Mere moments after capturing his third championship ring, commissioner Bud Selig presented Ortiz his first World Series MVP trophy and the rights to a brand-new Chevrolet truck.
In typical Ortiz fashion, the first words out of his mouth were to effusively praise the Fenway Park faithful on hand.
Although the Red Sox had many sterling performances in their six-game triumph, Ortiz was the driving vessel at the plate. His .688 batting average and .760 on-base percentage were the second-best in a single World Series, behind only Billy Hatcher's effort for the Cincinnati Reds in 1990.
Ortiz had been so red-hot that the Cardinals refused to pitch to him in Game 6. St. Louis manager Mike Matheny chose to intentionally walk Ortiz three times in the final game of the series.
Luckily, his teammates picked him up. Shane Victorino drove in four runs and John Lackey pitched 6.2 innings of one-run ball, with the Red Sox scoring all six of their runs on Wednesday night by the fourth inning. Ortiz scampered across the plate for two of those runs and was one of the first players to meet closer Koji Uehara when he recorded the final out, wearing a helmet and goggles for the impending champagne celebration.
The Red Sox are a year removed from their worst record since 1965 and a landscape-altering trade that sent former franchise bedrocks like John Beckett packing; the bearded bunch have resurrected the franchise with several new faces.
Ortiz is one of the last vestiges of the old guard. He's the only player remaining from the club's 2004 World Series title and one of a handful of leftovers from 2007.
Although its hard not thinking of Ortiz when the Red Sox are brought up because the two have become so intertwined, it was not too long ago folks were wondering whether Ortiz was cooked. He hit just .239 in 2009 and started off dreadfully a year later, but the Red Sox and their fans were rewarded for their patience.
They have now received three straight good years from Ortiz and now an all-time great World Series performance. Ortiz captured his relationship with Boston with this enduring quote, which holds root in one of the most trying times in the city's history.
It's only right that the man who helped prop up the franchise and the city in 2013 is getting one of the few individual accomplishments that ever eluded him.
