Boston Red Sox star David "Big Papi" Ortiz played what turned out to be his final game on Monday night at Fenway Park, in Game 3 of the ALDS. Boston lost 4-3 to the Cleveland Indians, in a game that stayed competitive until the bitter end.
It was after the game, though, that the real drama started. Immediately after the final out, the crowd started chanting "Papi! Papi!" Ortiz then walked out of the dugout, to thunderous applause.
While holding his hat up to the crowd for a full minute, Ortiz got extremely emotional. It was a magical, moving moment captured in the photo above—and, this being 2016, in a GIF.
At the postgame press conference, Ortiz talked about the waterworks.
"It kind of hit me a little bit, not going to lie to you," he said, according to CBS Boston. "I try to hold my emotions as much as I can, but that last second, I couldn’t hold it no more."
Papi also took time to pay tribute to the fans.
"What made me happy and proud about walking home the way I am right now is that as long as I played in front of these fans, I never took anything for granted," he continued. "I gave everything I happened to do something special while I played, and the fans respect that. The fans love that. The fans, they live through it. And that’s all that matters to me."
Tributes to Ortiz rolled in on social media throughout the evening and into Tuesday morning, with the Twitter hashtag #ThanksPapi pouring out countless messages. Twitter even added a special Ortiz emoji for the occasion.
Oritz received love from politicians
Current and former players
And, appropriately enough, the very game of baseball itself.
