Did David Ortiz really give Yankees advice ahead of ALCS elimination game?
The New York Yankees are down three games to none in the American League Championship Series.
Any Boston Red Sox fan knows exactly what that means.
In order to win the ALCS, they must do what the Sox did to them in 2004.
In 2004, the Sox famously became the first team in postseason history to overcome a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven series. It was their first pennant since 1986 and enabled them to steamroll the St. Louis Cardinals and win their first World Series in 86 years. That they made history by beating the Yankees, their greatest rivals, only made the achievement about a zillion times better.
That ALCS was a pivotal point in franchise history and the Rivalry; the Yankees haven’t really had the upper hand since. But on Sunday afternoon, MLB insider Bryan Hoch divulged a truly absurd tidbit about how the Yankees prepared for Game 4:
"“Aaron Boone said that Chad Bohling, the #Yankees’ mental skills coach, was sending around highlight videos of the 2004 Red Sox this morning. Eduardo Perez also FaceTimed David Ortiz into Boone’s office pregame.”"
Excuse me? Is this a joke? It’s not? Okay, more questions then.
Why on earth would Aaron Boone actually admit this? How are 2004 highlights supposed to be motivating for the team that imploded worse than literally any other postseason team in baseball history? Why would Eduardo Perez think it was a good idea to call the man who orchestrated the Yankees’ demise in 2004? What did Ortiz do when he got the call? Did he respond with his patented booming laugh, or betray Boston and actually give the enemy real advice? What in the name of Johnny Pesky is going on???
Neither Hoch nor anyone mentioned in the tweet has provided any further context or detail about this situation, so of course, Sox and Yankees fans are flipping out, albeit for very different reasons. Yankees fans are aghast, Sox fans feel betrayed.
Did David Ortiz give the Yankees advice to help them avoid getting swept in the ALCS?
It’s one thing for Papi to pal around with Alex Rodriguez; as unpleasant as that unholy friendship is, at least they both still uphold the Rivalry when push comes to shove. But would Ortiz actually help Aaron Boone?
Ortiz was the hero in that fateful 2004 ALCS, hitting a walk-off home run in Game 4 to keep the Sox alive, and another walk-off the next night. Doing so made him the first player in MLB history to have walk-off hits in back-to-back postseason games. He was the series MVP, for heaven’s sake.
He’s also legally employed by the Sox right now. Less than a year after Ortiz retired, the Sox signed him to some kind of lifetime contract to remain affiliated with the organization. That deal probably doesn’t have a “DON’T HELP THE YANKEES” clause, presumably because there was a tacit assumption that there didn’t need to be.
It was already sickening to even think about the Yankees replicating the Sox’ historic, standalone feat, as doing so might somehow even the karmic scales. And their fans were chanting “Who’s your daddy?” to Terry Francona’s team just last week, which makes this whole deja vu-laden situation more surreal and eerie. It had also been somewhat funny to think that the Yanks would be reminded of 2004 over and over as they strive to stave off elimination. Not funny for them, of course, but for us. But now, wondering if our 2004 hero did anything that might aid the Evil Empire? There’s nothing funny about that.
‘Yankees in 7’ is now trending on Twitter.
Ortiz needs to clear things up ASAP.
Update: Aaron Boone confirms David Ortiz gave him advice ahead of Game 4 of ALCS
On Sunday afternoon, Boone confirmed that Ortiz had offered some sage wisdom to the enemy:
"“[Perez] put Big Papi on and I said hey to him. He had some advice.”"
While Boone declined to elaborate on what Ortiz said to him, it doesn’t really matter. It’s the ultimate betrayal.
