Most Popular Article of the Week: David Ortiz’s Letter to Yankees Fans

So I write a letter to David Ortiz this morning and by the afternoon we already have a response. Talk about service right? And only service you can get here at The Greedy Pinstripes mind you. I wish we had that much pull around the team and around baseball but instead I am referring to the article that Ortiz posted on the Derek Jeter owned Players Tribune where he wrote a letter to New York and the fans of the New York Yankees. To read the entire article head over to the Players Tribune and give it a read while I sample it for you here before tonight’s finale in the Bronx.

“The other day, one of my teammates comes over to me in the clubhouse and says, “Hey, you see what they’re gonna do to you in New York?”

I don’t know what he’s talking about.

I’m like, “What’s up? They gonna give me a pizza or something?”

He says, “Nah. Your last game, the fans are gonna pull their pants down.”

I’m like, “Nah, bro. Come on. Be serious.”

Then he shows me an article on his phone about some guy who’s trying to get everybody in Yankee Stadium to moon me.

This dude even made a whole website: moonbigpapi.com.

Bro.

Bro.

Come on.

Let me tell you something. If 50,000 people moon me, I promise you two things.

First, I’m gonna laugh so hard I might start crying.O

When the tears dry, I’m gonna step up to the plate and try to hit the ball all the way to the choo choo train. You gotta be careful. You guys don’t have Mariano no more, you know what I’m saying?

Listen, Yankee fans. I gotta admit something to you. And I’m serious about this. I got love for you.

It’s just a little bit of love, but I do.”

Okay. The fact that he’s seen MoonBigPapi.com and then plugged it on this post is absolutely amazing. I love it. So awesome. Carrying on.

“My mom did everything at home, and she still had side-jobs to get us extra money. In those days, you could buy clothes real cheap in Curaçao, so she used to take shopping trips to the island. She would load up two suitcases full of dress clothes and bring them back to Santo Domingo to sell them to the workers at the hotel resorts.

It was a way to make a little bit of extra money. She would do whatever it took to make sure we were fine.

When I was playing Double A ball in ’97, I got her a visa to come to the States for the first time. It was just the two of us chilling in Connecticut for a few days. She got to visit New York City before she flew back home, and she was just so happy. Her dream, her whole life, was to give her kids an opportunity. New York City, to us, was like the capital of the world.

My mom died in a car accident in 2002, before I got to the Red Sox and really started having success in the big leagues. My life has turned out amazing, but the only thing I wish is that she could be here for all this. When I take the field at Yankee Stadium for the last time, she’s not gonna be there to see it. That’s kind of tough, to be honest with you. But I know she would be so proud that we made it to the top of the world.”

Many forget that Major League Baseball players are also human. This is not “just a kids game” to them. This is life and they have a life outside of it just like you or I. Moving on.

“When I was a kid, I used to tear the heads off my sister’s dolls and use them as baseballs. I’d steal a broomstick from my mom’s closet and hit the heads over this fence. Whoom, Barbie went flying into the sky.

I used to dream that I was hitting home runs at Yankee Stadium.

Nowadays, I hope the kids doing that same shit are dreaming they’re at Fenway.

Yankee fans, I got one final thing to tell you.

Thank you. For real. You pulled the best out of me.

When you boo me, it’s one of the best feelings in the world.

I’m not gonna lie to you. Sometimes I get outta bed in the morning, and it’s like, Damn. What happened? I got old. It takes me a long time to get my body ready for these games now. But I guarantee you this. When our bus pulls up to Yankee Stadium today, I’m gonna be ready to go. And when I hear you boo me, I’m gonna try to hit the ball over that white fence, all the way to the mother******* choo choo train.

Respect.”

Let’s hope not.