Red Sox Honor David Ortiz Before Final Home Exhibition Game

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Nov 18, 2025, 2:10 AM

red sox honor david ortiz before final home exhibition game

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Red Sox celebrated David Ortiz's two decades of spring training in Fort Myers with a pregame ceremony before his final home exhibition game, a 5-3 loss to the Orioles on Monday. Ortiz announced on his 40th birthday in November that this will be his final season. He trained in Fort Myers first with the Minnesota Twins and then since 2003 with the Red Sox. Ortiz went 0-for-3 and left after the sixth inning in a golf cart decorated with his number 34 and the flag of the Dominican Republic on its roof. The cart was driven by a pair of former Red Sox starts: Hall of Famer Jim Rice and Luis Tiant.

"Very nice, very nice," Ortiz said. "I've been coming to Fort Myers for a long time. To get to the point where you can get to say goodbye as a player, it's really good. "It's crazy. I wasn't expecting any of it but it happened. Whenever somebody comes to you with a gift, it's always welcomed, right?

The Red Sox and the city of Fort Myers, I really thank them for being so nice." David Ortiz will never play another spring training game, but his name will live on at his team's facility after he retires from baseball. The Red Sox slugger officially kicked off his farewell tour Monday when he was honored in a ceremony ahead of his final home spring training game in Fort Myers, Fla., against the Orioles. To commemorate his career, the team presented him with a David Ortiz Way road sign and announced it will name a street at JetBlue Park after him. He also received a seat from each of the three ballparks he played at during spring training throughout his career. MORE: Papi's most memorable moments | PHOTOS: Ortiz always goes big

The team further showed its gratitude by painting the grass in foul territory with Ortiz’s No. 34 and hanging a sign over the faux Green Monster that read, "THANK YOU, DAVID." Today marks @davidortiz 's final #SoxSpring game at @FenwaySouth ! #ThanksPapi 💪☀️🌴 pic.twitter.com/dRxDt3I38Z FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Boston celebrated David Ortiz’s two decades of spring training in Fort Myers with a pregame ceremony before his final home exhibition game, a 5-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Monday.

Ortiz announced on his 40th birthday in November that this will be his final season. He trained in Fort Myers with the Minnesota Twins and then since 1993 with the Red Sox. Ortiz went 0 for 3 and left after the sixth inning in a golf cart decorated with his number 34 and the flag of the Dominican Republic on its roof. The cart was driven by a pair of former Red Sox starts: Hall of Famer Jim Rice and Luis Tiant. “Very nice, very nice,” Ortiz said. “I’ve been coming to Fort Myers for a long time.

To get to the point where you can get to say goodbye as a player, it’s really good. “It’s crazy. I wasn’t expecting any of it but it happened. Whenever somebody comes to you with a gift, it’s always welcomed, right? The Red Sox and the city of Fort Myers, I really thank them for being so nice.” Send this article to your social connections.

Send this article to your social connections. FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Boston celebrated David Ortiz’s two decades of spring training in Fort Myers with a pregame ceremony before his final home exhibition game, a 5-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Monday. Ortiz announced on his 40th birthday in November that this will be his final season. He trained in Fort Myers with the Minnesota Twins and then since 1993 with the Red Sox. Gift #1: @davidortiz now has his own road at @FenwaySouth!

David Ortiz Way! #ThanksPapi 💪 pic.twitter.com/0yIRC5tamL The Red Sox celebrated David Ortiz’s two decades of spring training in Fort Myers with a pregame ceremony before his final home exhibition game, a 5-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Monday. Ortiz announced on his 40th birthday in November that this will be his final season. He trained in Fort Myers with the Minnesota Twins and then since 1993 with the Red Sox. Ortiz went 0 for 3 and left after the sixth inning in a golf cart decorated with his number 34 and the flag of the Dominican Republic on its roof.

