NEW YORK -- Stand up and cheer.
That is what Yankees fans should do over the next three days when Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz walks to the plate during his final appearance in the Bronx. Ortiz deserves this respect as arguably the most important figure in the game's greatest rivalry since George Herman Ruth.
In Boston's 2004 ALCS comeback for the ages -- en route to the Red Sox breaking an 86-year-old curse -- Ortiz hit the game-winning homer in Game 4, the game-winning single in Game 5 and a two-run first-inning homer in a Game 7 blowout to earn series MVP.