Editor's note: This story originally ran when David Ortiz was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Jan. 2022. Ortiz will be inducted in Cooperstown on July 24, 2022.
David Ortiz has been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot with 77.9% of the vote. He put up huge numbers at the plate, and Big Papi proved to be a larger-than-life presence off the diamond as well, with a boundless charisma that affected teammates and opponents alike. We asked Ortiz's contemporaries for their favorite stories of the man, and they did not disappoint.