Wow he has you too. Universally loved? Show me the facts on that I highly doubt it lol.
He has EVERYBODY. Except Yankee fans. I can't post the positive quotes because they are endless. This is pretty indicative of what you'll find with a 5 second google search:
Maikel Franco had not yet made his major league debut in 2014 when he traveled to Fort Myers, Florida, to play in a spring training game. As he recalls, he was taking a few swings in the batting cage, minding his own business, when a familiar, booming voice called out his name. David Ortiz wanted to chat.
"I was just like, 'Oh my god, this is so weird. He knows me already?'" said Franco, the Philadelphia Phillies' third baseman. "I never even met him, but the first time that I go play Boston, he gives me a big hug, everything. He just told me to work hard and get better every single day. He told me, 'Keep doing what you're doing. I know what you've got. I know you can be able to play here in the big leagues.'"
Franco, 24, laughs at the retelling because he knows his story isn't unique. Dozens, if not hundreds, of players in clubhouses across the majors can tell tales of their brush with Big Papi, that moment when Ortiz offered unsolicited advice, feedback and support to help them advance their careers.
Counselling guys on other teams
:
"He legitimately cares about these guys," Seattle Mariners third-base coach Manny Acta says. "He didn't do it because of the club the guys were playing for. He was doing it because he cares about these kids. He wants to see them stay up here and compete, like he did."
When Acta was managing the Cleveland Indians, Ortiz would call him and ask if it was OK for him to offer a few words of advice to Carlos Santana, then a young catcher in the early stages of his career.
"He'd say, 'I'm going to talk to this kid and try to help him out,'" Acta recalls. "What am I going to say? No? Who wouldn't want to have David talk to their players."
Yup, sounds like a me-first guy right there. lol
Non Latin guys on Ortiz if that's the half baked excuse you're going with:
MLB players react to David Ortiz's final game | FOX Sports
He even helps out guys on the Yankees:
“For me, he’s like a big brother,” Cano said on NESN’s “Red Sox Gameday Live” before Wednesday’s game. “… It’s going to be sad seeing him go, but we have to respect his decision.What a great career. That’s a career every player would love to have.”
And it isn't only hitters. When hard-throwing New York Yankees right-hander Dellin Betances was a rookie in 2014, Ortiz spotted a flaw while watching him pitch. Ortiz asked a mutual friend for Betances' phone number, called him up and pointed out the problem.
Can you imagine players saying these things about Arod? haha
And the ARod comparison is much much close than you would think.
I posted this above, but reconcile these statements:
Arod's well respected former manager on Arod:
“Alex monopolized all the attention. We never really had anybody who craved the attention. I think when Alex came over he certainly changed just the feel of the club,” Torre said in the book. Torre also wrote that when Rodriguez was at the plate in an important situation he was worried about “how it looks” rather than “concern himself with getting the job done.”
Here's Papi's well respected former manager on Papi:
Francona said. "He's certainly the face of the Red Sox, or one of them, and probably the same goes for the face of baseball. He's got that big smile that when you walk in the room, or when somebody walks in the room, he can disarm you just like that. I don't care who you are. He's a big teddy bear.
"Early on when I got there, I realized real quick you could go to him if you got something you needed to get done, which is important, real important. And we had a lot of guys like that. David transcends languages, colors, things like that. If you were in his uniform, that was what mattered."
Are you calling Torre, Francona and all those other players disingenuous or liars? And if, in your mind, those are the same things then haha
How Arod talks about his teammates:
Arod on (now) former friend and Yankees Legend Derek Jeter:
"Jeter's been blessed with great talent around him," Rodriguez said. "He's never had to lead. You go into New York, you wanna stop Bernie (Williams) and (Paul) O'Neill. You never say, 'Don't let Derek beat you.' He's never your concern."
Heck, and
Pedro himself lobbied the hell out of the Red Sox to sign Ortiz:
I pulled out my little flip phone right there and started calling everybody I could think of back in Boston. But nobody picked up, because they were all in the MLB Winter Meetings. Finally I got to the traveling secretary, Jack McCormick, and I said, "Hey, can you get a hold of Lucchino or Theo or somebody?"
Jack said, "Huh? What's going on?"
"Listen, I'm in the Dominican and I ran into David Ortiz. He just got released by Minnesota. We need to sign him."
"The first baseman? Well, you know, we got Brian Daubach ..."
"Look, I'm telling you. This guy is going to be special. Get Theo on the phone."
"Alright, I'll tell them."
Besides the way you people adore him and made others believe, he's the same guy - a cheater who really care's about #1
Again, I'm waiting for you to provide me ANYTHING, but a Yankee fan's jaded opinion. Which you are entitled to. But it certainly doesn't make it fact.
I know I'll never convince you, but I'm satisfied in the knowledge I have all the facts on my side in this particular argument.
is he living in Boston now during the season? He should be after al he proclaimed it to be his town, he should never leave
Is that the best you can do? you mean he shouldn't live in his native country? That's laughable. Again, how about we listen to people who actually KNOW:
Seattle Mariners third-base coach Manny Acta, who managed Ortiz on the Dominican team in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. "It would've been very easy for him to grab his money and just move here [to the USA] and never go home. But David has touched so many lives in every class down there, whether you're poor, middle class or rich. That's why people love him to death."
"When David talks, everybody listens, especially in the Dominican," Mariners slugger Nelson Cruz says. "We saw him as an idol. We saw him growing up playing baseball and being a hero when everybody was expecting it. He's a role model for all the Dominican players."
The people in the Dominican respect the hell out of him returning, living in a third world country, and giving so much back to the community.
I mean, among the baseball community, he's thought of as one of the BEST people in the game.
indeed
