David Ortiz enjoyed soaking up jeers from Yankee fans during World Series coverage
"Come on, man, show some love to Papi."
David Ortiz’s moment with Yankee fans: As Red Sox fans continue to savor the 20th anniversary of the 2004 World Series team, they don’t have to look too far in the standard Fox baseball broadcast to see a few familiar faces.
David Ortiz, Derek Jeter, and Alex Rodriguez are part of the network’s standard playoff lineup of pre and postgame pundits. The friendship between the group is obviously notable given their competitive history against each other (including 2004).
Yet while the nature of their style is friendly banter, Red Sox and Yankee fans aren’t as quick to move past historical animosity. New York fans underscored this point on Monday prior to Game 3 of the World Series (which the Dodgers won to take a 3-0 series lead) when the former Boston slugger elicited a colorful cheer from the crowd.
“Papi sucks, Papi sucks,” chanted Yankee fans.
Ortiz, who not only became accustomed to the boos in New York during his career but ultimately embraced the atmosphere, smiled broadly and cackled as he was serenaded by the New York crowd.
“Come on, man, show some love to Papi,” Ortiz joked.
The Yankee boos for Ortiz are — whether New York fans would admit it or not— ultimately a mark of respect for the former designated hitter. In 243 career games against the Yankees (not including the postseason), Ortiz hit .303 with 53 home runs (good for a .961 OPS).
In the postseason, Ortiz hit .333 against the Yankees across 14 games (the two seven-game series of 2003 and 2004). He notched five home runs in that time, with 17 clutch RBIs. This included his back-to-back walk-off hits in Game 4 and 5 of the 2004 ALCS.
Trivia: According to Baseball Reference, the most regular season home runs David Ortiz hit off a specific pitcher during his career was six. Can you name the pitcher he hit that number of home runs off of?
(Answer at the bottom).
Hint: He won the Cy Young Award twice, once in each league. He also led the league in complete games seven times.
Scores and schedules:
The Celtics defeated the Bucks 119-108 on Monday, with Jaylen Brown leading Boston with 30 points.
In national news, the Dodgers are now one game away from a World Series title after defeating the Yankees 4-2 in Game 3 on Monday. Los Angeles now holds a 3-0 series lead.
The Celtics will play again on Wednesday night in Indiana against the Pacers at 7 p.m.
Tonight, the Bruins host the Flyers at 7 p.m.
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- Jerod Mayo discussed Patriots’ win, Drake Maye’s status, and response to ‘soft’ comments
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Game 4: The Red Sox have been releasing a series on the team’s YouTube page looking back at the 2004 run. The final segment looked back on Game 4 of the World Series, with interesting perspectives (including starting pitcher Derek Lowe).
The Patriots’ postgame locker room: The team shared some of the footage from its celebratory moments after defeating the Jets on Sunday.
On this day: In 1971, the Celtics handed the Bucks a first loss in the new season, dropping Milwaukee 125-114 at the Boston Garden.
Dave Cowens led Boston with 37 points and 15 rebounds, dueling Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (who tallied a game-high 43 points with 17 rebounds of his own).
The difference-maker in the game was John Havlicek, who put up a triple-double (24 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) along with four steals in a performance that Boston Globe sportswriter Bob Ryan said should be shipped “to the Louvre, along with other masterpieces.”
Daily highlight: Enjoy the now patented Payton Pritchard buzzer-beater to end the quarter.
Trivia answer: Roy Halladay
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