Big Papi is a hit behind the grill

LINCOLN - David Ortiz is smiling. The sun is shining, the grill is hot, and so is his team, which the night before had clinched its first American League East division championship in 12 years. Around him are friends, family, a few lucky fans, and all his favorite foods.

Ortiz's presence here last Saturday seems unusual. The Red Sox would be playing at Fenway in a few hours. It would seem that Big Papi had better things to do than attend a barbecue on the grounds of this sprawling unoccupied (and for-sale) manse. Didn't he have somewhere else to be?

But before games, Ortiz loves nothing more than barbecue, Dominican-style. This afternoon is sponsored by Vitaminwater, one of the products he pitches. He is unfailingly gracious, posing for pictures and looking like a natural behind the grill in a Vitaminwater chef's toque and apron, wearing large sunglasses, and brushing chipotle sauce onto flat steak before he sits down and enjoys his own lunch.

His favorite game-day meal, it turns out, is just this - "all of this," he says. "I think that's why I'm so full right now."

The meal includes a Caribbean favorite, pinchos, which are barbecued chicken and pork skewers; whole roast pig, also very popular in the Dominican Republic; pionones, or baked plantains with ground beef; grilled Angus steak with chipotle sauce; and paella with a choice of shrimp, chorizo, fish, chicken, lobster, or mussels. The food comes from Merengue, on Blue Hill Avenue. Hector Pina, the restaurant's owner and a close friend of Ortiz's, is on hand, supervising the cooking.

Ortiz says he loves to prepare most of the items on Pina's menu today. "Barbecue is easy. All you gotta do is keep your eyes on [the food] so it doesn't burn. I enjoy being in the backyard, hanging out, being with family - making what you know you're gonna eat. That's what I call relaxing."

On game days, the slugger leaves the cooking to his personal chef or to Pina.

They may be hauling out the grill for No. 34 deep into October.