Before long, though, Davis wondered if he should have left so soon, before the game really beat him. Ortiz will miss it too, he said, but continuing is not an option.

“He’s a big man,” Davis said. “Every time you run, there’s a risk of Achilles’ or hamstring or something. It doesn’t matter how much you stretch. And one of the incredible numbers I looked at the other day: He’s got 47 doubles!”

Actually, he now has 48. Ortiz also has a 1.039 on-base plus slugging percentage, the best in the major leagues. But the daily Achilles’ tendon treatment, and the toll of all those doubles on Ortiz’s 6-foot-3, 230-pound frame, makes this remarkable season a definitive goodbye.

“Your body, man,” Ortiz said. “I wish I could continue playing, but it takes a lot out of me to get prepared for the game every year. I’ve been dealing with it pretty much the past four years, and every year it gets worse. I’ve got to put a lot of effort and a lot of work to be prepared to perform at the highest level out there. At some point, it wears you out.”

That point is now, and the Red Sox will try to send him out a champion. Bogaerts cited Ray Lewis and Peyton Manning as football greats who finished as winners, but few athletes get so lucky. Ortiz mentioned Ellis Burks, who was a veteran outfielder with the Red Sox in 2004. Burks was not on the active roster for the World Series but ended his long career on top.

“I can see the emotion going through him,” Ortiz said.

However October unfolds, Ortiz will leave as a dominant force for a franchise he helped redefine. That is a powerful closing statement from a player who will not be forgotten.

“I can say I love this game, and this game is my everything,” Ortiz said. “But not forever.”