Major League Baseball

Big Papi clarifies what he said about father in Players' Tribune essay

Published Mar. 31, 2015 3:54 p.m. ET

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The idea behind Derek Jeter's website, the Players' Tribune, is that athletes can directly address the fans, bypassing the "filter" of reporters and other parts of the media.

David Ortiz’s recent essay created plenty of buzz. It also included one part the Boston Red Sox slugger would like to explain.

While Ortiz’s comments regarding performance-enhancing drug testing and whether he’ll someday enter the Hall of Fame made waves, the 39-year-old told WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford on Monday he wished to clarify the portion of the essay that discussed growing up in a house where his father fought his mother.

“The one part where it said that my dad (Enrique) used to beat up my mom (Angela Rosa) and stuff, that was wrong,” Ortiz told Bradford at spring training in Fort Myers, Fla. “What I was meaning to say was that in my house, it was an argument all the time, fights and stuff.

“There were things that you don’t want to see as a child. But it wasn’t that my dad was an abuser, because my mom was a tough lady. I’m not going to give too much of the details into that, because that’s my personal life. My dad has always been a great dad. I don’t want people to look at him like he was the wrong person.”

Ortiz revealed several interesting details about his childhood in the article. He painted a picture of someone who went through a lot in the Dominican Republic before eventually becoming an MLB star. But the message regarding his parents came off a little differently than he intended, so the nine-time All-Star decided to clear the air in his conversation with Bradford.

“My whole thing was based on the argument they used to have,” Ortiz said. “At some point, my mom and dad ended up divorcing, and that was the end; everyone went on their own. Then, once they were away from each other, the true respect that you expect from a husband and wife started showing up even more. Their relationship got better, even if they weren’t together. But that’s the way I was raised, though. To make myself clear, I was basically just saying I grew up in a tough situation.

“I don’t want people to think that my dad was an abuser, because my dad is the reason I am who I am, besides God. He’s a good man who taught me how to do the right thing. It was just the kind of relationship that they didn’t agree with a lot of things. That brings a fight. A fight’s not just when a man hits a woman. Arguments can be called fights.”

Though the Players' Tribune piece ran under Ortiz's byline, athletes generally don't write the articles on the site, the New York Times reported. The Players' Tribune conducts interviews with the "writers," and staffers convert the interviews into articles. The athletes get final approval.

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