David Ortiz

[Brock Beauchamp]

David Ortiz (aka. "Big Papi" & "David Arias") was born in the Dominican Republic in 1975.

Ortiz was originally signed by the Seattle Mariners as a 17-year-old. He spent a couple of years in the Mariners system before being traded to the Twins as a PTBNL (Player To Be Named Later) in the Dave Hollins trade. Never considered anything but a position-less masher of the baseball, Ortiz spent most of his minor-league career wearing a first baseman's mitt. In his first season with the Twins organization (1997), he progressed three levels in the farm system, jumping from High-A ball all the way to the major league roster in Minnesota as a 21-year-old.

1998 and 1999 saw Ortiz on the Minnesota-to-Salt Lake shuttle, mixing major league time with stints in the minor leagues. From 1997 through the end of 1999, Ortiz had a 102 OPS+ over 111 games yet couldn't stick on a Twins roster that lost 94, 92, and 97 games, respectively.

The 2000 season saw Ortiz break out with the Twins, posting an .810 OPS in 130 games while carrying a .358 on-base percentage. His 478 plate appearances that season were the most he accumulated in a Twins uniform. No matter how much Ortiz hit, there were always suggestions the Twins organization wasn't happy with his pull-happy nature, constantly trying to remake Ortiz into a more "well-rounded" hitter.

2001 came and Ortiz battled injuries, only playing in 89 games but posting a 107 OPS+ as he continued to refine his plate discipline and elite power.

The 2002 season was Ortiz's last with the Twins. He broke out again, posting a 120 OPS+, far and away the best of his career to that point. After the season, Ortiz entered arbitration due to his accumulation of over three years of service time. Twins General Manager Terry Ryan attempted to trade Ortiz but found little or no takers. The perpetually cash-strapped Twins put Ortiz on waivers to avoid paying him an arbitration salary.

And here ends the story of David Ortiz. Once a promising young slugger, no one is really sure what happened after this point as he faded into the annals of baseball history.

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[ashbury]

I feel this bio was inadequately researched, but do not have the time right now to look into this player myself.

[tony&rodney]

There is no doubt that David Ortiz became quite an accomplished hitter, making big news in the postseason. I don't begrudge him any of his success, however, it is beyond comprehension how Ortiz escaped the wrath of the post McGuire-Soto home run/ steroid hate fest. Ortiz was totally busted by testing but the disclaimer is that the test was supposed to be confidential. Yet Barry Bonds, the most tested person in MLB history X4 and a player most people (myself too) believe used steroids, never even once tested positive for steroids. It is an amazing twist and a commentary on how the press controls so much more than we can ever admit. 

In finality, the steroid era belongs to one man alone, the guy who encouraged and promoted it endlessly: Bud Selig. OBTW, Selig is in the MLB Hall of Fame, the irony of ironies. This is a made for Hollywood story. Then again, I guess we have seen much worse in our lifetime.