Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz deliver on home runs promised to kids
New York Yankees designated hitter Alex Rodriguez runs after hitting a solo home run against the Boston Red Sox during the second inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park on Friday, April 29, 2016, in Boston. Credit: AP/ Elise Amendola
BOSTON — Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz made a pair of young fans very happy at Fenway Park on Friday night.
Ortiz, who hit what proved to be the game-winning home run against the Yankees, earlier in the day had promised to hit a home run for a sick child in a video message posted on former Red Sox first baseman Kevin Millar’s Twitter account.
Then he did.
That promise came hours before Rodriguez told a young fan who recently lost his father that he would give him his bat if he hit a home run.
Then he did.
A-Rod hit a long shot off a light tower over the Green Monster in the second inning of the Yankees’ 4-2 loss to the Red Sox.
As he crossed home plate, Rodriguez motioned to the bat boy to give the home run bat to 8-year-old Red Sox fan David Moss, who was seated next to the Yankees’ dugout and chatted with A-Rod while he was in the on-deck circle.
Rodriguez said on Saturday that he was unaware that Moss had lost his father, Andy, to cancer last September and was simply fulfilling a promise to the young fan, who originally asked him for a souvenir. Rodriguez told him he would be happy to hand over his bat if he hit a home run.
Moss and his mother and sister traveled to Boston from Mesa, Arizona, to attend the game on his eighth birthday. Before the exchange with A-Rod, the family met Ortiz.
Ortiz had a busy pregame. He and Millar appeared in a video message for 5-year-old Maverick Schutte, a Red Sox fan from Wyoming who was born with a congenital heart defect, according to ESPN.com.
“You take care, buddy, and I’m going to hit a home run for you tonight. Remember that,” said Ortiz, who is in his final season.
After Ortiz’s two-run homer off Dellin Betances in the eighth inning led the Red Sox to victory, Millar posted a video from Schutte thanking Ortiz.
“Millar was crying when he was showing me the video that Maverick sent him back,” Ortiz said, according to ESPN.com. “It was very touching. And I start thinking about it right after, when I got home. That was when I really was like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe this really happened.’ And Millar told me that his parents haven’t seen him that happy in a long time. He has been very sick. I always say there’s something special out there. I’m a huge believer in that.”
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
