On the day Ken Griffey Jr. was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, one of his friends had the day off at Fenway Park.
David Ortiz didn’t play in the Red Sox’ 8-7 win over the Twins on Sunday. He’s 40 years old, six years younger than Griffey, and needs routine rest about once a week. Assuming he sticks to his plan to retire after this season, Ortiz, too, will be 46 the first year he’s eligible to be inducted in Cooperstown.
“I know Griff for a long time, when I came up with Seattle,” said Ortiz, who was a minor leaguer with the Mariners from 1994-1996.