
In 2009, a report uncovered that Ortiz was one of the 100-plus players who anonymously tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug in 2003. As a result, he called a press conference in which he defended himself and said that he had been careless at the time with his use of supplements and didn't realize he was taking anything that would flag him. This happened in Yankee Stadium.
Now, let's keep in mind that Ortiz hasn't ever tested positive since the system was implemented in 2004, but this still does leave a stain on Ortiz's legacy in the minds of many fans. Many of those are probably Yankees fans, so it's fitting that he held the presser in Yankee Stadium.
9. The buried jersey
In an attempt to curse the Yankees in their new home, a Red Sox fan construction worker buried a David Ortiz jersey in the concrete at new Yankee Stadium. The Yankees ordered an excavation project to get it out, but this is definitely a fun little piece of the puzzle in the rivalry.
8. His last two-homer game?
On May 8 of this season in front of a national audience on Sunday night, Ortiz hit two home runs and that could end up being the last time he had a two-homer game in the Bronx. Here's the second one:
7. First two-homer game in Yankee Stadium
On May 29, 2005, Ortiz homered in his first two at-bats of the game -- off the great Mike Mussina, no less -- helping the defending champion Red Sox to a 7-2 win.
6. Extra-innings marathon homer
On April 10, 2015, the Red Sox and Yankees played a game that last six hours and 49 minutes. Surprisingly, it lasted more than nine innings. In fact, they needed 19, with the Red Sox finally winning 6-5. Ortiz hit a home run in the top of the 16th.
5. The big ejection
On May 6 of this season, Ortiz was called out on strikes and ended up with a pretty solid effort in getting his money's worth on an ejection. Here, MLB mashes it up with the ol' George Brett pine tar ejection:
Fun.
4. Getting things started in Game 1
The Red Sox-Yankees series in 2003 and 2004 for the American League title were epic. Ortiz got the scoring started in Game 1 of the 2003 ALCS with a two-run shot off Mussina. The Red Sox would win, 5-2.
3. Big Game 6
In that same series, the Red Sox came back to Yankee Stadium trailing the series three games to two. They needed the win in Game 6 and got it, in no small part thanks to Ortiz. The big man went 2 for 5 with three RBI. His two-RBI single in the third off Andy Pettitte gave the Red Sox a 3-1 lead. He'd later cut the Yankees lead to 6-5 with an RBI single and then score the game-tying run, en route to a wild 9-6 Red Sox win.
2. The first Game 7
In the Aaron Boone game, the Yankees won and crushed the souls of the Red Sox and their fans (until one year later, of course). The Red Sox were in position to win that 2003 ALCS, of course. A David Ortiz home run in the top of the eighth provided a three-run lead before the Yankees would storm back off Pedro Martinez.
1. GAME SEVEN
The Red Sox finally broke the "curse of the Bambino" by taking down the Yankees in 2004, coming back from a 0-3 deficit to win the series. Most people remember the Red Sox blowout in Game 7, and if a certain play stuck out it was probably the upper-deck homer from the bearded Johnny Damon. That came in the second inning, though.
Remember how the scoring got started? Big Papi took Kevin Brown deep in the first.
Sure, most of the great Big Papi moments came in Fenway Park, but I feel like his legend was hatched in those two postseason series with the Yankees, and there were several huge moments in Yankee Stadium. Ortiz says he was "born to play against the Yankees." Well, he's got three final chances this week. Soak it in.
