BOSTON — For the first time in more than two decades — basically his entire adult life — David Ortiz is not in Florida on the day that position players must report to spring training.
As the Boston Red Sox began spring training in spectacular Fort Myers weather, more than 1,400 miles away, Ortiz removed snow from the entrance of his home in Weston, Massachusetts, an affluent town in suburban Boston.
“I’m fine, I’m fine. Making a lot of things. Busier than ever, but OK,” Ortiz told ESPNdeportes.com at his home on Friday, the scheduled day for Boston’s first joint training session at JetBlue Park.
“In addition, I was never a [very big fan of] training,” said the popular Big Papi before letting out his trademark laugh.
Ortiz, who helped the Red Sox win three World Series in 14 years, retired from baseball after the 2016 season, during which he had an extraordinary performance and was named to his 10th All-Star Game.
At age 40, he hit .315 with 38 home runs and led the American League in doubles (48), RBIs (127), slugging (.620) and OPS (1.021); he won his eighth Edgar Martinez Award and his second Hank Aaron Award, finished sixth in the MVP race, and helped the Red Sox reach the postseason for the eighth time since 2003.
Boston, which plans to split designated hitter and first base responsibilities between Hanley Ramirez and newly acquired Mitch Moreland, is a favorite to repeat for the AL East title and added left-hander Chris Sale to the pitching rotation. It remains to be seen, however, how the absence of a figure as dominant as Ortiz will affect the Red Sox.
When Ramirez reported to spring training on Thursday, he spoke of the big void left by Big Papi and suggested the possibility of a return of his compatriot and mentor. “He told me that if he tries to return, I am one of the reasons why he would return, because we miss him,” Ramirez told reporters.
Ortiz has closed that door, though. “My career as a player is over. I’m not going to play baseball again. I’m good … and retired,” Ortiz told ESPNdeportes.com.
“Right now I’m calm and I’m fine; no one is playing, I’m not looking at the competition, my teammates playing, or the team doing well or not right now. But it’s not that I think that at some point I will feel that I should be playing, because if I should be playing, I would be playing.”
Ortiz, who hit .286 with 541 home runs, 632 doubles and 1,768 RBIs in his 20-year career with Boston and Minnesota, made it clear that, although he quit playing, he will continue to be a member of the great Red Sox Nation.
“People have to understand that I’m from Boston — that regardless, even if I’m not playing, I want Boston to win,” Ortiz said. “I want Boston to be strengthened, Boston to win the World Series. The organization, in any area, I’m glad for the good things that happen to the team.”
The decision to retire, which Ortiz announced in 2015 on his birthday (Nov. 18), was forced by the increasingly severe pain in his feet and heels during the long major league season, which can last more than eight months with spring training and the postseason.
“Right now, I do not miss many things, but there is something that I need is, you know, my companions, to be with them, day to day, the things that one does. Belong to the team,” said Ortiz, who for 20 years traveled to Fort Myers for the start of spring training, first to the Minnesota Twins’ camp (1997-2002) and then to the Red Sox’s camp (2003-2016).
“Right now I am doing contracts with companies, attending to things of mine, personal projects that I am trying to develop, and facing those things face to face,” he said. “I keep going to the gym; it’s just that it’s difficult for me when I’m traveling, but when I’m here at home, I’m still going to the gym.”
Red Sox president John Henry is not planning for Ortiz’s return. “I do not think David [Ortiz] comes back. People do not know the magnitude of the pain he played through last year,” Henry said.
Ortiz said he does not plan to visit his former teammates in Fort Myers right away, but he could attend some of the Dominican Republic’s games at Miami’s Marlins Park during the first round of the World Baseball Classic in March.
“I do not know, I do not know — it will depend on how my time is, maybe, but right now I have not planned to go,” Ortiz said of a possible appearance at Red Sox camp.
That visit would be well-received by the organization, said Tom Werner, one of the Red Sox’s owners, who said Friday that he hopes to see Ortiz at spring training so he can to talk to the team about leadership.
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