David Ortiz has tallied plenty of hits against the Baltimore Orioles over the years. But in sending off the Boston Red Sox slugger, the O’s opted to focus on one “hit” he’d probably rather forget.
Thursday night marked Ortiz’s final regular season game at Camden Yards, and as such, Boston’s American League East rivals sent him out with a special pregame ceremony. The Orioles started the festivities with a clever twist, playing a highlight reel of Ortiz’s home runs against the New York Yankees that “both Orioles and Red Sox fans can enjoy.”
But that video paled in comparison to the gift they presented to Ortiz: The exact same visiting dugout phone that the Red Sox designated hitter infamously took his anger out on during a July 2013 game against Baltimore.
Need a refresher on the incident, in which Ortiz was ejected by umpire Tim Timmons for arguing balls and strikes and responded by punishing the dugout phone? Baltimore certainly obliged in that regard.
As far as gag gifts go, this is excellent, and Ortiz understandably had a good chuckle when Orioles outfielder Adam Jones trotted the phone out to him.
The Orioles also presented Ortiz with a $10,000 check to the World Pediatric Fund in his name to help critically ill children in his native Dominican Republic, a pretty awesome gesture from the club.
The Orioles haven’t had much success against the Red Sox during their current four-game series, but they hit this ceremony out of the park. Check out the full ceremony below.
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Thumbnail photo via Andrew Weber/USA TODAY Sports Images
