David Ortiz nearly lost a $100,000 piece of jewelry in a London sewer

"I stared at the grate, which looked like it had been sealed at about the time of the Tudor dynasty."

David Ortiz nearly lost out on $100,000 during his latest trek to London. Stan Grossfeld / Globe Staff

June 26, 2023

2 minutes to read

Red Sox legend and Fox Sports broadcaster David Ortiz made the most of his short stint in London for MLB’s two-game series between the Cubs and Cardinals at London Stadium.

Among the highlights was Ortiz gifting new Fox broadcaster Derek Jeter with a customized Red Sox jersey on Saturday. But Ortiz’s time across the pond also saw him nearly lose an expensive piece of jewelry.

Fellow Fox Sports reporter and The Athletic columnist Ken Rosenthal detailed the incident in his latest notebook overseas. While on their way to dinner, Rosenthal was walking behind Ortiz when the former slugger’s diamond necklace fell off and slipped right through a grate and into the London sewers.

“’Big Papi’ let out a big expletive (hint: it was a variation of the one he uttered in his legendary “this is our f—— city” speech at Fenway Park after the Boston Marathon bombing),” Rosenthal wrote. “I stared at the grate, which looked like it had been sealed at about the time of the Tudor dynasty. And while the sewer was shallow, I figured Ortiz was never getting that necklace back.”

But it didn’t take long for Ortiz to prove Rosenthal wrong.

While Ortiz and the rest of the Fox team had dinner, staff at the hotel where Ortiz was staying managed to open up the grate and fish out the pricey necklace.

Ortiz acknowledged later that the necklace was priced at $100,000.

“If a normal person – in other words, someone not nicknamed ‘Big Papi’ – had suffered similar misfortune, he would be plain out of luck,” Rosenthal said. “Of course, a normal person would not be wearing a $100,000 necklace, but we digress. Ortiz said the necklace fell off because he failed to lock it properly. And he claimed the hotel employee who recovered it was a fellow Dominican, which in his mind explained everything.”

The Fox sports team relieved the moment during Saturday’s pregame show at London Stadium.

“How much of a tip did you give that guy?” Kevin Burkhardt asked Ortiz.

“Big-time tips,” Ortiz responded. “He just saved $100K for me right there. I thought I lost it and then all of a sudden, [I hear] ‘Papi, here’s your bling,’ and I was like, ‘My man! My man!’”