It’s funny to think that only four years ago, the Boston Red Sox seemed more than willing to cut ties with fan favorite David Ortiz, as his batting average had dipped to a career low (.238) for a full season and his strikeouts were at a then-career high with 134. And today he’s once again being celebrated as one of Boston’s greatest sports legends, up there with Ted Williams, the Yaz and TAWM FAHKIN BRADY. That’s why sports are so great, though, because us fickle fans forgive and forget easier than anyone else on Earth.
And at least 560 Red Sox fans think that Ortiz’s absurd .688 World Series batting average and team-leading two home runs were good enough to earn him the title of mayor in Boston. That’s how many people apparently wrote in Big Papi in the city’s recent election, just 71,394 shy of mayor-elect Marty Walsh. But at least we know that Ortiz probably would have had the endorsement of Tom Menino.
“That’s my man, you know. Me and Menino, we go way back and we always do a lot of things together,” Ortiz said earlier this week. “Knowing he was going to retire, it was a shock. We’ve had Mayor Menino over, what, 20 years? He’s done an incredible job through the years. I wasn’t ready to see him retire, but it happens to all of us.
“I was proud to get to know him through the years, doing things with him, especially for kids. I love kids. He encouraged me to do things like that,” Ortiz added. “The political side — I don’t know about that and I stay away from that. He just told me, ‘Go get ’em, tiger.’” (Via NESN)
That’s probably because Menino thought that his name was actually Tiger.
(Banner via Getty)
