By Macaih
Have you heard of David Ortiz? If you watch baseball, you probably have heard this name more than a few times. This is the name of a three time World Series Champion and the guy that started off being a nothing and became one of the biggest stars of baseball history. After his struggle of living in the Domician Republic he took a great leap to the sport of baseball where he wanted to make a career. Following his many years in baseball he decided to retire in 2016. He shocked the world of baseball by retiring, then he went back to his hometown started a family, and bought a house. On June 9, 2019, three years after he retired he was struck by a bullet. David Ortiz didn’t let that stop him and luckily the bullet didn’t do too much damage to his body. He is fighting to get back on his feet soon and hopefully he will do much more in his near future.
David Ortiz was born on November 18, 1975 in the Dominician Republic, and he was always in love with baseball. David and his family lived in a dangerous place in the Dominician Republic. He and his friends would make baseball teams and set up bases so they could imitate baseball as well as they could without money. They played baseball everyday for a long time. One day, when he was 15, a manager for a baseball team saw David play and said that when he was 17 he wanted to sign him. Playing baseball was very important to him and he took the game very seriously. That helped when he was in the MLB when he was facing off against the people on the other team. He was confident that he would win a championship one day and he did just that three times. When he was just 17 years old he signed for the Seattle Mariners for $10,000. This baseball team played in the Arizona League, and was the first team that he was a part of during his amateur career. At the time David thought that was the kind of money someone with a first round pick in the draft would get. He started playing in 1992. He was traded to the Minnesota Twins in the 1997 season. During the 2002- 2003 season David’s contract was released from the Twins, so he went back to his hometown. He was devastated about the news. He went to the bar and to his surprise he saw his long lost friend Pedro. They talked and talked and then he said that he was released from his contract and that he came back. Then Pedro said that the Red Sox wanted him to play for them. David was excited, because this was a life-changing opportunity for him. David went on to have a very good season and a lot of major achievements in baseball.
When David started playing for the Red Sox he had a lot of achievements that made his name worldwide, and led his team to numerous championships. His nickname was Big Papi, and he was a phenomenal player. He played for the Red Sox from 2003- 2016 and led them to many important achievements. He was a three time World series champion and he was a three time American League Champion. David even played in the All Star Game, and he made it to the Hall of Fame. During David Ortiz’s career he topped in at number 17 in the history of baseball to have the most homeruns in his career, with 541 homeruns. This makes him one of the best baseball players in modern history. He later retired in 2016. Unfortunately what came after his retirement on June 9, 2019 was very tragic to the people that supported and cheered for him in his season.
On June 9, 2019 a shooting took place at the bar that David and his friends were at. On this day the suspect rode on his motorcycle to the bar that David was at. When he got off his motorcycle he pulled out his gun and shot David in the back. People saw the person who shot the gun and captured him and he was beaten in the bar. The police were later called and the man was arrested. The people in the bar called the ambulance and Ortiz was quickly rushed to the hospital in Boston where he is going to have a quick and successful recovery. It seems like bad things always happen to celebrities, whether it’s mentally, physically, or socially bad. We can only hope that David Ortiz can recover quickly in the next few months.
After everything that David Ortiz accomplished he deserves to have more years to live and to celebrate. From his tough childhood to his amazing career David conquered a lot during his life and this should be another obstacle that he will leap over. Luckily, the gunshot didn’t hit any important organs and he is getting better.
Sources:
https://www.upi.com/Sports_News/MLB/2019/06/11/Former-Red-Sox-great-David-Ortiz-recovering-in-Boston-after-being-shot/2471560259984/
https://www.6seconds.org/2018/11/20/11600-per-month-and-bankrupt-why-some-nfl-players-lose-at-the-game-of-life-and-what-we-can-all-learn-from-it/
https://www.tiebreaker.com/athletes-second-careers/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ortiz#Boston_Red_Sox_(2003%E2%80%932016)