David Ortiz is retiring. I’m sure you’ve heard.

In fact, all we’ve heard over the last few weeks is how Yankee fans should give Big Papi a standing ovation during his final games at Yankee Stadium. Andrew Marchand of ESPN wrote that fans should give Ortiz an ovation because he "deserves this respect as arguably the most important figure in the game's greatest rivalry since George Herman Ruth." Anthony McCarron of New York Daily News said that fans should "recognize Ortiz's love for baseball, his flair for the dramatic, his showmanship." Ortiz himself penned a letter to Yankee fans asking them to treat him nicely on the day of his final game in New York. (Now that is weird.)

The Yankees announced that they will honor Ortiz with a pregame ceremony September 29, and after all, that’s only fair. The Red Sox held pregame ceremonies for Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera at Fenway Park.

If you’re a Yankees fan planning on cheering Ortiz -- and there are plenty of those fans -- that’s perfectly fine. The rivalry (used to be) amazing, and David Ortiz, along with guys like Manny Ramirez and Jason Varitek, were a huge part of it. I’m not writing this to dissuade you from cheering or tipping your cap or waving goodbye. Knock yourself out.

I’m writing this to explain why I -- and many other fans -- will pass on giving Ortiz an ovation. While pundits at ESPN and NYDN and other places call for cheers, I’ll give five reasons why some of us still boo.

Disclaimer: I believe David Ortiz is a Hall of Fame player. If I had a vote, I would vote him in on the first ballot. Ortiz easily clears the regular season marks for the HOF -- 540 home runs, 1,765 RBI, 632 doubles, and a career .931 OPS. And don’t get me started on the playoffs. Big Papi is a three-time World Series champion with a .962 OPS in the postseason and a .455/.576/.795 line in the Fall Classic. And of course, when it comes to "career-defining moments," Ortiz has about a million of them.

(USATI)

1. My memories of David Ortiz are not good ones.

While the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry is one of my favorite things in all of sports, David Ortiz’s role in that rivalry makes me miserable. He has 53 career regular season home runs against the Yankees and a 129 extra-base hits. And if I remember correctly, all of those home runs gave the Red Sox the lead or were hit in the 9th inning or were walkoff shots. All my favorite pitchers -- Rivera, Pettitte, Mussina, Robertson -- gave up moonshots to Ortiz. When I reflect on Ortiz, all I can see is him strutting around the bases as Fenway goes wild or as Yankee Stadium boos. Years and years and years of towering moonshots. And don’t get me started on the postseason. Go back and rewatch the 2004 ALCS if you’re feeling all warm and fuzzy about Big Papi.

2. I’m still angry about his role in the 2004 Yankees/Red Sox brawl.

This was probably the most violent moment of the rivalry (in my lifetime), and I won’t forget that Ortiz and Gabe Kapler and Trot Nixon went 3-on-1 versus Tanyon Sturtze. I’m not gonna pretend that Sturtze was some angel in the whole affair, and he might have been the instigator in that part of the fight. But whenever I watch this video, my hatred for Ortiz (and Varitek and Nixon and the rest) flairs up.

3. "He’s such a nice guy."

OK, that’s fine. And he sure is loved by a lot of fans and players. But there are too many moments that stick out in my mind of Ortiz losing his cool and reacting violently to something he didn’t like.

And those are just the ones I can remember.

I enjoy when players play with intensity and heart. And some showmanship is always appreciated. But don’t try to market Ortiz to me as some lovable guy with a heart of gold.

He's just like a teddy bear. (USA TODAY Sports)

4. The treatment of some PED users (A-Rod, Braun) vs. treatment of Ortiz is off-putting.

I don’t care at all that David Ortiz tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. I’ve cheered loudly for A-Rod and Andy Pettitte and Rogers Clemens and many others, so it would be pretty hypocritical of me to hold that against him. I don’t think that his PED usage should hold him (or Barry Bonds or Sammy Sosa or Clemens) out of the Hall of Fame.

But it does irk me to no end to see how MLB vilified steroid users like A-Rod and Braun and McGwire and Sosa and Manny Ramirez, while propping up Ortiz. MLB profited from steroid usage and then when it became fashionable to do so, turned on the stars that made them rich. Seeing MLB hold up Ortiz as a model player at the same time is fairly nauseating.

Additionally, I haven’t forgotten how much Red Sox fans and fans around the game trashed A-Rod for his usage. Now A-Rod brought that on himself by cheating and lying and trying to cover things up, but the hypocrisy when the same fans cheer for Big Papi is striking. Remember that time Ryan Dempster threw at A-Rod because he had appointed himself morality cop for MLB? I remember.

5. The Yankees/Red Sox rivalry is deader than ever, and these ceremonies are making things worse.

I wish the Red Sox and Fenway Park had never held ceremonies for Derek Jeter or Mariano Rivera. And I wish the Yankees wouldn’t throw one for Ortiz. Baseball was a lot more fun when these two teams didn’t like each other. Every time we recognize a retirement tour by our bitter rivals, those rivals become much less bitter. A tip of the cap, a smattering of applause, whatever comes naturally is fine. This forced "respect" is tiresome, and there are plenty of Red Sox fans who thought the same thing when their front office had ceremonies for New York players. Just let us be enemies!