David Ortiz was not planning on going out Sunday night in the Dominican Republic. 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 Santo Domingo, 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 former Boston Red Sox star known as Big Papi, who became one of baseball’s most respected athletes while playing a key role ending the club’s 86-year World Series drought in 2004.

“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 after 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.