David Ortiz Is Flown to Boston After Shooting at Dominican Bar

David Ortiz, the former Boston Red Sox star who became one of the game’s most respected athletes while playing a key role ending the club’s 86-year World Series drought in 2004, was not planning on going out Sunday night. But a call from a friend, Jhoel López, a local television host, persuaded Ortiz to change his mind.

Soon after Ortiz’s arrival at a regular hangout, the Dial Bar & Lounge in the eastern part of the capitol, an assailant crept up behind him and fired a gunshot from close range. The bullet entered Ortiz’s back and exited his abdomen, seriously wounding the baseball player widely known as Big Papi.

“We were just hanging out and going about our way,” Ortiz’s brother, Eloy, said in Spanish. “This doesn’t make sense.”

While news of the shooting spread late Sunday, sending shock waves through the baseball community, Ortiz, 43, was rushed to a clinic in Santo Domingo. After spending six hours in surgery, until 3 a.m. Monday, he was in stable enough condition to be transported to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston via an air ambulance provided by the Red Sox, club officials said on Monday afternoon.

“It’s a family decision, because the last 20 years of his life have revolved around the Boston Red Sox,” Leo López, Ortiz’s longtime assistant, said in a phone interview.

Doctors removed Ortiz’s gallbladder and part of his intestines during the operation, said Abel Gonzalez, one of the doctors who operated on Ortiz at his clinic. Ortiz’s liver was also damaged.

As he was wheeled into the clinic, Ortiz told doctors, “Please don’t let me die, I’m a good man,” according to an emergency room doctor who was at the clinic.

Ortiz was sedated but woke up late Monday morning and spoke briefly to his father and sister, who offered him words of support, Leo López said.

“The events of last night shook our Red Sox family to its core,” Sam Kennedy, the Red Sox’s president, said at a news conference on Monday. “David Ortiz is one of the most celebrated and beloved members of the Red Sox family.”

Many current and former players, including Pedro Martinez, the former Red Sox ace from the Dominican Republic, offered support on social media. On Monday, former President Barack Obama also posted a message for Ortiz on Twitter.

Ortiz, who lives in Miami but spends some of the year in the Dominican Republic, had been back in his native country for about a week, promoting a new cigar brand and working with a new foundation to supply sports equipment to kids. He was also training with his 15-year-old son D’Angelo, who is hoping to follow his father’s footsteps to the major leagues.

The motive for the attack remained unclear and was still under investigation, the authorities said, but they ruled out an attempted robbery. Security footage obtained from the bar by police showed Ortiz falling over and out of his chair after the shooter approached him and fired.

Police detained Eddy Feliz García, 25, who was believed to be the driver of the motorcycle that fled the scene after the shooting, according to Ney Aldrin Bautista Almonte, the director of the national police. An angry mob beat the driver after the motorcycle sputtered. A second suspect has not been identified or arrested.

Jhoel López, Ortiz’s friend, was also injured, possibly by the same bullet, in the leg and is in stable condition, said Leo López, Ortiz’s assistant.

The shooting occurred in an area filled with high-end clubs and bars where Ortiz has been known to frequent. Leo López said Ortiz is well known at Dial. He said he did not know why Ortiz was targeted.

“You know how the world is right now,” he said. “In reality, there is no respect for life by a lot of people. People can take others’ life for any difference. And it’s a difference we don’t know right now. David is a guy that is beloved, not just here but around the world.”

Ortiz’s big bat and big personality earned him that affection over a 20-year major league career. The left-handed slugger spent 14 seasons with the Red Sox, where he was a 10-time All-Star and three-time World Series Champion. He famously became an outspoken voice for the city following the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.

Ortiz is much-loved in Boston for helping the Red Sox win the 2004 World Series, their first since 1918. That year, he buried the rival Yankees in the American League Championship Series with a home run to end Game 4, a single to win Game 5 and another home run in Game 7.

In 2009, The New York Times reported that Ortiz had tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs six years prior, before penalties were in place and when results were supposed to remain anonymous. Ortiz acknowledged then the report was accurate and later said he had been careless in his use of over-the-counter vitamins and supplements. He said he had never used or bought steroids.

He retired in 2016 with 541 home runs, 17th-most in major league history. He has raised millions of dollars through his foundation to help children’s medical needs in New England and the Dominican Republic.

“It’s really sad when stuff like that happens, especially for ones that you care and you love, that are kind of part of your family,” Robinson Cano, the Mets second baseman who is also from the Dominican Republic, said on Monday. “This is really sad. So hopefully they find the guy, then find out what was really the whole situation. Hopefully this doesn’t happen to not only baseball players, but anyone.”