Baseball legend David Ortiz continues his comeback after being shot in the back in a shocking attack in the Dominican Republic back in June. One of the biggest steps for Ortiz came on Thursday when Big Papi announced his return to Twitter.
This is the first time the former Boston Red Sox star tweeted since May 15. Ortiz wanted to let all his fans know that he appreciates the support he has received the last few months.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“Yooo Twitter…I’m baccckk,” Ortiz wrote. “Catching up on all the tweets I missed the past few months. Thankful for all the luv n support.”
Earlier in the week, Ortiz appeared on Univision and talked about the shooting incident that put his life at risk over the summer.
“I almost died, man,” he said. “I was in a coma. People were criticizing me as if I deserved to be killed.”
Ortiz was shot in the back on June 9 while sitting in a bar in Santo Domingo. The thought at first was Ortiz was the target of the attack but as the investigation went on, authorities revealed that Ortiz’s friend at the bar was the true target and the three-time World Series champion was hit by mistake.
In a report by CNN, the organizer of the plot and 14 others were arrested for the shooting. It’s been reported Victor Hugo Gomez Vasquez is accused of paying Alberto Miguel Rodriguez Mota a $10,000 bounty. Ortiz’s friend, whose name is Sixto David Fernandez, was sitting next to the 10-time all-star at the time of the shooting and is cousins of Vazquez.
Ortiz was released from the hospital in late July and he made his first public appearance last week when he threw out the first pitch ahead of the Red Sox/Yankees game at Fenway Park. He opened up about the moment with the Boston Globe and how the shooting will affect him going forward (via Sporting News).
“I like to embrace people, make them feel comfortable around me. I was always very accessible, but I think I’m going to cut down on that a little now,” Ortiz said. “One lesson I’ve learned is that you can’t be naive. There are a lot of things going on now that you have to be aware of. I need to pay attention and be more careful.”
Ortiz played in the major leagues from 1997-2016. He was a member of the Minnesota Twins for six years and spent the rest of his career in Boston. Along with the three World Series titles and 10 all-star appearances, Ortiz recorded 541 home runs and 2,472 hits.
