David Ortiz, better known as “Big Papi,” did not see this ball coming right at him! Alex Ortiz, the iconic slugger’s daughter, surprised her father when she stepped up the plate and performed the National anthem at the Boston Red Sox’s home opener game versus the Baltimore Orioles on Monday.
“It was a surprise, a beautiful surprise,” Ortiz told ESPN after the game. “At some point you start thinking about your kids and the way you raise your kids and everything that you’ve been through. I got caught into those memories and it was beautiful.”
According to first baseman Hanley Ramirez, who was standing next to Ortiz on the first-base line, the proud papa couldn’t help to get a little bit emotional as soon as his 15-year-old started singing. “He started a little bit crying,” Ramirez told the sports network.
Alex, who admitted it was a bit hard to keep things a secret from her dad, talked to reporters after the event and revealed the words her father said to her when he came over and hugged her after the surprise performance.
“He said, ‘don’t surprise me like that ever again,’” the teenager told the Boston Herald. “I didn’t actually think that it would work but we found a way to do it. We had Carolina, Pedro’s wife, come down so it looked like we were just watching. And it’s a big day, so it seemed relaxed but people kept telling me, ‘are you going to be ok? Don’t get emotional before you sing it.’ And I was like, ‘Ok. I’ll try to keep it down.’”
Ortiz has managed to keep it together throughout 14 years of professional baseball career, and especially now, the beginning of his final season. But all it took was watching baby bear doing her thing on the field to make papa bear crumble. “I’m not going to lie to you,” Ortiz said. “I was more nervous during that time than during any at-bat that I ever had in my career.”
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