To celebrate his 10th All-Star Game appearance, David Ortiz did the sensible thing: He got a tattoo
Go back 15 years and the chances of David Ortiz going to any All-Star Games, much less 10, seemed slim. Despite coming off an 18-home run season with the Twins at the age of 23, he also only hit .234 and was seen as a platoon bat.
Even five years later, reaching double-digit All-Star Games seemed improbable. Sure, Ortiz had transformed into one of the most fearsome sluggers in the game, going to three straight All-Star Games and leading the league with 54 home runs in 2006, but he was 30 years old.
Instead, Ortiz kept hitting. And hitting. And hitting. So at the age of 40, and in his final big league season, Big Papi was once again elected to start the All-Star Game presented by MasterCard. To commemorate becoming just the 66th player to ever reach the double-digit mark, Ortiz knew what he had to do: Immortalize it in ink.
Here we go again!!! Thx to all the fans for voting for me for my 10th All-Star Game #SanDiego #? pic.twitter.com/YCEYTXE1vd
— David Ortiz (@davidortiz) July 7, 2016
Of course, this makes it even more unlikely that Ortiz decides to come back next season. While his league-leading slugging and on-base percentages show that he's got plenty left in the tank, having to get his tattoo touched up to say '11' would probably be a dealbreaker.