A little boy, who couldn’t have been more than 5 years old, walked into the ballpark when the gates opened wearing a Big Papi jersey, Big Papi pins, a Big Papi hat, and Big Papi batting gloves.

This represented what David Ortiz meant to the youth of New England. Not many players had that effect in Red Sox lore. There was Ted Williams, Tony Conigliaro, Mo Vaughn, Pedro Martinez, and then Papi.

“Will this be the last time we see him?’’ the boy asked his dad, who smiled, knowing that others near him had heard the question.

“Maybe not,’’ said the father. “The Red Sox will win and we’ll get to see him again.’’

The boy suddenly had this happy face on. He was excited that Papi would play one more day.

On this day though, his dad’s words would not hold true.

It was strange that Ortiz had to go out this way and little boys and girls didn’t get the chance to witness a more grand finale of his extraordinary career.

It was better than finishing last, as his Red Sox teams had the previous two seasons, but expectations were high in the playoffs. We all had illusions of grandeur that Big Papi would do something big to lead the Red Sox to a memorable comeback and vault them deep into the postseason.

We wanted to see one more big Big Papi moment from one of the greatest postseason hitters ever. But it just wasn’t there. Whether he was worn out by celebrations in his honor or whether fatigue finally caught up with the Red Sox after a grueling road schedule in August and September, who knows?

In the end, the Sox offense, which was statistically the best in baseball during the regular season, whimpered out of the playoffs with a pathetic performance. They allowed two back-end starters in Trevor Bauer and Josh Tomlin to control them. The Sox also allowed Andrew Miller to be a factor in two of the three games.

“It’s all about momentum,’’ Ortiz said late Monday night after the Sox lost, 4-3. “The Indians had incredible momentum. It’s not what you expect but we could never catch up to that momentum. In a short series, that was critical.’’

Ortiz, who led major league hitters with a 1.021 OPS in the regular season, was held to a .111 average in his final playoff series. It’s not his fault, because nobody around him picked him up. The Red Sox looked like a JV offense. How could a team that had lost two of its best starting pitchers hold the Red Sox offense at bay for three games? Well, what seemed like the impossible when playoff series began happened.

We won’t remember much about this final Papi series. No big hits. No highlight moments. There was no great comeback from an 0-2 deficit to write about it. It was just the end with no postscript.

He received an ovation pregame, and chants of “Papi!, Papi!’’ every time he came up. We expected that.

What did he want this to be? What did he want to do? What did he envision? We’re sure a walkoff homer was right up there on his wish list, a homer that would extend his career one more day, two more days, maybe through the month and into the World Series.

If that was the big get, he had to be disappointed.

He walked in his first at-bat in the second inning and got to second base with one out. The Sox had two on and one out, when rookie Andrew Benintendi knocked into a double play that ended the inning and one of the few threats Boston had in Game 3. In the sixth, Ortiz knocked in his final postseason run with a sacrifice fly to center field. The Sox had runners on second and third, and it was too much to expect a three-run homer against Miller. But we’ve become accustomed to those heroics from him.

Ortiz came up in the eighth for the final time in his Red Sox career to face Indians closer Cody Allen with a runner at first base and two outs. The crowd began to cheer in anticipation of his final at-bat. He drew a walk.

When he got to second base on Hanley Ramirez’s single, he was pinch run for by Marco Hernandez as the crowd roared and shouted “Papi!, Papi!’’ Ortiz, filled with emotion, raised his arms to the crowd and tried to rally his teammates in the dugout to finish the job.

Around the ballpark, fans were anticipating something big. Signs like “Big Papi for president’’ were in abundance. An election he just might win.

But there was no happy ending. Papi’s run of 14 incredible seasons in the middle of the Red Sox order, with high-powered offenses that scared the American League for many years, ended so matter-of-factly.

No, this wasn’t the way anyone planned it. There was no glory. There was no home run. There was no saving this one to replay on a rainy day. This was a rainy day for Red Sox fans, for Big Papi fans.

Our memories of him must come from other times, other years, and other places.

After the final out of Game 3 was recorded, the crowd began to chant for Ortiz’s final curtain call. Fifteen minutes later he came out with a hoard of photographers surrounding him as he made his way to the mound and started waving to the crowd and tearing up.

“I started thinking,’’ Ortiz said. “I started looking around. That moment hits you that you’re not going to be performing in front of I think we had the best fans worldwide – is something that hit me. I’m not going to lie to you. I’ve tried to hold my emotions but at that last second I couldn’t hold it no more. I respect and love this game so much. As long as I play I wanted to be one of the best. I don’t care about personal stats. I cared about the fans. I really cared about everything that comes with it, community-wise what we do off the field. It comes with a lot of things.’’

He said he thought about the late Jose Fernandez. He said he thought about his final regular-season game at Fenway. He said when he came out, he knew there was nothing left to play for. It was over.

He told the team, “We went from last place to winning the division and even though things didn’t end up the way we thought, I still think it’s a big step. I wanted my teammates to feel happy. I told them we only played three games but you guys saw the intensity and the emotions and you saw the best of the best play and make sure it carries over the following year.’’

What a missed opportunity. He could have been sent off a champion, but it ended in a sweep by the Indians, a team the Sox should have beaten.

Goodbye, Big Papi. Thanks for giving so many children so much joy. Sorry it had to end this way.

Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickcafardo.