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Great Athletes of the Twenty-First Century

David Ortiz

by Jonathan E. Dinneen, Susan Faber

Born: November 18, 1975

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Also known as: David Américo Ortiz Arias (full name); Big Papi; Cookie Monster

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BASEBALL

Early Life

David Américo Ortiz Arias was the son of Enrique Ortiz, a semiprofessional baseball player and auto-parts salesman, and Angela Rosa, a secretary at the Department of Agriculture. David grew up in a loving home, and even though his parents divorced while he was a teenager, he remained extremely close to both of them.

Ortiz was a big teenager, standing more than 6 feet tall by high school. He had a large build but was athletic with quick hands. Ortiz and his friends did not have bats, balls, or gloves; they used sticks, socks, and their bare hands. He perfected his baseball swing by hitting bottle caps with broomsticks.

The Road to Excellence

In 1992, after graduating from Estudia Espaillat High School, where he starred in baseball and basketball, Ortiz was signed by the Seattle Mariners as an undrafted free agent. He was seventeen years old. In his first professional season, he played with the Mariners’ Dominican Summer League club, batting .264 with 7 home runs and 31 RBI in sixty-one games. Ortiz went to the Mariners’ Arizona rookie-league club in Peoria, Illinois, for the 1994 and 1995 seasons. He had a poor 1994 season but experience a breakout season in 1995. He batted .332 and earned all-star and team most valuable player (MVP) honors.

Statistics

Seasons GP AB Hits 2B 3B HR Runs RBI BA SA 1997 15 49 16 3 0 1 10 6 .327 .449 1998 86 278 77 20 0 9 47 46 .277 .446 1999 10 20 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 .000 2000 130 415 117 36 1 10 59 63 .282 .446 2001 89 303 71 17 1 18 46 48 .234 .475 2002 125 412 112 32 1 20 52 75 .272 .500 2003 128 448 129 39 2 31 79 101 .288 .592 2004 150 582 175 47 3 41 94 139 .301 .603 2005 159 601 180 40 1 47 119 148 .300 .604 2006 151 558 160 29 2 54 115 137 .287 .636 2007 149 549 182 52 1 35 116 117 .332 .621 2008 109 416 110 30 1 23 74 89 .264 .507 2009 150 541 129 35 1 28 77 99 .238 .462 2010 145 518 140 36 1 32 86 102 .270 .529 2011 146 525 162 40 1 29 84 96 .309 .554 2012 90 324 103 26 0 23 65 60 .318 .611 2013 137 518 160 38 2 30 84 103 .309 .564 2014 142 518 136 27 0 35 59 104 .263 .517 2015 146 528 144 37 0 37 73 108 .273 .553 2016 151 537 169 48 1 38 79 127 .315 .520 Totals 2,408 8,640 2,472 632 19 541 1,419 1,768 .286 .552

Notes: Boldface indicates statistical leader. GP = games played; AB = at bats; 2B = doubles; 3B = triples; HR = home runs; RBI = runs batted in; BA = batting average; SA = slugging average

Honors and Awards

2003-2007, 2011, 2013, 2016 Edgar Martinez Award 2004 American League Championship Series most valuable player 2004-2007, 2011, 2013, 2016 Silver Slugger Award 2004-2008, 2010-2013, 2016 American League all-star team 2005 Hank Aaron Award 2005, 2006 American League player of the month (September, July) 2006 United Nations Development Program Award 2007, 2013 World Series 2011 Roberto Clemente Award 2013 WS MVP 2013, 2016 Babe Ruth Award

Records

2004-2006 First Boston Red Sox player hit 40 or more home runs in three consecutive seasons 2006 Most home runs by a Designated Hitter (54)
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In 1996, Ortiz’s life changed dramatically. He was promoted to Class-A Wisconsin and batted .322 with 18 home runs and 93 RBI and earned MVP honors. While in Wisconsin, Ortiz fell in love with Tiffany Brick; the couple married in 2002. Seattle was looking to add players for its playoff drive and acquired Minnesota Twins slugger Dave Hollins for a player to be named later. That player was Ortiz Ortiz.

In 1997, Ortiz started his career with the Minnesota Twins organization, playing for Class-A Fort Myers, Florida. He hit .432 with 5 home runs and 22 RBI in eleven games. Ortiz earned a promotion to AA New Britain, Connecticut, by June and to AAA Salt Lake City, Utah, in July. In September, he was promoted to the Minnesota Twins. He played fifteen games for the Twins, registering his first major-league home run in his second game and hitting .327 overall.

