The Complete David Ortiz Interview: Papi speaks after being shot in D.R.

Full Interview: David Ortiz speaks on his recovery from being shot in Dominican Republic

Updated: September 17, 2019 - 11:14 AM

BOSTON — A select group of local reporters got the chance to interview retired Red Sox slugger David Ortiz as he continues to recover from being shot in the Dominican Republic.

Ortiz says he did the sit-down interview to open up about the shooting and set the record straight.

David Ortiz made it clear there was a lot of misinformation posted by unaccountable people who suffer no consequences for posting false information. Alluded to story of his car being run off road and dismissed it as untrue. pic.twitter.com/NxVn8D0HxP
— Tom Leyden (@TomLeyden) September 16, 2019

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Boston 25's sports director Tom Leyden was a part of that exclusive group who spoke with Big Papi.

David Ortiz sat down with us today to share a lot on his shooting, recovery, the aftermath and the investigation. Stay with us all day as we bring you the details on ⁦@boston25⁩ pic.twitter.com/kUmuyqic9v
— Tom Leyden (@TomLeyden) September 16, 2019

Leyden asked Big Papi why he thought this happened to him. Ortiz answered:

"That was a question I asked myself. I'm a good person, I'm a friendly guy. I want to make sure people around me are taken care of.

The last time I argued with someone was in a baseball game with an umpire. I go back and forth to my country for a week. I don't have much time to do too many things, I'm always on the run, always visiting family, taking care of business.

I have a lot of things going on down there, I hardly have enough time to you know do my things, so it was very surprising for me that a situation like this happened because I'm a guy who always, you know, my family, my friends, when I'm down there, I always make sure everyone is good and taken care of and you know, situations like this happen you kind of, you know, puts you on the spot, gets you thinking I mean it's just, I was about to come back to my house the very next day. I only went for about ten days and uhh, a stitch like this, you are like woah, but I got to say it has been a game-changer. And now you start thinking different."

MORE:

[ Big Papi throws out 1st pitch at Fenway ]

[ David Ortiz hires former BPD commissioner to investigate motive of Dominican shooting ]

[ David Ortiz back home, posts to social media for first time since shooting ]