Will the Yankees Fans Give David Ortiz a Standing Ovation

Boston Red Sox great David Ortiz, who announced that this upcoming season will be his final season, said he wants to receive a standing ovation from New York Yankees fans when he plays his final games at Yankee Stadium this season. There are online MLB sports betting odds on the chances of that happening after all the heartache he caused Yankees fans over the years.

In an interview last week, Ortiz said, “You know what I want most of all? I would love it if the fans at Yankee Stadium gave me a standing ovation.”

Given Ortiz’s role in turning the Red Sox into a championship team at the expense of the hated Yankees, especially in the 2004 ALCS, it will be interesting to see how the Yankees fans react to Ortiz in his final season.

Even though both franchises have one of the biggest rivalries in professional sports, Yankees fans will likely shower Ortiz with applause when he makes his final trip to New York.

When Yankees greats Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter announced their retirements, they were both given proper farewells by MLB teams. This included the Red Sox, who gave both players parting gifts. The Boston fans also gave both players a lot of applause in their final games at Fenway Park, despite the way both players tormented their franchise throughout their careers.

In Ortiz’s case, the same thing will apply. The Yankees fans might still have some animosity towards Ortiz, but they respect him as a player, and they will give him the proper sendoff he deserves.

While most people that follow baseball expect the Yankees and their fans to give Ortiz a proper sendoff, there will be a lot of discussion leading up to his final game, wondering if the Yankees fans will boo or cheer Ortiz.

This is to be expected because that is what major sports networks do, especially during the summer, when baseball is the only major sport being played. The truth of the matter is most sports fans are very knowledgeable and respect greatness regardless of what uniform the player wears.

To put it in another perspective, Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant was one of the most polarizing players in the NBA for most of his career. Since he announced his retirement, Bryant has received gifts and has been cheered in every arena he has played in, despite all the heartbreak he caused fans of a lot of franchises.

At this point, the Red Sox and Yankees rivalry isn’t what it used to be, and some of the animosity has dissipated, so expect a long standing ovation when the man known to millions as Big Papi comes to the plate for the final time at Yankee Stadium.