D'Angelo Ortiz aims to create his own legacy with Red Sox

Ortiz takes “pride” in what his father accomplished in Boston. But as he begins his career with the Red Sox’ organization, the younger Ortiz is hoping to build a name for himself.

Before being drafted by the Red Sox in July, D’Angelo Ortiz had a stint with the Brockton Rox.

When D’Angelo Ortiz was around 11 years old, he traveled with his father to the Dominican Republic, the country that sculpted one of baseball’s biggest icons.

Ortiz felt the same heat on his forehead that his father felt before winning three World Series in the chilly Boston weather. He walked down the same streets his dad walked before having two streets named after him. He visited the places where his father dreamed about becoming a professional baseball player, dreams that would result in David Ortiz’s induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The ground where they stood was where David Ortiz discovered his love for baseball, and fostering that passion allowed him to provide for his children. The 10-time All-Star knew that one day, those children would grow up and have to support themselves. So during that trip, he told his son to build his life using whatever passion he found.

“You got to find your thing,” D’Angelo Ortiz told Boston.com. “And my thing was baseball.”

There weren’t many other options. Ortiz spent too much time at Fenway Park as a kid for anything else to become his thing. Whenever the Red Sox played their home games, Ortiz would go with his father to the ballpark he considers his second home. The place he knew where everything was, from Gate A to home plate. The park where he could sit on the outfield grass and stare at whatever was playing on the JumboTron as if he was watching TV at his house.

Ortiz wasn’t just a bystander at Fenway Park — many of the Red Sox treated him like a teammate. He received plenty of valuable baseball advice from his superstar dad. The team’s hitting coordinators refined his swing and their defensive coaches fielded with him. He even had his own locker in the clubhouse next to his father’s, a locker full of Red Sox uniforms and shirts in his size.

Many people within the Red Sox organization took good care of the boy. Dustin Pedroia made sure that Ortiz was doing the right things at all times. Tim Wakefield and his wife Stacy always showered Ortiz with kindness. He developed friendships with just about everyone who worked or played for the team, all of whom cherished him as part of the Red Sox family he wanted to rejoin one day as a player.

“Everybody has been great. Everybody,” Ortiz said. “I love everything about this organization.”

Ortiz did not want to coast off the legacy of his father though. He wanted to earn an opportunity with the Red Sox based solely on merit. The only way that would happen is if he devoted his life to baseball, a realization that planted a relentless work ethic in his heart. That work ethic earned him an opportunity to play at Westminster Christian School in Palmetto Beach, Florida, the same high school that graduated talents like Royals hitter MJ Melendez and Reds top prospect Sal Stewart.

While at Westminster Christian, Ortiz established himself as a smart hitter with power who made strong contact whenever he hit the ball. He took pride in his hitting, as well as his defense, and often went out of his way to find areas in his game to fix. By his sophomore year, these traits piqued the interest of Willie Romay, the Red Sox’s Miami-area scout.

“He’s a hard worker, he loves the game, and he loves to compete,” Romay said. “He’s going to continue to thrive because he actually has passion for this game. It’s what he loves.”

Upon receiving his high school diploma, Ortiz enrolled at Miami-Dade Community College (MDC), one of the most competitive junior college baseball programs in the country. MDC offered him ample playing time and excellent coaching, which transformed his game. The third baseman batted .328/.431/.374 as a freshman and .377/.467/.434 as a sophomore before Romay advised his colleagues at the Red Sox to take a swing on the ever-improving Ortiz in the 2024 MLB Draft. And in the draft’s 19th round, they took Romay’s advice.

D’Angelo Ortiz became a member of the Boston Red Sox organization.

“[Ortiz] was an easy, easy one to bring on board,” said Devin Pearson, the Red Sox’ director of amateur scouting.

As Ortiz begins his Red Sox career at JetBlue Park in Ft. Myers, Florida, he takes David Ortiz Way as he arrives each day. He’s well aware that his father is one of the most revered players in franchise history and will be associated with Red Sox greatness for decades to come. The younger Ortiz has massive cleats to fill, but he knows they don’t need to be a perfect fit. His primary aim is to etch his own name into baseball history.

“I want to be D’Angelo,” Ortiz said. “I take pride in my dad being who he was, and now it’s time for me to take pride in being me and just focus on that.”

Ortiz knows that he’s more than just his last name. He’s a smart hitter. He’s a tireless worker. He’s a member of the Red Sox organization. He is D’Angelo Ortiz, and he will stop at nothing to return to the ballpark he grew up in.

“D’Angelo is going to carve his own path,” Pearson said. “But one thing I can guarantee is he’s going to work his tail off to get there.”