Dallas

David Ortiz Plays in Arlington for the Final Time in his Career

After 20 years in the majors, this will be David Ortiz's last season.  His brilliant career will come to an end, and the future hall of famer will go down as perhaps the greatest designated hitter of all-time.

This weekend was Ortiz's final trip to Arlington. To celebrate his career, the Rangers honored the slugger with custom cowboy boots and a belt buckle prior to Saturday's game.

Ortiz leaves Arlington with great memories, but one sticks out in particular.

"Did you know, that I hit my first home run at this stadium 20 years ago?" Oritz rhetorically asked. "It was incredible. I never thought I'd hit another 500 more."

Ortiz pounded Rangers pitching over the years. At Globe Life Park, he batted .302 and hit 19 home runs. Perhaps that number could have been more, because Ortiz says he nearly became a Rangers.

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"2011, I almost came to play here because I was a free agent and I was expecting the Red Sox to give me a contract and it was kind of like in between, and the thing is we ended up going to arbitration. The GM at the time, he's still the GM right now, he kind of made some comments about trying to get me, but he never did and I ended up re-signing with the Red Sox and I'm still here," said Ortiz.

If not for chronic foot pain, Ortiz could keep playing. He's having one of the best first halves of his career while setting new benchmarks for players 40-years and older. He's batting .335, with 18 home runs and 60 runs batted in as the season approaches the halfway mark. It has him in position to be a MVP candidate, an award he's never won in his 20-year hall of fame career.

"I've seen a couple of guys that have retired. They had announced their retirment, and things didn't end very well as they play their last season. So I got all this stuff in my mind and I want to make the difference, and thank God things are going good," says Ortiz.

Although Ortiz's last scheduled appearance in Arlington is over, he may be back during the postseason. If the season ended today, the Rangers and Red Sox would both be in the playoffs.

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