In the seventh inning of Boston's 6-0 win over Minnesota last night, Ortiz deposited his 52nd home run of the season into the center-field bleachers. It highlighted a night in which the designated hitter passed Jimmie Foxx's 68-year-old mark for most homers by a Sox player in a single season by hitting a pair of round-trippers.
In the middle of the scrum to gather Ortiz's second homer of the night was Tommy Valeriani of Boxford. The 10-year-old not only scooped up the ball, he was given some extra special treatment from the hero of the night.
"That's to my man right here, my little friend right here," said Ortiz, pointing to Valeriani after the game in the Fenway interview room. "He caught the ball in between all the people out there. I don't know how he did it, but he did a great job."
Valeriani, a student at the Spofford Pond Elementary School, was with his father, Frank, attending his second Red Sox game of the season. His mother, Lisa, had been given the tickets by a co-worker at the Massachusetts Medical Society earlier in the day.
"What was funny was that it was spur of the moment," said Lisa Valeriani from her Boxford home, still waiting the arrival of her son and husband from the game. "We met halfway and I just handed off the tickets. It was nothing planned.
"(Tommy) is a huge baseball fan. He says that he is going to play for the Red Sox some day. I don't know if (Ortiz) is his favorite, but I would imagine he takes that place now, without a doubt."
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