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The Boston Red Sox created countless memorable moments during David Ortiz\u2019s legendary career, but a recently resurfaced story involving longtime umpire Joe West may be among the funniest tales ever shared about the Hall of Fame slugger.<\/p>\n
ESPN\u2019s Jeff Passan posted the clip on Tuesday on X, formerly Twitter, featuring West, who retired in 2021, recounting an interaction that began during Ortiz\u2019s early years with the Minnesota Twins and eventually led to a perfectly timed punchline nearly two decades later.<\/p>\n
\u201cDavid Ortiz waited for almost two decades to exact revenge on Joe West for calling him ugly.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to West, the exchange started during spring training after Ortiz completed an infield warmup. What began as a friendly remark quickly turned into a joke Ortiz clearly never forgot.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he finishes throwing the ball around the infielders, he came back toward me, and I said, \u2018You know, I hope you play in this league a long time.\u2019 And he said, \u2018Well, thank you. Thank you very much.\u2019 And I said, \u2018As long as you\u2019re in this league, I won\u2019t be the ugliest guy in it.\u2019 I don\u2019t think he spoke to me for 13 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
West later explained that Ortiz finally responded during his retirement season in 2016 while stepping into the batter\u2019s box before an at-bat.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then he announces his retirement. He came to bat in May that year that he announced his retirement. He says, \u2018I have something to tell you.\u2019 I said, \u2018I don\u2019t want to hear it. Get in the box. You take too long to play.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Ortiz remained determined to finish the conversation.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe says, \u2018No, just let me tell you one thing.\u2019 I said, \u2018All right, tell me one thing, then get in the box.\u2019 He said, \u2018You know, I retired.\u2019 \u2018I don\u2019t care if you retire. Get in the box.\u2019 He said, \u2018Just one\u2014\u2019 \u2018All right, hurry up. Tell me what you got to tell me.\u2019 He said, \u2018Next year you\u2019ll be the ugliest guy in the league.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The exchange captured the humor of the Red Sox legend, adding another memory to his legacy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Boston Red Sox created countless memorable moments during David Ortiz\u2019s legendary career, but a recently resurfaced story involving longtime umpire Joe West may be among the… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":186259,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-186258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n