David Ortiz Memories: Ellis Burks Recalls Big Papi’s Clutch Gene

This is a part of a series in which NESN personalities share their favorite memory of David Ortiz as they had an up-close view of his career either as a teammate or a member of the media. You can find all of NESN.com’s coverage as Ortiz goes into the Hall of Fame here.

When Ellis Burks returned to the Boston Red Sox for his second stint with the organization in 2004, it afforded him the chance to become teammates with David Ortiz.

Burks, a tremendous slugger in his own right with 352 career home runs, developed a close relationship with Ortiz and watched him blossom into one of the star hitters of the next generation who put fear into opposing pitchers.

While Burks certainly knows the art of hitting, he marveled at how the young Ortiz produced in pressure-packed situations, and Burks saw it often with Big Papi recording five walk-off hits in 2004.

“The guy just came through in clutch situations it seemed like every time and you don’t see that very often,” Burks said. “Every once in a while you’ll have a guy that comes through a few times here and there, but it seemed like Big Papi when we needed him the most, he came through. You can’t describe it. It’s unbelievable to know that a person is that good.”

It was tough for Burks, who is in his second season as a NESN analyst, to decide which walk-off hit stood out among the rest. Ortiz registered three of them alone in the playoffs the year they were teammates, which happened to be Burks’ final season in Major League Baseball.

Burks fondly remembered Ortiz delivering in the bottom of the 12th inning in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series with Big Papi blasting a two-run shot off of Yankees reliever Paul Quantrill to keep Boston’s season alive.

“The home run in the ‘pen, that was clutch,” Burks said. “That was something that was just unbelievable. We celebrated. He was the kind of the guy, he wanted that pressure situation. He wanted to be in that spot. The song that he played all the time, ‘All Eyes On Me,’ that was exactly what he wanted.”

For Burks, there was only one way to describe the feeling that resonated throughout the entire dugout whenever the team watched Ortiz step into the batter’s box with the game hanging in the balance.

“Confidence,” Burks said. “We knew he was going to give you a great at-bat. Chances are he’s going to come through, and he did the majority of the time.”