David Ortiz reps many names when he comes to Fenway Park.
There’s World Series champ, World Series MVP, and Big Papi to name a few. But on Tuesday he donned a new one:
Hall of Famer.
“What’s up, Boston?” Ortiz said to the Fenway crowd ahead of the Red Sox’ game against the Guardians.
With banners representing his three World Series wins, Ortiz emerged from the Red Sox dugout to the all-too-familiar chant of “Papi, Papi.” Backed by the three World Series trophies and a shiny new Hall of Fame plaque, Ortiz greeted his fan base.
“The good luck charm just arrived!” he said at a podium behind the pitching mound.
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Ortiz was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday.
“Being inducted into the Hall of Fame is something that was an amazing experience,” he said. “I don’t have to tell you guys too much because you were all out there with me.”
An estimated 35,000 were in Cooperstown, N.Y., for the induction ceremony, and a vast majority seemed to be there to honor the Red Sox legend. For those who didn’t make it, and likely even some that did, Tuesday’s pregame ceremony was their chance to hear from Ortiz.
“I was a player that when I first got here, I came with the idea of earning a position and giving you guys what I have. I walked into a clubhouse loaded with superstars,” Ortiz said.
“Day by day, they pulled me out with experience, with advice, with hunger, and with that mentality of winning a championship.”
Fellow Hall of Famers Jim Rice, Carl Yastrzemski, Pedro Martinez, and Vladimir Guerrero joined Ortiz on the field. Theo Epstein, who as Red Sox general manager in 2003 signed Ortiz, and former Sox manager John Farrell were also in attendance.
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Ortiz thanked Epstein and Farrell, among others, including Jane Forbes Clark, chairwoman of the Hall of Fame, and Red Sox ownership.
Ortiz also thanked Terry Francona, the manager for the majority of Ortiz’s Red Sox career, and now manager of the Guardians.
“The most important thing, I want to thank all the fans, all the Red Sox fans worldwide. Without you guys, trust me, this never would have never happened,” Ortiz said.
“Every time I walked into this field and saw all the seats full of people expected to win, that was motivation for me to try to come through and try to do better and better and better every day.”
Former Ortiz teammates Tim Wakefield, Trot Nixon, and Jason Varitek, along with Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr., and manager Alex Cora, presented Ortiz the ball for the ceremonial first pitch.
Cora said Ortiz can “get this place going” and he was looking forward to Ortiz talking to the team in the clubhouse.
“He always finds a way to do that,” Cora said. “I’m very proud of him, I think we all are.”
Alex Speier of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
Jayna Bardahl was a Globe intern in 2022. Follow her on Twitter @Jaynabardahl.