"Once in a generation": David Ortiz's former teammates speak on his Hall of Fame induction
COOPERSTOWN -- Before David Ortiz takes the podium for his Hall of Fame speech on Sunday, many of his former Red Sox teammates spoke to WBZ-TV about how proud they are to see him enshrined in Cooperstown.
Pedro Martinez:
"It's a great sense of joy. I'm proud. I'm humble to know that God used me as a link to inspire someone to have a success career. Not every day you come across a guy you can help get to a place to give you these results. So for the city of Boston, for the organization, I'm extremely proud to have been that missing link on the chain of success for David Ortiz. I'm extremely proud and happy as a Dominican fellow, and as a teammate, as a brother, a friend, however he wants to treat me, I'm extremely proud of David and extremely proud of this moment."
Johnny Damon:
"It's absolutely amazing...David Ortiz is here because he is a badass hitter and the most clutch hitting postseason player ever. And that's the reason why Boston started winning all these championships. Big Papi, we love him."
Mike Lowell:
"Very deserving. I mean you look at him and it's an iconic person and an iconic baseball town doing iconic things. So I think it meshes pretty well. I'm happy that I'm included a little bit in this."
Tim Wakefield:
"It's well deserved, obviously. Not only for his stats, but as a person as well. I've known him since the day he got here. What he's meant to the Red Sox organization, what he's meant to Major League Baseball, what he's meant to his community that he played in and the one he comes from is truly an inspiration for all of us."
Dustin Pedroia:
"The personality, just what he's done, it's pretty special. A once-in-a-generation type player."
