Ortiz, David (1975-…), is a former professional baseball player. A powerful left-handed hitter, Ortiz played 20 Major League Baseball (MLB) seasons from 1997 through 2016. Ortiz began his career with the Minnesota Twins, but he became a star after moving to the Boston Red Sox in 2003. Ortiz played first base, but he was primarily used as a designated hitter (DH). A DH does not play the field and bats in place of the pitcher throughout the game. Often called “Big Papi,” the popular Ortiz was a key part of three World Series championship ball clubs in Boston. Ortiz was named to 10 AL All-Star teams and finished his career with 541 home runs, 1,768 runs batted in (RBI’s), and 2,472 hits.
David Américo Ortiz Arias was born on Nov. 18, 1975, in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. Ortiz starred in baseball in high school. He signed his first professional contract with the Seattle Mariners shortly after his 17th birthday in 1992. Ortiz began playing Minor League Baseball in the United States in 1994. The Mariners traded Ortiz to the Twins in 1996, and he made his MLB debut in Minnesota late in the 1997 season. Ortiz struggled with the Twins and did not become a regular player until partway through the 2000 season. The Twins released Ortiz after the 2003 season. Over six years in Minnesota, Ortiz batted .266 and hit just 58 home runs.
Ortiz’s career took a sharp upturn after he signed as a free agent with the Red Sox in early 2003. In his first year in Boston, Ortiz hit 31 home runs and drove in 101 runs. In 2004, Ortiz hit .301 with 41 home runs and 139 RBI’s as the Red Sox won the World Series. That year, Ortiz and Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez became the first AL teammates to each hit higher than .300 with more than 40 home runs and 100 RBI’s since Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig did it with the New York Yankees in 1931.
Ortiz continued his powerful and often clutch hitting for the rest of his career. He drove in a career-high 148 runs in 2005, hit a career-high 54 home runs in 2006, and batted a career-high .332 in 2007. Ortiz and the Red Sox won the World Series again in 2007 and 2013. He retired at age 40 after the 2016 season, a year in which he hit .315 with 38 home runs and an AL-high 127 RBI’s. During his 14 years in Boston, Ortiz averaged nearly 35 home runs and 109 RBI’s per season.
