David Ortiz Wins Home Run Derby

Written by Administrator

Tuesday, 13 July 2010 13:00

Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz hasn’t had a particularly good 2010 season, but he looked great on Monday as he hit 11 homers in the final round to beat Florida’s Hanley Ramirez in the annual Home Run Derby. The event, held in conjunction with the Major League Baseball All Star Game, featured a number of heavy hitting players including Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera and Milwaukee’s Corey Hart. More notable was the players who didn’t participate--Ryan Howard, Albert Pujols, Jose Bautista, Adam Dunn, Joey Votto, Alex Rodriguez and defending champion Prince Fielder all sat out the event.

The absentee list mattered little to Ortiz, who dedicated his win to the late Jose Lima. After the event he spoke to reporters about what it means to him:

"This is my fourth time, so I just kind of used the experience. I wanted to come here and make sure the fans enjoy what we do. I've been dealing with so many things the past few years. Coming back here, I want to thank the players for giving me the opportunity to be here. This is a job that we have, but it's called a game. That's what I try to do during the season -- have fun with my teammates and make sure everything goes the right way."

In the home run derby format, much depends on the pitcher chosen by each player to feed him the ball in his preferred location. Ortiz’s pitcher was something of a ‘strange bedfellow’ for a member of the Red Sox—New York Yankees’ coach Tony Pena:

"Whenever we played the Yankees, I saw Pena throw batting practice. As soon as I found out he was going to be here, I said to him, 'Hey, Tony, can you pitch to me?' And he said, 'Fine. It's not a problem. I'm going to throw to [Nick] Swisher, but I can throw to you, too.' It's the Home Run Derby, and we're here for the fans to have fun. It's not a Yankees and Boston kind of situation, so let's do it."

Former teammate Hanley Rameriez was happy for the well liked ‘Big Papi’:

"It's good for him. He's been through a tough time. I know he's going to come back in the second half."

This was Ortiz’s fourth appearance in the Home Run Derby, and he tied Bobby Abreu’s 2005 finals record with 11 home runs. He’s also the first member of the Red Sox to win the event.

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David Ortiz Wins Home Run Derby

David Ortiz Wins Home Run Derby

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