BOSTON—With three giant World Series banners laid across the outfield grass, three championship trophies on a table and his Hall of Fame plaque hanging behind him, David Ortiz basked in the welcome of the Fenway fans on Tuesday, two days after he was inducted in Cooperstown.
Thanking those who helped him throughout his career—many of them seated in folding chairs along the first- and third-base lines—Ortiz took the field to chants of “Papi!” and told the crowd before the slumping Red Sox played the Cleveland Guardians: “The good luck charm just arrived.”
Ortiz took his spot near the pitcher’s mound where, nine years ago, he rallied the residents after the Boston Marathon bombing by proclaiming, “This is our (expletive) city!” Red Sox Hall of Famers Carl Yastrzemski and Jim Rice joined him for this celebration, as did Pedro Martinez and Vladimir Guerrero—fellow Cooperstown inductees from the Dominican Republic….