Papi is fan of Queens eatery
Café Rubio owner Juan Romero says he got the call early Wednesday morning, October 20, 2004, from a familiar voice, and the voice requested a Dominican dish of guinea hen and a nice glass of wine.
“He called me and said, ‘Hola Rubio, I’m coming to your restaurant,’” Romero says in Spanish. The “he” was none other than David Ortiz, and Big Papi was calling a short time after he and his Red Sox teammates had tied the ’04 ALCS against the Yankees after being down 3-0.
Romero — whose Café Rubio is located in Corona, Queens, a short drive from the old Shea Stadium and current Citi Field – says he tried to persuade Ortiz to stay put in his Manhattan hotel early that morning. After all, the Sox slugger had bigger things to rest up for, with Game 7 and a ticket to the World Series on the line. Only a year earlier, Boston had lost Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS in crushing fashion, when Aaron (Bleepin’) Boone socked a game-winning homer off Tim Wakefield to win the pennant.
“I said ‘David, I can bring the food to your hotel. I don’t want you to have to stress.’ He said, ‘Don’t worry, Rubio. I don’t want any pressure, I don’t want any stress. I want to eat a good meal, drink some wine and be with friends and fans,’” says Romero, recalling the phone conversation with Ortiz.
What transpired at Café Rubio in the wee hours is now part of Yankees-Red Sox lore, as Ortiz not only enjoyed good food and drink with a pivotal playoff game hours away from starting, but also channeled a bit of Babe Ruth, when Ortiz called his shot as he was leaving Café Rubio after his meal.
“That was the place that I went, and these guys from the Dominican, Yankee fans, were talking to me,” Ortiz said earlier this season during a series at the Stadium, when asked about the late-night Queens trip. “This and that. I told them that I was going to hit a home run. I basically did the next day.”
The way Romero remembers it, Big Papi was on his way out of the restaurant early in the morning, when fans began taunting him that he was out too late and eating too much and how could he beat the Yankees in Game 7?
“I said, ‘Come on David, you should go.’ And he said, ‘No, no. I want to say something to these fans,’” Romero says in Spanish. “And (Ortiz) said to (the fans), ‘I am who I am. I respect all fans’ opinions. And I am going to dedicate a home run to you and to Café Rubio in my first at-bat tomorrow.’ And he did it.”
Game 7 of that ’04 ALCS featured Yankee right-hander Kevin Brown against Sox righty Derek Lowe at the old Yankee Stadium where 56,129 had jammed the seats hoping the Bombers would finish a series they seemed destined to win, especially following the 19-8 Game 3 slaughter at Fenway. “Confident,” says Yankees general manager Brian Cashman now, when asked what he remembers feeling going into Game 7 at home. “We still felt that we would find a way, that it would be tough for us to lose four straight.”
Ortiz came up in the top of the first with Manny Ramirez on base and two outs. The first pitch Ortiz saw from Brown, he blasted over the right field wall for a two-run homer. Brown got out of the inning giving up just the two runs, but it already seemed over for the Yankees at that point. In the top of the second, Brown left the game with the bases loaded and Sox center fielder Johnny Damon promptly greeted relief pitcher Javier Vazquez with a grand slam.
The Yankees never threatened and fell to the Sox 10-3, a historic collapse that turned when Ortiz won Game 4 in Boston with a game-winning home run off reliever Paul Quantrill in the bottom of the 12th inning.
Romero says that his friendship with Ortiz started before 2004, although he can’t remember the exact date. Café Rubio celebrates its 15th anniversary next week, and although many Latin players venture to Northern Blvd. in Corona to sample Romero’s food – “His food is unbelievable,” says Ortiz – Romero says Big Papi is a “special” friend and customer. Just this week, in preparation for Ortiz’s final baseball swing through New York, Romero is building an outdoor deck behind the restaurant and he’s decorated the walls of the patio with life-size posters of Ortiz in both the home and road Red Sox uniform.
The Mets’ Jose Reyes, Jeurys Familia and Cuban slugger Yoenis Cespedes are all frequent customers at Café Rubio, and Pedro Martinez still makes a call every so often. But Ortiz is the king of Corona’s tiny sports bar/ restaurant next to an auto body shop. Big Papi signed a poster that hangs near the entrance and always mingles with fans when he pops by for a visit.
Ortiz’s baseball career may be coming to a close, but his ties to New York will remain, especially the dining spot he sought out prior to one of the biggest games of his life.
“I met David at Yankee Stadium. I went there for a game, I don’t remember what year, but after I met him, I invited him to my place. He said, ‘Yeah, I’ll come,’ and he came one day, but I wasn’t expecting him. It was a great joy for me,” says Romero. “He loves the atmosphere, the food and he said he would return. And he did.”