David Ortiz piled up 541 home runs during his MLB career, but over the weekend he struggled to make contact under the bright lights.
Ortiz is expecting his first child with his partner, and the couple decided to make use of Ortiz’s signature skill to reveal the gender of the baby. Ortiz’s girlfriend tossed a pitch his way (sure, a little in on in the hands but who’s keeping track), and Ortiz took a big, empty whiff.
A helping hand launched the confetti into the air anyway. But Ortiz had to be embarrassed.
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“Big Papi” retired in 2016 and now works as an MLB analyst at Fox Sports alongside longtime rivals Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. Fox also produced a digital documentary on Ortiz last fall.
Ortiz has three children with ex-wife Tiffany Ortiz. This is his first child with girlfriend Maria Yeribel Martinez.
In the baseball media world, it’s not uncommon for couples to ask broadcasters to participate in gender reveals. New York Mets announcer Howie Rose explained his Cameo account is flush with such requests last spring.
But in this case, Ortiz wasn’t recruited because of his booming voice or signature calls. No, Ortiz was recruited because he is the father of the child in question and… oh yeah, he is a Hall of Fame baseball player.
It’s a good thing that with Dave Roberts on second base in 2004, David Ortiz mustered up better contact to ignite the Boston Red Sox comeback. But off a softball from his girlfriend, swing and miss.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.