David Ortiz
Vital Statistics:
Born: November 18, 1975
Hometown: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Height: 6-4
Weight: 230
Bats: Left
Throws: Left
Family: Wife, Tiffany; daughters Jessica and Alexandra; son D’Angelo
Primary position: Designated hitter
Before The Bigs:
- Signed as an undrafted free agent at age 17 by the Seattle Mariners in 1992. He was known as David Arias in the early stages of his career.
- Hit.322 with 18 home runs and 93 RBIs for Class-A Wisconsin in 1996.
- Traded to the Minnesota Twins in a 1996 deal that brought third baseman Dave Hollins to Seattle.
- Named the Twins’ minor league player of the year in 1997, hitting a combined 31 home runs at Single-A Fort Myers, Double-A New Britain and Triple-A Salt Lake City. Made his debut with the Twins on Sept. 2, 1997.
- Played a full season at Salt Lake in 1999, hitting 30 home runs and driving in 110 runs.
- Career Highlights:
- Hit his first major-league home run off Texas’ Julio Santana on Sept. 14, 1997 at age 21.
- Hit 20 home runs for the Twins in 2002, when the Twins won the American League Central, but was released after the season.
- Signed by the Boston Red Sox and became a starter early in the 2003 season, finishing with 31 home runs and 101 RBIs.
- “Big Papi” broke through as a star in the Red Sox’s championship season in 2004, when he hit .301 with 41 HRs and 139 RBIs.
- Led the American League in RBIs with 148 in 2005 and 137 in 2006.
- Led the AL with 54 home runs in 2006.
- Chosen to the AL All-Star team in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
