'He's Our Hero': David Ortiz Shooting Hits Close To Home With Local Dominican Community
LAWRENCE (CBS) – David Ortiz is a hero to millions of Massachusetts residents because of his legendary career with the Red Sox, but local Dominicans feel a special connection to Ortiz, who is a native of the Dominican Republic himself. On Sunday night, Ortiz was shot in Santo Domingo, the capital city of his home country.
"He's what we're all hoping that our kids will be," explained Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera. "It's the dream that you can come from the island -- They say you can't walk off the island, you have to hit home runs off the island. He's one of the guys who did that."
Rivera was most recently with Big Papi in May, when the two received honorary degrees from Regis College.
While Mayor Rivera may know Big Papi personally, others in Lawrence who don't still tell WBZ-TV they consider Ortiz family.
The city is about 80 percent Latino and the majority of those Latino people are Dominican – so while the shooting happened on the island, it is still being felt at home.
"That can happen to anybody but not to Big Papi," said Miguelo Saldana, a local boutique owner. He moved to the U.S. from the D.R.
"He's like our hero," Saldana explained. "You know, Big Papi, he is the Dominican Republic. So it's like whatever happens to him happens to us. So he's like our friend, my brother. He's my brother."
Saldana worked at his store "DNoche" on Monday but said he spent the whole day checking his phone, searching for news updates on Ortiz and texting friends and family.
He's also worried about the repercussions of the shooting on the economy in the Dominican Republic, which relies largely on tourism. "I know some people that [were] planning to go to DR, and they already canceled their plans to go over there for vacation because they're afraid after what happened to Big Papi," Saldana explained.
Nonetheless, Saldana's priority is wishing well to one of his baseball and personal heroes. "It's hard to describe because it's somebody that you love. Somebody that's your hero," he said. "Big Papi, you have to get better as soon as possible because everybody loves you!"
