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Ortiz made his farewell the grand finale of ’16
- Updated: December 30, 2016
BOSTON — As it turned out, David Ortiz was even a legend at saying goodbye.
Closure is never an easy thing for anyone in any profession.
But Boston’s Big Papi somehow kept mashing right until his final days, all the while taking time to soak it all in and be gracious at every turn.
Take 10: Top stories of 2016 Rockies’ Story wrote long-ball tale Scherzer’s 20-K gem one for the ages Wild October caps “Year of Reliever” Ichiro makes history again Baby Bombers make mark Vin delivers memorable farewell Altuve achieves elite status Dec. 30: Big Papi calls it a career Dec. 31: Cubs a team for the ages Jan. 1: Game 7 caps amazing season
Without question, Ortiz’s farewell tour turned into one of MLB’s biggest stories of a memorable 2016.
What made it such a standout subplot was that Ortiz went out on his terms, proving he was able to walk away while still being one of the best players in the game.
Ortiz used his 40th birthday — Nov. 17, 2015 — as the occasion to announce he would play one last season.
He subsequently turned it into arguably the best final season any baseball player has ever had.
Ortiz hinted something like this could be in the works when he gave his press conference at the opening of Spring Training.
“Don’t take me wrong,” said Ortiz. “Don’t think that just because I’m retiring after this season that I’m not hungry. I’m still hungry. I was going at it this offseason just to come in and have another good season. And I’m going to be pushing my teammates the best I can, the best possible. I think we have a balanced team, a little bit of everything.”
The left-handed-hitting slugger proved to be prophetic about himself and his team.
Ortiz led the …
