Who would have thought a little boy from the Dominican Republic would have so much effect on people. David Ortiz is a well known player around the Major League Baseball Association, many people know him by Big Papi. He has created foundations and many other things for all types of people. From children to adults and in between, Ortiz has been an influential individual.
Ortiz was born on November 18, 1975 in the Dominican Republic. When Ortiz was a child, his inspiration to play baseball was his father because he also played baseball. In high school, believe it or not, Ortiz championed in the game of basketball(Thefamouspeople.com)l. In 1992, he was signed on by the Seattle Mariners and he played for them until 1996 and then got traded off to Minnesota Twins(Thefamouspeople.com). In 1997, Ortiz made his debut in the Major League, playing for the Minnesota Twins but he suffered from many injuries. He experienced serious knee problems, which finally led to his release by the Twins in 2002. Ortiz signed a contract with the Boston Red Sox in 2003(Thefamouspeople.com). After Ortiz made it to the Red Sox, he started to be seen as a fatherly figure to the younger players. Ortiz has made an impact on younger players and other players all around him.
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Ortiz was always bad at names, so instead they called him Big Papi (Lemire).
Papi is father in spanish and that is what the players see him as; “‘It was like 24 kindergarteners looking up at the teacher,’left-fielder Jonny Gomes said”(Lemrie). People in the dugout admire Ortiz and look up to him. The metaphor about the children and the teacher represent Ortiz and the other players because as a child people look up to their teachers as inspiration and strive to be like them, the players meeting Ortiz and just being near him make them push themselves more and just see respect in him. Ortiz is also impacting the lives of the
children. After all the highs and lows, this was his last season playing for the MLB. But, have no fear, Ortiz announced that he will be working on some things during this retirement. While he is enjoying his retirement he will keep his spirits high by creating a little show;” He has already lined up a career in retirement. He'll be throwing himself into Big Papi Productions, a company that has produced videos for Verizon (featuring comedy sketches starring Ortiz available on The Big Papi Network) and ESPN (with a series chronicling his final season) and hopes to do more as its namesake's schedule frees up. (He plans to join a network as a baseball broadcaster, too.) He expects to bring to mass audiences his goofiness and his love of food and animals, says Alex Radetsky, Ortiz's long-time marketing agent, who will serve as the slugger turned producer's right-hand man”(Dickey). Though he is retired he continues to create a story. Ortiz states that even though he is retired he wants to keep the story going and wants the dream to stay alive(Dickey). Ortiz has made many contributions to everyone. Many stars are known to contribute to things, but Ortiz was so moved he created his own fund for children. His fund was established after he visited a children’s hospital in 2005 and wanted to do something(looktothestars.org); “The Fund allows David the flexibility to donate to those children are in the most need at any given time, from Boston to the Dominican Republic and beyond. David Ortiz released his own Charity Wine label in 2008 with all the proceeds going to the David Ortiz Children’s Fund. The wine called Vintage Papi proceeded to raise $150,000 for charity”(looktothestars.org). This is the basics on the fund. The fund has saved so many lives and has influenced these families in a positive manner. Here is another description of what his fund can do for people;”Since it was founded, the David Ortiz Children's Fund has raised nearly $3 million and funded heart surgery for hundreds of children from the Dominican Republic and the New England area. The majority of these children come from families without resources or access to the medical services needed to save their lives”(ESPN). The fund creates kind of a last hope for children who can not get the medical care that they need. Considering that the fund is only about 8 years old and is helping that many people already is absolutely incredible. Ortiz is a caring and loving person who has influenced many lives. “I showed people that it's not about guessing what people can do. It's about saying, 'Here, show me what you can do”(Ortiz).Ortiz’s career had ended on October 10,2016 because the Red Sox lost against the Cleveland Indians in the playoffs. It is certainly a sad time up in the New England area because of his retirement ,but the people know that he will not just give up on all these things he created. He will put his head into a new ball game and make a difference on even more people’s lives. He is an influential man and always will be in many people’s hearts and minds. Here is another quote to end it off. “You don't get better as you get older in your career. It's not natural to have your best years late in your career. So I'm trying to do whatever I can to keep my body feeling good for as long as I can.
