On this day in 2014, David Ortiz hit a historic home run in a game between the Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre. Boston jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the third inning thanks to a Stephen Drew three-run homer and a Jackie Bradley Jr. RBI double. The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom of the third before Ortiz launched his first home run of the game, a two-run shot making it 8-1.
Ortiz tied Carl Yastrzemski with 452 home runs with his first homer of the game to deep center field.
Just an inning later, Ortiz launched his second of the game off Brad Mills. Ortiz's 453rd home run surpassed Yastrzemski on the MLB all-time home run list. Yastrzemski was a member of the Boston Red Sox for 23 years and was an 18-time All-Star. One of Boston's greatest players of all time used to sit second on the franchise's single-season home run record with 44 behind Jimmie Fox's 50.
However, now the man who surpassed his home run total (Ortiz) holds the record for most homers by a Red Sox player in a single season with 54 in 2006. Ortiz and Yastrzemski both made it to the Baseball Hall Of Fame in Cooperstown after long successful careers with the Red Sox. The two-homer game was not the last of Ortiz, who would go on to hit 541 in his career. At the moment that's good for 17th all-time on the career home run list.
The final home run of Oritz's career came off the same team he hit his homer to pass Yastrzemski, the Blue Jays. In 2016, the final year of Ortiz's career at Fenway, the Red Sox slugger hit a homer down the right field line. The home run won Boston the game and would be the final homer of Ortiz's illustrious 20-year MLB career. Ortiz hit a line drive shot passed the Pesky Pole in the seventh inning, putting Boston ahead 5-3, which would be the final score in a Red Sox win.
Ortiz is not only known for his numerous individual achievements, but he helped end the 86-year championship drought that plagued Boston in 2004. The Curse of the Bambino was finally broken and shattered by Ortiz and the Red Sox, who won three championships from 2004-2013. The legacy left by Ortiz still impacts Red Sox players and fans around the country. The winning culture instilled during his years in Boston has carried over to the next generation of Red Sox.