By now, most Boston Red Sox fans know David Ortiz isn’t going to un-retire. But Big Papi still has had to deal with plenty of speculation, including some from one of his friends.
Former Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez stoked the comeback flames recently when he tweeted that Ortiz still is in baseball shape and could help the Red Sox this season, a claim the former designated hitter had to shoot down. But Ortiz has no hard feelings, telling NESN.com’s Courtney Cox on Thursday he knows Martinez was just joking.
“That’s Pedro being Pedro,” Ortiz said. “He always likes to play around and do things, have fun with people.”
At the same time, though, Ortiz still doesn’t know exactly what to do with himself in retirement. But he’s learned from some of his new ventures, as Ortiz said the commercials he does for John Hancock about planning for retirement have been enlightening.
“I’ve been hanging around people that have been retired for years, and when you go and ask them questions about how do you plan being retired, what you do, this and that, all they say is just stay active,” Ortiz said. “We use it in the commercial, but at the same time, it’s like personal advice for me. I like to stay busy doing things. I’m old for baseball, but I’m still young. I just want to relate to people that way.”
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
