Ortiz hopes for standing ovation in N.Y. finale

Red Sox fans gave more-than-respectful farewells to Mariano River and Derek Jeter when they played for the last time at Fenway Park.

David Ortiz hopes to feel the same kind of love in his Yankee Stadium finale.

"You know what I want most of all? I would love it if the fans at Yankee Stadium gave me a standing ovation," Ortiz told the New York Post on Tuesday.

Yankee fans -- hardly known for their sentimentality when it comes to opposing players -- have always felt a special animus towards Ortiz. First of all, he's been a Yankee-killer throughout his entire career: In 224 games against them, he's hit .306 with a .395 on-base percentage and a .565 slugging percentage (.960 OPS), with 47 homers and 158 RBI. Secondly, 28 of those 47 homers have been hit in the two iterations of Yankee Stadium.

And thirdly, he was the key figure in the Yankee franchise's most humiliating defeat: The Yanks' blowing of a 3-0 lead to the Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS, making them the only team in baseball history to lose a best-of-seven series after having been ahead three games to none. Ortiz had the game-winning hits in both Games 4 and 5 (in extra innings both times), and sparked the Game 7 rout with a two-run homer in the first inning.

"The Yankees were the team to beat back then," Ortiz told the Post. "Being able to do what we did was something that was very special. It was career-lifting for me. People get to know you better, focus on you a little more. If you continue to be successful, you can build a career out of it."

Yankee fans have never forgotten, and never forgiven. Ortiz has been savagely booed in every appearance in the Bronx since then. In addition, they've never let Ortiz forget that his name was leaked as having failed a 2003 drug test, before penalties for performance-enhancing drugs were in place . . . ignoring, of course, the hypocrisy of their embracing of Alex Rodriguez, a two-time self-admitted drug cheater who was suspended for an entire year by MLB for PED use.