More about David Ortiz

• Ortiz was signed in 1992 by the Seattle Mariners as an amateur free agent. In 1996, he was the player to be named that was sent to Minnesota in a trade for third baseman Dave Hollins.
• "Big Papi" stroked 30 home runs in his first full season in Boston in 2003 and his slugging percentage was .592, third-best in the American League. He also drove in 101 RBI, the first time in his career that he had broken the 100-RBI mark. His efforts were enough that he placed fifth in the race for the AL MVP award.
• 2003 turned out to be just a preview of what was to come in 2004, when he earned the opportunity to represent the AL in the All-Star Game in Houston. Ortiz finished the season second behind teammate Manny Ramirez in the home run race with 41 and second behind Baltimore shortstop Miguel Tejada in RBI with 139. He also finished second in total bases with 351 and first in extra-base hits with 91.
• In the 2004 American League Championship versus New York, Ortiz had two game-winning hits to stave off elimination for Boston. In Game 4, his two-run home run in the bottom of the 12th inning won that game, 6-4. Less than 24 hours later, Ortiz came to bat with two outs in the bottom of the 14th with teammate Johnny Damon on second base. Fouling off eight two-strike pitches, he finally dumped a soft single into center field to send the series back to New York. His efforts earned Ortiz ALCS MVP honors, the first Red Sox player to earn that honor since Marty Barrett in 1986.
• Ortiz also has the game-winning hit in the deciding game of the Division Series against Anaheim, hitting a two-run home run into the Monster Seats of Fenway Park in the bottom of the 10th.
• In 2005, Ortiz set career highs with 47 home runs, then second all-time by a player in a Red Sox uniform, 119 runs, 148 RBI, 102 walks, a .397 on-base percentage, and a .604 slugging percentage. He finished at .300, just one point less than his career-best from 2004.
• Likely due to the fact that Ortiz played just 10 games in the field, all at first base, New York third baseman Alex Rodriguez edged out Ortiz for the 2005 American League MVP award. Rodriguez, in winning his second such award in three years, collected 331 points, including 16 first-place votes, while Ortiz, a full-time designated hitter, finished with 307 points and 11 first-place votes. The only other player to earn a first-place vote was Los Angeles outfielder Vladimir Guerrero, who won the award in 2004.
• Big Papi finished 2006 with 54 home runs, a new single season record for the Red Sox, and also drove in 137 RBI while batting .287 and slugging .636. He finished third in the MVP race behind eventual winner Justin Monreau of Minnesota and Derek Jeter of New York. He did win a Silver Slugger award and his fourth Outstanding DH award.
• Though some of his offensive numbers were down in 2007, Ortiz did post a career-best .332 average, fifth-best in the American League, and a career high of 52 doubles, second only to Magglio Ordonez of the Detroit Tigers and fourth-highest single-season total in team history.