In 1998, Ortiz earned a spot with the Twins during spring training. In his first major-league season, he had a .277 batting average, 9 home runs, and 46 RBI in eighty-six games. He started 1999, expecting to see regular playing time for the Twins, but was demoted to Salt Lake City after a poor spring training. Crestfallen, Ortiz worked harder and became an AAA all-star, hitting .315 with 30 home runs and 110 RBI. He returned to the Twins but went hitless. He started 2000 in Salt Lake City and earned a promotion to the Twins in June. He remained with the team, batting .282 and collecting 10 home runs and 63 RBI in 130 games. Ortiz played two more seasons with the Twins and, while healthy, performed well. He was limited to eighty-nine games in 2001, because of a broken wrist, and 125 games in 2002, after a knee procedure.

In 2002, Ortiz lost his mother unexpectedly in a New Year’s Day car accident. He got a tattoo of her likeness on his right bicep and named his son D’Angelo in honor of his mother. Also, when Ortiz hit a home run, he pointed to the sky upon reaching home plate to thank his mother.

The Emerging Champion

Ortiz was eligible for salary arbitration after the 2002 season and the financially strained Twins were forced to release him. Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez, a lifelong friend of Ortiz, knew he was available and asked Red Sox management to sign him. Ortiz joined Boston and won a full-time job by June, hitting .288 with 31 home runs and 101 RBI in 128 games. He quickly became a fan favorite in Boston and led the Red Sox to the playoffs. Ortiz earned a two-year contract for $12.5 million following his first season in Boston. When Ortiz first arrived in Boston, he did not know many of the players’ names, so he called everyone“papi”and teammates reciprocated. As Ortiz states in his autobiography, the name stuck. At 6 feet 4 inches and 230 pounds, he became known as “Big Papi.”

In 2004, Ortiz led the Red Sox to the franchise’s first World Series Championship in eighty-six years. He hit .301; collected 47 doubles, 41 home runs, and 139 RBI; and had a knack for hitting in the “clutch.” He was becoming the most feared hitter in the game. Ortiz followed a spectacular 2004 with a better 2005, batting .300, recording career highs with 47 home runs and 148 RBI, and finishing second in MVP balloting.

In early 2006, Ortiz signed a third contract with the Red Sox, for a period of four years and total compensation of $52 million. He continued to excel, and 2006 was the best season of his career statistically. Although injuries to other key players resulted in the Red Sox missing the playoffs, Ortiz set the team record with 54 home runs while registering 137 RBI and 355 total bases.

Continuing the Story

Ortiz had off-season surgery after winning the 2007 World Series. He was bothered by sore knees and other ailments during the 2007 season but still totaled a career-high .332 average and tallied 52 doubles, 35 home runs, and 117 RBI. After the Red Sox fell behind 3-1 games in the American League Championship Series, Ortiz, a leader on and off the field, held a team-only meeting. He spoke from the heart, and the Red Sox did not lose another game for the remainder of the postseason. Ortiz’s autobiography, “Big Papi—My Story of Big dreams and Big Hits,” was released the same year and made theNew York Times Best Seller List. In 2008, he continued to produce, hitting 23 home runs and collecting 89, and helped the Red Sox return to the postseason.

In a positive turn of events for 2009, Ortiz ended a career high 149 at-bats without a home run on May 20, posting a final 28, for a three-way first-place tie for the season. He led the majors in 2012 with a .611 in his eighth All-Star series. Due to injury, he was limited to 90 games, his fewest since 2001. Prior to his injury, the Red Sox were second in the majors in runs per game, and twenty-second afterward. 2013 saw him win his record seventh Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award with a unanimous first-place vote.Ortiz hit his 500th career home run in 2015, and set Red Sox records with his ninth career 30-HR season and sixth career 35-HR season. At 39, he was the oldest player to earn both 37 HR and 108 RBI in a season.

In 2016, Ortiz announced that he will be retiring after the season. He played his last game October 2, 2016, and his uniform #34 was retired June 23, 2017.

Summary

David Ortiz led the Boston Red Sox to World Series Championships in 2004 and 2007. Some players win with natural ability, others luck, but Ortiz succeeded with heart and hard work. Eight years transpired between Ortiz’s first professional season and his status as an everyday player in the majors. He battled demotions, injuries, and the heart-breaking loss of his mother. However, the love, work ethic, and support instilled in Ortiz as a boy helped him become the fearsome yet lovable Big Papi.

Additional Sources

1 

Mattern, Joanne. David Ortiz. Hockessin, Del.: Mitchell Lane, 2008.

2 

Ortiz, David, and Tony Massarotti. Big Papi: My Story of Big Dreams and Big Hits. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2007.

3 

Verducci, Tom. “Who’s Your Papi?” Sports Illustrated 104, no. 25 (June 19, 2006): 42.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
Dinneen, Jonathan E., and Susan Faber. "David Ortiz." Great Athletes of the Twenty-First Century,Salem Press, 2018. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Ath21C_0332.
APA 7th
Dinneen, J. E., & Faber, S. (2018). David Ortiz. Great Athletes of the Twenty-First Century. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Dinneen, Jonathan E. and Faber, Susan. "David Ortiz." Great Athletes of the Twenty-First Century. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2018. Accessed December 14, 2025. online.salempress.com.