Archer pleased Rays will honor Red Sox's Ortiz

ST. PETERSBURG — The Rays have made it official they will honor retiring Red Sox DH David Ortiz in a ceremony before Sunday's game.

The team said in a release the ceremony "will include parting gifts from Rays players and the Rays organization to be revealed when the festivities begin at 12:55 p.m.''

Ortiz will be the fourth visiting player to be honored in a pregame ceremony at the Trop, joining Cal Ripken, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter.

"I'm definitely glad we're honoring him because it's the right thing to do," said Rays starter Chris Archer. "This guy is a Hall of Famer, a borderline first-ballot Hall of Famer. He changed the game for the position of the designated hitter. The expectation is to be what he is. Somebody who impacts the game like that, they deserve a moment, they deserve five minutes.

"He's done a lot of damage against us, but that's one of the reasons why we revere him so much is because of how good he is. Not to mention, he's put a lot of people in these seats for the Rays. We can give him five minutes and a couple gifts. I think it's the least we can do."

Marc Topkin, Times staff writer