ClimbingSky

Why Baseball, Books, and the Grateful Dead matter

Big Papi

On September 2, 1997, David Ortiz played in his first Major League game.

Big Papi hit 541 homers in his Hall of Fame career. How many did he hit for the Minnesota Twins, the team that he debuted for that day? 48.

In one of the dumbest moves in the history of the world, in 2002 the Minnesota Twins released David Ortiz. The Red Sox promptly picked him up as a free agent and the rest, as they say, is history.

The Twins in the early 2000s preferred players who were “Old School.” What that meant is that they did not like players with talent and attitude as much as underdogs that over achieved.

As the years went by and Ortiz broke the Red Sox Curse and won World Series Championships the Twins struggled. Especially hitting homers.

Yes, I know that hindsight is 20/20. But after hitting 20 homers in 2002 a different group of decision makers would surely have made the better call.

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4 responses to “Big Papi”

  1. Steve Myers Avatar
    Steve Myers

    dang, i just discovered your blog and so much to explore. it’s always interesting to remember how it happened, how a blog appears. i think i was reading a post on Precious Sander’s blog Archived Innings and at the bottom it said, “more from wordpress” and your blog was there and as my grandpa used to say, “and so it goes” and now Papi! if i remember right, i think it was pedro martinez that told the sox to go and get Papi. You’re right about the twins screwing that one up. i’m a fan of the DH, but just in the american league, not universal and Papi is the king of DH’s with maybe Baines behind him? i’m biased because i was a big baines fan.

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    1. mahhinton Avatar
      mahhinton

      I feel the same way about Baines. I lived in Chicago during the early 80s and went to a fair number of Sox games. I was pleased when they retired his number.

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. Steve Myers Avatar
        Steve Myers

        Oh, the early 80’s in Chicago! Maybe it happened another time there, but 83 sox and 84 cubs, fun teams. I grew up in Milwaukee so we had the Cubs on WGN and SOX on WFLD.

        Great to hear a fellow Baines fan. he gets such a bad rap these days for being not “good enough” or “worthy” of the hall of fame, maybe because of his career low WAR? i know just about nothing about the new baseball stats, the ones not on the backs of old baseball cards. But Baines. My all-tie favorite player, hands down.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Steve Myers Avatar
        Steve Myers

        all time favorite player it should be, not all tie player. my bad.

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