David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia were teammates for 11 seasons in Boston. Over the years, they built a strong relationship, Pedroia shared Tuesday while speaking to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. But there was a bit of a gaffe in the middle of their tenure as Red Sox teammates that still stands out for Pedroia years later.
Pedroia was asked for his favorite story related to his teammate, and the former Red Sox second baseman relayed a hilarious tale about how the now-Hall of Famer did not know Pedroia’s first name — despite the fact they had played together for years.
Here’s how he said things played out:
“I had played with him, I don’t know, probably seven or eight years already. We’re on deck in between innings and a catcher goes to block a ball and it squirts over by me. The umpire wasn’t there to give him a ball right away so the catcher looked at me and goes, ‘Hey, what’s up Dustin?’ And I was like, ‘Hey, what’s up?’
“David walked over and I think he was having a bad day and he goes, ‘What the (expletive) did he call you?’ And I was like, He called me Dustin and he was like ‘Why did he call you that?’ And I was like, ‘That’s my name, man.’
He goes Oh yeah, is that right? I thought it was Pee-Wee. We’re gong back and forth. So he thought my name was Pee-Wee for the first seven years. And the funny part about it is I’d been hitting in front of him for the last seven years. And they actually announce my full name right in front of him. So either he’s locked in, or he can’t hear, or something’s going on.”
Pedroia, who mentioned he previously shared the story when he was called upon to help roast Ortiz for charity back in 2017, acknowledged he could laugh about it when looking back on the relationship he has with Ortiz.
“We’ve played together for so long, in games that meant so much,” Pedroia said. “Sometimes I felt like we could sit together and we’re thinking the same thing and our minds were similar on how to attack and beat aother team. And that was fun. It was special to play with him.”
Ortiz on Tuesday was announced as a Baseball Hall of Fame selection in his first year on the ballot.