The cart was driven by a pair of former Red Sox stars: Hall of Famer Jim Rice and Luis Tiant. Xavier Avery, Nolan Reimold and Francisco Pena homered for the Orioles, with Avery connecting on Rick Porcello’s second pitch of the game. Boston celebrated David Ortiz's two decades of spring training in Fort Myers with a pregame ceremony before his final home exhibition game, a 5-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Monday. Ortiz announced on his 40th birthday in November that this will be his final season. He trained in Fort Myers with the Minnesota Twins and the Red Sox. Ortiz went 0 for 3 and left after the sixth inning in a golf cart decorated with his number 34 and the flag of the Dominican Republic on its roof.

The cart was driven by a pair of former Red Sox stars: Hall of Famer Jim Rice and Luis Tiant. Xavier Avery, Nolan Reimold and Francisco Pena homered for the Orioles, with Avery connecting on Rick Porcello's second pitch of the game. This is an accepted version of this page David Américo Ortiz Arias (born November 18, 1975), nicknamed "Big Papi", is a Dominican-American former professional baseball designated hitter who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1997 to 2016, primarily for the... After playing parts of six seasons with the Minnesota Twins, Ortiz moved to the Red Sox, where he played a leading role in ending the team's 86-year World Series championship drought in 2004, as... In his first five seasons with the club, he averaged 41 home runs and 128 runs batted in (RBIs), leading the American League (AL) twice in the latter category and setting the team's single-season...

Used almost exclusively as a DH during his 14 seasons with the Red Sox, he was a ten-time All-Star and a seven-time Silver Slugger winner, and became regarded as one of the greatest designated... He posted ten seasons each with 30 home runs and 100 RBIs, and batted .300 or better seven times. After a drop in his offensive numbers from 2008 to 2012, he enjoyed a strong resurgence in his last four seasons, and had one of his best years in his final campaign, leading the... Upon his retirement, Ortiz ranked sixth in AL history with 541 home runs, fifth in doubles (632) and ninth in RBIs (1,768). Regarded as one of the greatest clutch hitters of all time,[2] he had 11 career walk-off home runs during the regular season and two during the 2004 postseason, the first of which clinched the... In 2022, Ortiz was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

David Américo Ortiz Arias was born on November 18, 1975, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, as the oldest of four children of Enrique (Leo) Ortiz and Ángela Rosa Arias. As a boy, he followed the careers of standout pitcher Ramón Martinez and his younger brother Pedro, attending games whenever he could and building a friendship with Pedro that would only grow over the... It’s been nine years since David Ortiz played his final game, but he never stops thinking about what the Red Sox need to win. The Hall of Fame slugger remains – to borrow a phrase from this year’s squad – ‘tremendously locked in’ on the Red Sox state of affairs. Even as he hosted droves of superstar athletes, celebrities and fans at his 17th annual “Weekend with Papi” Celebrity Golf Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., this weekend, he couldn’t help but offer an... “(Alex) Bregman just went for the free agency, hopefully we can work something out for him,” Ortiz told the Herald over Zoom.

“He did it all here. He got really good leadership, he did what we were expecting from him. Even going through some injuries, he represented very well himself and this organization… Hopefully lock him in, because good players are always going to be good players.” “We know what we need. We probably need a couple more power hitters that give support to the lineup,” Ortiz continued. “Pitching-wise, we are looking really good… I think our front office is going to be on a mission this offseason, because like I said, we are not too far away from facing a World...

We just need to try to stay healthy, add a couple of more pieces, and I think we will be good to go.” Ortiz still says ‘We’ when referring to the Red Sox because he never really left. Less than a year after his last game, he signed a ‘forever’ contract to remain with the club in a multifaceted role that includes player mentor, special advisor, and ambassador. He makes regular appearances at spring training and Fenway Park throughout the seasons. In his final regular season game at Fenway Park, David Ortiz was honored by the Boston Red Sox in an emotional pre-game ceremony, which featured gift presentations, visits by former teammates of David’s, special... This was a very special day in Red Sox history, and our photographers were there to capture it all from every angle.

Red Sox Honor David Ortiz Before Final Home Exhibition Game

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