David Ortiz is a Hall of Famer and did major damage against numerous teams throughout his MLB career. But some of his finest and most memorable moments came against the rival New York Yankees.
Ortiz’s big hits against the Yankees may have made him despised by fans of the Bronx Bombers, but they also led him to be highly respected by the team’s fans.
Ortiz joined the “R2C2” podcast with CC Sabathia and Ryan Ruocco for an episode published on Thursday. In the episode, Ortiz shared the compliment he receives from Yankees fans.
“Out of all the 30 teams in MLB, Yankee fans are the only fans that come to me and … before they even take a picture with me, I know they approach me to take a picture with me, but before they take a picture, they tell me ‘Papi, I’m a Yankee fan for life. But I respect you and the way you handled your business.’ You know, I respect that. The ultimate compliment, bro. Listen, every single Yankee fan that comes to me says that,” Ortiz said on the podcast, via Audacy.
That is how you know the rivalry is a healthy one.
The fans may hate the opposing teams and their players, and the players may hate each other while they're on opposing teams. But at the end of the day, there is a lot of mutual respect between competitors. It even goes that way for the fans with Ortiz.
In 243 career regular-season games against the Yankees, Ortiz batted .303 with a .961 OPS. He had 75 doubles, 53 home runs and 171 RBI. He also single-handedly destroyed the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS.
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