Dustin Pedroia roasted David Ortiz for not knowing his name after over 9 years as teammates
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Mere hours after a road outside Fenway Park was named in his honor, recently-retired Red Sox slugger David Ortiz became the punch line for numerous jokes. Boston personalities from Dustin Pedroia to Rob Gronkowski to comedians and actors gathered at a nightclub near Fenway for The Roast of David Ortiz.
In honor of Ortiz's primary position with the Red Sox, the speakers were called "designated roasters."
Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia started the evening with a story about how Big Papi didn't know Pedroia's first name … in 2015. He told of an interaction with an Indians catcher that revealed Ortiz's ignorance with regard to his long-time teammates' name.
"David walks over and goes, 'What did he call you?,'" Pedroia told the crowd. "I said, 'He called me Dustin.' David then said, 'Why did he call you that?' I said, 'That's my name.' He goes, 'Is that right?'"
Ortiz is famous for his poor recollection of names, but for a teammate of nearly a decade whose name he's heard PA announcers say thousands of times, Pedroia's would seem to be the one name he would know. It turns out, he's an equal opportunity name forgetter.