David Ortiz gets his own bridge and street near Fenway in pregame retirement ceremony
David Ortiz may be retiring, but that doesn’t mean Red Sox fans will stop seeing his name around Fenway Park anytime soon.
During a pregame ceremony before Ortiz’s last regular season game Sunday, it was officially announced that not one, but two local pieces of infrastructure will bear the name of the Red Sox slugger.
First, the Brookline Avenue bridge spanning the Massachusetts Turnpike (between Lansdowne and Newbury streets) behind Fenway Park will be named David Ortiz “Big Papi” Bridge.
The Brookline Avenue bridge will soon be named after David Ortiz.
As the Red Sox commemorated Ortiz’s career on the field, Gov. Charlie Baker walked onto the field holding a sign for the bridge, with the Massachusetts state seal.
.@davidortiz is now forever a part of the Fenway neighborhood. #ThanksPapi pic.twitter.com/2DqZV1GFpX
— Red Sox (@RedSox) October 2, 2016
In a joint announcement Thursday, Baker and top legislators had proposed the plan to rename the bridge be included in a supplemental budget. That day, the House and Senate moved uncharacteristically swiftly to approve the measure. House Speaker Robert DeLeo told WGBH it was Baker who first mentioned the idea.
“We don’t get a whole lot of things that can easily be pushed through, where everyone agrees on it,” DeLeo said Thursday. “But this was just one of those times when we did because of the respect and admiration that all of us have for David Ortiz.”
Walking onto the field with Baker was Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, holding a sign that read David Ortiz Drive. According to the Red Sox PA announcer, the street linking Fenway Park and the new nearby commuter rail MBTA station, Yawkey Station, will also get Ortiz’s name.
https://twitter.com/RedSox/status/782649382634196992
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