NEW YORK -- It's one thing to hit 632 doubles and 540 home runs, to be the best at your position (yes, designated hitter is a position in the American League), to win three World Series and be the face of a franchise. But it's quite another to do it all against the backdrop of the most storied rivalry in sports.
And David Ortiz knows it.
Ortiz still would have ranked among the most feared hitters of this generation had he played the past 14 seasons in Cleveland or Milwaukee, Atlanta or Phoenix -- cities where the local baseball team isn't constantly measured against a hated rival that plays 200 miles away. But in order to become Big Papi, he needed to rise to the level of hero in Boston and villain in New York, icon for the Red Sox and public enemy of the Yankees.
As much as any player in history, Ortiz did that. The rivalry began with Babe Ruth, advanced with Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio, and was fueled by Bucky Dent and Aaron Boone, Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens and Jason Varitek's mitt in Alex Rodriguez's mug. But Ortiz tormented the Yankees like few others while becoming a serial winner with a Red Sox organization that was accustomed only to losing.
"That is kind of special," Ortiz said, reflecting on his place in the Red Sox-Yankees morality play. "You're either a hero or a villain. In this rivalry, you get to be a little of both. You do some good things for some people. You do some damage for others. You are not going to have everyone cheering for you. You are not going to make everyone happy."
By now, with the curtain poised to come down on his career against the Yankees, there are almost too many moments for Ortiz to recall. Asked this week to choose his favorite hit at Yankee Stadium, he laughed and said, "Man, I don't know. That's a good question. I have a lot of hits here."
Indeed, the body of work is overwhelming. Ortiz has 53 career regular-season homers against the Yankees, 9.8 percent of his overall total and tied with Hank Greenberg for fourth most by a player against the Yankees behind Jimmie Foxx (70), Williams (62) and former teammate Manny Ramirez (55). Only Williams has hit more homers against the Yanks in a Red Sox uniform.
Ortiz always found the short right-field porch at Yankee Stadium, old and new, to be inviting. He played 56 games at the old stadium and batted .316 with 19 doubles, 16 homers, 35 RBIs and a 1.025 OPS in 212 at-bats. Entering Wednesday night, he had played 59 games in the new stadium. Although he was batting only .229 (thanks, defensive shifts!), he still had 12 doubles, 15 homers, 32 RBIs and an .806 OPS in 227 at-bats.
"I definitely love playing here," Ortiz said. "Yankee Stadium might be my favorite place to hit, regardless. The dimensions are perfect for a left-handed power hitter. All the emotions, all the adrenaline. Yankee Stadium is always going to be part of my success. It's a place I've always loved to play."
As you might imagine, Ortiz's relationship with the fans here has been, well, complicated. Isn't it always that way for superheroes and villains?
On the streets of New York, Ortiz insists "people are super nice," a reaction he attributes to the large population of Dominicans living in the city. He says he's treated with respect, even reverence. But when he steps to the plate against a Yankees pitcher, he usually gets booed, often lustily. Not that he would have it any other way.
"Booing is like, I'm a Yankee fan, and I'm going to boo you because you play for the Red Sox, you play for the Dodgers, you play for whoever. It's what it is," Ortiz said. "It doesn't affect me. It motivates me. Seriously. There's athletes, when they get booed, some of them shut things down. Some others, you get their best out of them."
The Yankees have gotten nothing short of Ortiz's best since 2003, his first season with the Red Sox, which also coincided with the peak of the rivalry. The Yanks and Sox met in the ALCS in 2003 and 2004 -- both series stretching to seven games, both teams winning in epic fashion. If you're looking for Ortiz's most meaningful Yankee Stadium hit, it's tough to top his tone-setting, two-run homer in Game 7 of the 2004 American League Championship Series against Kevin Brown.
"From our standpoint, he's played the villain role -- there's no doubt about that -- extremely well since he's been there," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said earlier this season.
"Can you imagine? Me neither. If it happens, I'll make sure I got my cellphone in my back pocket."David Ortiz, on the possibility of fans mooning him during his final game at Yankee Stadium
Since 2004, though, the rivalry has cooled, in part because the teams have made the playoffs together in only three of the past 11 years. But Ortiz has been the constant, piling up the hits against the Yankees, rising to meet his status as the ultimate hero/villain.
On Thursday, the Yankees will recognize Ortiz with a pregame ceremony, just as the Red Sox did for Mariano Rivera in 2013 and Derek Jeter in 2014. Rivera, considered by Ortiz to be one of the two toughest pitchers he ever faced (Martinez is the other), is expected to be on hand to participate in the ceremony.
Like everyone else, Ortiz is wondering how he will be received. He joked in spring training that Yankees fans could give him the gift of a standing ovation. But he's bracing for something considerably more harsh. A website was created to urge fans to moon Ortiz before his final at-bat at Yankee Stadium.
"Can you imagine? Me neither," Ortiz said with a laugh. "If it happens, I'll make sure I got my cellphone in my back pocket."
Regardless, it figures to be electric, just like every other appearance by Ortiz in the Bronx.
"You walk into this rivalry and you see how intense everything goes about it," Ortiz said. "You see the intensity coming from players, the intensity coming from media asking questions. It's a pretty intense series when we play the Yankees. And then you go back through the history and you see all the highlights since Mr. Ted Williams played and before. It's something that, you know you walked into something special."
For Ortiz, it also represented the difference between being an all-time-great slugger and the legend of Big Papi.