Before Game 4 of the World Series even got going Tuesday night, David Ortiz had already had a much rougher start to the day than anyone on the FOX Sports set.
While the Milwaukee Brewers chased a sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays, FOX host Kevin Burkhardt revealed during the pregame show that Ortiz had been caught in an elevator earlier in the day.
“Things not going well for the Rays, and things just not going well in Tampa in general,” Burkhardt said. “We had multiple people on our crew get stuck in an elevator, and Papi, you were one of them today. Good to see you made it.”
Ortiz, the former Boston Red Sox star, told his side of the story in his usual blunt style.
“Twice, not once, twice,” Ortiz responded. “I got stuck in an elevator.”
Alex Rodriguez then jumped in and asked whether Ortiz is claustrophobic.
Earlier today @DavidOrtiz was stuck in an elevator, but he's here and we're ready to go for Game 4 pic.twitter.com/59LGvUPMXD
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) October 27, 2026
“Not really, but I was kind of getting worried at some point,” Ortiz admitted. “You know?
But I got out. I'm here.”
The broadcast crew also leaned into the Milwaukee-to-Tampa storyline from the series opener, when one of the hotels used by the players was rumored to be haunted. Derek Jeter brought that back into the conversation with a line aimed at Ortiz.
“The ghosts followed you from Milwaukee, man,” Jeter told Ortiz.
Ortiz fired back with a laugh.
“Maybe. A lot of people from Wisconsin here. Somebody probably brought them on the airplane,” Ortiz responded as the guys shared a laugh.
Game 4 was scheduled for 8 PM ET in Tampa Bay.
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