David Ortiz: MTV Star?

Big Papi will produce his own show for the network.

davidortiz

Like Snooki before him, David Ortiz is slated to join the MTV family. The Associated Press reports that Papi will produce his own show, probably to air on MTV 2:

MTV Networks and Major League Baseball said Monday they are collaborating on a weekly 30-episode series that melds pop culture and baseball. Ortiz and Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star outfielder Andrew McCutchen are both executive producers of the series, set to begin next spring around the start of the new season.

Apparently MTV first became interested in Ortiz as a TV personality after watching a video he recorded with the MLB in which he walked through New York asking Yankees fans for hugs:

(That video’s fun, though we’ve always been partial to his performance in that Sports Center ad.)

But they were apparently “sold” on the idea when they learned that Ortiz is the “musical director” of the Red Sox clubhouse. That’s because the show isn’t so much about baseball as it is about promoting the game and its players with younger fans. It’ll be recorded at MLB’s Fan Cave, a facility the league has in New York that has organized player appearances and videos like the above one. “The show might discuss some things that are happening on the field, but … the big idea is to promote the game and its players with a young generation,” the AP says.

It makes sense. We know Ortiz hobnobs with late night hosts, gives a good speech when the moment calls for it, and like any good MTV personality, requires occasional censorship. In other words, it’s time to find out whether you still get MTV 2.