http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/30/sports/baseball/david-ortiz-new-york-yankees-boston-red-sox.html 2016-09-30 03:42:09 David Ortiz Exits Yankee Stadium for Final Time With a Walk, a Painting and a Standing Ovation The Yankees held a brief pregame ceremony to honor Ortiz, who did as much as any player to even the once-lopsided rivalry between the Red Sox and the Yankees. === For the 514th time in his career, Nearly all the fans present — many of them supporting the In his first at-bat, Ortiz ripped a line drive deep into the right-field corner off C. C. Sabathia, prompting many to assume that he had homered on the road against the Yankees for the 32nd time. But the ball hooked foul, and Ortiz eventually struck out. He returned to the plate in the fourth inning, this time to more vociferous booing after a home run by Xander Bogaerts. Ortiz walked and then was replaced by the pinch-runner Brock Holt. Ortiz walked off the field to a standing ovation, briefly touching the brim of his helmet as he descended into the dugout. Unless the Yankees miraculously earn a playoff berth — or Ortiz changes his mind about retiring — it will be the last time he visits Yankee Stadium as an active player. Ortiz has said he will retire at the end of the season, his 20th in Major League Baseball, and Yankee Stadium is the last road park the Red Sox visit. Before the game, the Yankees held a brief ceremony to honor Ortiz, who did as much as any player to reverse the lopsided nature of the rivalry between the Red Sox and the Yankees. It was his big hits in the 2004 American League Championship Series, including Ortiz was one of several key players, including Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez and Curt Schilling, who helped to upend the Yankees’ run of dominance over the Red Sox. “I don’t know that you can single-handedly put that on one person,” Red Sox Manager John Farrell said before Thursday’s game. “There are big personalities, great players that have really fueled this over the last 10 to 12 years.” Ortiz’s presence even infiltrated the new Yankee Stadium from its inception. A story alleged that a rogue construction worker On Thursday, as Ortiz and his family stood at home plate during the pregame ceremony, David Cone, a former Yankee pitcher, and Jacoby Ellsbury, a current Yankee and a former teammate of Ortiz’s with the Red Sox, presented Ortiz with a leather-bound book containing letters to Ortiz from former and current Yankees. Then Mariano Rivera, who was pilloried by the Red Sox in a tongue-in-cheek ceremony at Fenway Park for his final game there in 2013, came out to present Ortiz with a painting depicting Ortiz standing at home plate at Yankee Stadium, waving to the crowd. And that was it. Ortiz did not speak, and the proceedings lasted about two minutes. But the Red Sox have three games scheduled at home against the Toronto Blue Jays, which will feature many events to commemorate his remarkable career. After that, the Red Sox will begin their playoff campaign, hoping that Ortiz’s postseason magic will carry them to their ninth World Series title, and his fourth. “It’s a weekend of celebration, well deserved,” Farrell said, “and we’ll have time to recover.”