Boston Red Sox icon David Ortiz is hanging up his bat and glove at the end of the 2016 MLB season according to numerous sources.
Ortiz, who turns 40 years old today, is playing in his 20th Major League season.
The slugger was an instrumental part of the Red Sox lineup for the past decade. He will be enshrined in franchise lore as a member of the 2004 World Series winning team that snapped the infamous 86-year 'Curse of the Bambino'. Ortiz also won titles in 2007 and 2013.
Ortiz is a nine-time All-Star selection and six-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He's a career 284 hitter who has driven in 1641 RBI's.
He belted 503 homers in his career which is good for 27th on the all-time rankings. He hit 445 during his 13 seasons with the Red Sox, the third-most in franchise history behind legends Ted Williams (521) and Carl Yastrzemski (452). While the 447 homers he hit from the designated hitter spot is by far the most any one has ever hit from the position.
According to USA Today, Ortiz is expected to make an official announcement regarding his retirement sometime today.
Though the decision isn't official yet, there are already numerous people singing the praises of Big Papi.
ESPN's David Schoenfield writes, "There's no denying this, however: Ortiz is one of the game's most iconic figures of the last 15 years."
He continues, "Sure, he argued too much with umpires and sometimes he echoed some false notes with stuff he said, but he always seemed to enjoy playing the game. When he was at the plate, you wanted to watch."
Whether Ortiz makes it into the baseball hall of fame is an argument best left to the experts, but one thing's for sure: the sport of Baseball will never be the same once he's gone.