Derek Jeter’s young years were helped by his parents. When Derek was 5 years old, Derek moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan with his parents. His Dad was a counselor for drugs/alcohol, while his mom is an accountant. Derek and his sister were big baseball fans as kids. In 8th grade, Jeter predicted he would be in a New York Yankees uniform by age 18. Derek’s had already built his legendary confidence in the young years of grade school. Jeter attended St. Augustine Cathedral School in Kalamazoo. “He was one of those kids you just never forget,” recalled his teacher Shirley Garzelloni, “and I would say that even if he wasn’t still playing baseball.” Jeter’s character was built up well even at a young age.
Miguel came from a very poor part of Venezuela. One thing that kept his family going, was baseball. His father played baseball as a child up to his twenties. His mother was on the Venezuelan national softball team for fourteen years. Miguel’s uncle, Davis Torres, played Class-AA for the St. Louis Cardinals minor league team, before being released.
The differences between black and white players has been going on for a long time since the early 1920’s. The players have always been at each other since the Negro Leagues have been around. There were two players that made the transition from the Negro Leagues to the Majors and those players were Satchel Paige and Jackie Robinson. Most people know of Robinson more than Paige because of the Brooklyn Dodgers recruiting him from Kansas City Monarchs. Satchel Paige was a pitcher from the Kansas City Monarchs like Robinson but he was recruited to the Cleveland Indians at the time. Paige has changed baseball today because he has shown new ways to pitch, broke the racial barrier with Robinson, and was an influence on many players in todays day.
The great Babe Ruth was born on February 6, 1895 in Baltimore, Maryland, originally born with the name of George Herman Ruth Jr. When Babe was a kid, he went to St. Mary’s Catholic school. When Babe was at this school, Babe discovered the game of baseball and quickly found his passion for baseball. Babe becamed very skilled at the game of baseball and people started noticing him,
Baseball was popular the most sport in 1919; players were seen as heroes and celebrities. At this time the players were payed very low wages and the owners of the team made huge profit. Because of this many players were into scams that involved them losing games on purpose. During that time of baseball, players didn’t make as much as they do today.Players would be offered large amount of money that would multiply to several times their salary.
Even as a child Derek loved baseball. He and his dad would often throw in the baseball field behind his house almost everyday. Although his dad sounds like a great role model for him, his Grandma Dot and Grandpa Bill were the most important people in his childhood. They were his moms parents. He would go visit them in New Jersey for weeks at a time. His Grandma would tell him stories about the best Yankee players and basically plant dreams in his head. At night he would watch the Yankee’s play with his Grandpa Bill and fall asleep in his lap. As soon as he woke up in the morning(which was ussualy pretty early) he would go into to his Grandma and say “Come on Gram! Lets go throw!”. They went through this routine every morning.
He was born in Mobile, Alabama called “Down the Bay” on February 5, 1934. His real name was Henry Louis Aaron. He was the third of eight children. His mother’s name was Estella and his father’s name was Herbert. His dad was a tavern owner and a dry dock boilermaker’s assistant. His mother did not have a job until Hank was older. He lived in a town where there was segregation. Hank lived where it was rural and it was a lowly populated town. The town was fueled by a migration of farm workers looking for city work. Hank took an early interest in sports. Although the family had little money, and Hank took several jobs to try to help out, he spent a lot of time playing baseball at a neighborhood park. He had jobs such as mowing lawns, picking potatoes, and delivering ice. He started to love the game when his father’s local team formed out of the tavern he opened next to the family house called The Black Cat Inn. He played baseball with the local kids in the wide open fields. Until too many children to take care of at home, his mother worked in one of Mobile’s white households, where work was available for blacks as maids and cooks. Hank and his family moved to Toulminville, right outside of Mobile, at the age of eight.
