BOSTON -- There were reminders of David Ortiz everywhere Friday night at Fenway Park. Printed banners atop the Green Monster and alongside the perimeter of the building. Countless homemade signs. The first of three pregame ceremonies planned for the weekend. And a massive artistic rendering of Ortiz weaved into the center-field grass.
It was impossible not to know that Ortiz was the central figure in this, the last regular-season series of his career. But just in case, Ortiz gave the rain-drenched throng in Boston another reason to appreciate him.
In a rather fitting result for the beginning of an Ortiz-centric weekend, his two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning proved to be the difference in a 5-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.