Hanley Ramirez and David Ortiz have been friends for a very long time, but that doesn’t make them immune to some competition.
Ortiz has been a mentor to Ramirez since the first baseman came into the Red Sox’s system in 2000, helped bring him back to Boston in 2015, and the two also share a bond over cheesecake (There’s a perfectly reasonable explanation here.). But Ramirez and Ortiz also had to face off against each other on a huge stage: the 2010 Home Run Derby.
Ortiz ultimately won the contest 32 home runs to 26, but it was a close matchup, as the designated hitter and then-Florida Marlins shortstop were tied after the second and third rounds. You can hear Ramirez himself talk about it on “Red Sox Gameday Live” in the video above.
Thumbnail photo via Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports Images