David Americo Ortiz Arias was born on November 11, 1975, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (JockBio.com). He is the oldest child of Enrique Arias and Angela Rosa. (JockBio.com). In his early playing days, he was scouted by the Seattle Mariners and Minnesota Twins. He was recruited to play with the Boston Red Sox by his friend Pedro Martinez, and has never left Boston to this day (JockBio.com).
A hero is someone who doesn’t give up and keeps on fighting for their goal. Jackie Robinson is a great hero and came over great challenges, but he achieved his goal. How Jackie Robinson embodies the human spirt is that he broke the color barrier, and the challenges he faced, and his life.
George Herman Ruth Jr. was born on February 6, 1895, in Baltimore, Maryland. When owner of the Baltimore Orioles, Jack Dunn, noticed and pursued George, they called him “Dunn’s New Babe,” which is how George got the nickname, Babe Ruth. Ruth was raised in a poor neighborhood in Baltimore, where his parents, Kate Schamberger-Ruth and George Herman Ruth
Jackie Robinson overcame many struggles in life such as being included in the civil rights movement, facing discrimination, and he achieved being the first black man in major league baseball. He was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia on Hadley Ferry Road. It is a blue-collar town of about 10,000 people. Jackie Robinson became the first black player in the major leagues with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Even though he achieved this major goal he still had trouble getting there. He and his siblings were raised by his single mother. Jackie attended Muir High School and Pasadena Junior College. He was a great athlete and played many sports. He played football, basketball, track, and of course baseball. He left school in 1941, worked as an athletic director and played semiprofessional football for the Honolulu Bears before being drafted to the Army in 1942. While he was in the army he became close friends with Joe Louis. The heavyweight used his popularity to protest about the delayed entry of black soldiers. Two years later he got the honor to be second lieutenant in 1943. After an accident where he refused to sit in the back of an unsegregated bus, military police arrested Robinson. A duty officer requested this and then later he requested that Jackie should be court martialed. Since this happened Jackie was not allowed to be deployed overseas to the World War II. He never saw combat during the war. Jackie left the Army with an honorable discharge.
For much of the 20th century, African-American citizens had been disenfranchised throughout the South and the entire United States, they were regarded as inferior second-class citizens. Despite efforts to integrate society, the political and economic systems were meant to continue the cycle of oppression against African-Americans, throughout the south and indirectly yet ever present in the north. These laws of segregation, otherwise knows as Jim Crow laws, applied to almost every aspect of southern American society, including sports. During this time period, African-American athletes had to resort to second class organizational leagues to play in, this included the famous baseball player Jackie Robinson. Much of this institutionalized racism
He used the beloved sport mainly as a way to bond and spend time with me, but also an attempt to continue the cultural tradition of baseball. His attempt to do that succeeded, watching the game sitting on the couch, enraged at the fact that the Marlins can barely win any games together. He serves as a prime example that proved to me that baseball runs in Dominican blood. I have only visited the Dominican Republic a few times, but that was more than enough to show me how much the people care about the game. They would play and enjoy baseball with anything, and play it anywhere.
Jackie Robinson was a black man that played a white man only sport. Jackie Robinson’s life was outstanding regardless of the obstacles that were thrown in his way in order for him to make it to the top. Jackie Robinson overcame the pain people put him through with the support of his family, friends, and his God given talent, which was playing baseball. Jackie Robinson overcame the negativity of white people during the Civil Rights Movement. For this reason, Jackie Robinson never gave up on his dream and proved people wrong. Jackie Robinson became a vocal champion for the African-American athletes around the world (“Robinson, Jackie - Black History”).
Jackie Robinson once said that “"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." (Brainy Quotes). Jackie Robinson faced more abuse than any other baseball player. Jackie Robinson had his mind set on breaking the color barrier for African Americans. Jackie Robinson had the muscle strength and talent to inspire and change the color barrier in Major League baseball. Jackie Robinson was one of the most significant baseball players that America has ever known for Jackie Robinson’s bravery to stop the color barrier for, his inspiration he gave to people all around the world and for his accomplishments during baseball and outside of baseball this made him one of the most valuable players in the National League.