In a recently released excerpt from David Ortiz’ upcoming book, Papi: My Story, the former Red Sox star details what he calls “the worst season of [his] career.”

The sneak peek of the upcoming 272-page memoir, shared by Sports Illustrated on Wednesday, slams former team manager Bobby Valentine’s 2012 tenure, sheds light on his relationship with wife, Tiffany, and reveals how he was affected by the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings.

Read the full excerpt from Papi: My Story here.

Here are five things we learned from Big Papi’s account:

He found out on the news that Valentine was going to be the team’s new manager.

I tried not to think about the fact that the Red Sox never asked my opinion on players they were thinking about signing or managers they wanted to hire. I found out on the news, just like everyone else, that Valentine was our new manager. I did some research and learned that there was basically one person in the organization, team president Larry Lucchino, who really wanted to hire Valentine. That was it. One person.


He wanted to tell Valentine, “f— you,” as early as 2012 spring training.

The drama began almost immediately in spring training. I remember fighting the thought, very early, “We’re going to have an absolutely terrible year.” It was all about him in the spring. It was as if he wanted to prove how smart he was by running us through all these drills he’d used while managing in Japan, drills we had never done before. Bobby was in his own bubble, and I just wanted to get him out of it and tell him, “F— you.”

But he encouraged his team to continue to support Valentine.

I remember looking up and seeing a line of my teammates walking toward me. They were pissed. They said, “We want that mother—— fired before the airplane lands.” I didn’t know what they might have done if they had gotten to him, but I felt it was way too early in the season for that kind of takeover. He was aggravating as hell, arrogant and disrespectful, but I felt that we needed to try our best to support him.

He didn’t plan to say, “This is our f—— city” in his speech before the Red Sox’ first game back after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings.

I said something that I hadn’t planned to. It came from the pressure building up that entire week, finally being released. I looked at the sellout crowd, and to their surprise, and mine, I said, “This is our f—— city. And nobody is going to dictate our freedom. Stay strong.” There was applause. Then there was music. It must have taken me a few seconds to realize, as I was walking off the field, that I’d said “f——.” I began thinking, Oh s—, I think I screwed up. But when I got close to the police and the mayor, they high-fived me hard.

His resilience and hard work during the 2013 season not only earned another World Series ring, but also salvaged his marriage.

I had hit .688 in the Series and would be named Most Valuable Player. Everyone commented on how I had come through, again, in the clutch. My wife saw it differently. She told me something that I would never forget. She said, “As clutch as you were on the field, you did that and more to win me back and put our family back together.” Let me tell you, it was a miracle. I had been separated from my wife for a year, and I was an autograph away from being divorced. And it didn’t happen. That’s not how those stories usually end.

Read the complete excerpt from Papi: My Story here.

The book is scheduled to be released on May 16, which also marks the first date of Ortiz’ book tour.