There are very few full time DH's worthy of a Hall of Fame nod. Paul Molitor (3,319 hits), Frank Thomas (521 HR) and Jim Thome (612 HR) are in. Edgar Martinez (2x Batting Champion, 5x Silver Slugger, .312 career average) and Tony Oliva (3x Batting Champion) will likely get in. Then there's a pretty significant drop-off to guys like Brian Downing, Harold Raines, Chili Davis, Don Baylor, Mike Sweeney and Hal McRae.
And somewhere in near the top of all-time great DH's is David Ortiz.
Fans remember David Ortiz (AKA Big Papi) for his clutch hits in the playoffs for the Red Sox and his towering home runs out of Fenway Park.
Ortiz hit .290 with 483 home runs and 1530 RBI over a 14 year career in Boston. He was a 10 time All Star, and finished in the Top-5 in AL MVP voting four times in four seasons. He helped end the Red Sox 86 year World Series Championship drought in 2004. And, for good measure, led them to championships in 2007 and 2013.
He is the all-time leader in home runs (485), RBI (1,569) and hits (2,192) by a DH. His career batting average in the World Series is .455.
And once upon a time, he was a Minnesota Twin.
And they released him. Flat out cut him.
It was 2002. The Twins had just made the playoffs for the first time since winning the World Series in 1991. Ron Gardenhire had taken over managerial duties after Tom Kelly stepped down after the 2001 season and had inherited a lot of strong, young talent. Guys like Torii Hunter, AJ Pierzinski, Doug Mientkeiwicz, Corey Koskie, and Jacque Jones. These guys had come up through the minors together and would help lead the Twins to back-to-back-to-back AL Central titles in the early 2000s.
Veteran pitcher Rick Reed won 15 games for the
Twins in 2002
The Twins had acquired Ortiz via trade from the Seattle Mariners in 1996, while Tom Kelly was still manager. He got his call-up to the Twins in September 1997 after batting .317 with 31 home runs and 124 RBI combined in the minors (High A, AA, AAA).
As odd as it would seem, Ortiz's bat did not fit TK's baseball philosophy or "The Twins Way". Kelly preferred small-ball tactics and solid defense in his lineup, two things that Ortiz needed to improve on.
After getting his feet wet in the bigs in 1997, Ortiz had his eyes set on the starting first baseman job out of Spring Training in 1998. But, a fractured wrist sent him to the DL and the job went to future Gold Glove winner Doug Mientkiewicz. Ortiz was limited to 10 games that season.
Tom Kelly (and the Twins) preferred Doug Mientkiewicz's
solid glove at first over Ortiz's bat
In 1999, he was the everyday designated hitter, appearing in 130 games. He hit a respectable .282, but with only 10 home runs...due in large part to The Twins Way: make plays in the field, don't give away scoring chances with dumb base running or consistently failing to advance base runners, and slapping outside pitches to the opposite field.
The Twins Way attributed to Ortiz's light hitting and lack of power during his Twins years: a .266 average with 58 home runs over six seasons. Needless to say, Ortiz wasn't a fan of Tom Kelly's strategy. In an interview with Tom Power of the Pioneer Press in 2004, Ortiz said "I'd take a big swing and (Kelly) would be screaming at me: 'hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?' Are you kidding me? You want me to swing like a little girl? I'll swing like a little girl."
Ortiz's best season as a Twin was 2002...a breakout year for the Twins. Despite battle knee injuries and a slow start, Ortiz hit 20 home runs and knocked in 75 runs for the 2002 AL Central Champion Minnesota Twins. In the nine playoff games for the Twins (3-2 series win vs Oakland in the ALDS and a 4-1 series loss vs Anaheim in the ALCS), had 8 hits in 29 at bats (.275) with only 4 RBI and zero home runs.
Ortiz was eligible for arbitration following that season. The Twins could either pay him 1.5 million dollars, or release him.
Remember, but this time, Kelly was no longer the manager. Ron Gardenhire had taken the reigns prior to 2002, but Gardy had been a coach under Kelly since 1991 and the "Twins Way" had been instilled in him, as well as GM Terry Ryan who was the ultimate decision maker.
"Obviously, it's a situation that I watched and I've observed and I see what he's done and I see what he's done and I see what he's meant to the Boston Red Sox. Ok, I screwed it up."Terry Ryan and the Twins decided to release Ortiz in December of 2002. Ortiz finished his career with the Twins with a .266 average with 58 home runs and 238 RBI over parts of six seasons. Ryan decided to cut Ortiz for a number of reasons: he didn't want him to take the Twins to arbitration, he felt Matt LeCroy would make an adequate DH over the next handful of seasons, and he wanted a roster spot for the upcoming Rule 5 draft.
-Twins GM Terry Ryan
Ortiz signed a one year $1.25 million contract with the Boston Red Sox in January 2003...less than the $1.5 million he was expected to get in arbitration with the Twins.
Matt LeCroy became the full time DH for the 2003 season. He appeared in 107 games for the Twins, hitting .287 with 17 home runs and 85 RBI...numbers that were comparable, if not better, than Ortiz during his time with the Twins (Ortiz hit .288 with 31 HR, 101 RBI and finished Top-5 in the MVP voting for Boston, so there's that.)
Matt LeCroy with the Twins in 2005
In limited action for the Twins from 2003-2005, LeCroy hit .273 with 43 home runs and 153 RBI. Ortiz hit .300 with 47 home runs and 148 RBI...in 2005.
The player the Twins coveted in the Rule 5 draft was shortstop Jose Morbon. They selected him from the Texas Rangers for $50,000.
Literally the only photo of Jose Morban in
a Twins uniform in existance
Morban didn't quite work out for the Twins. He was placed on waivers in Spring Training and claimed by Baltimore. He had 71 at bats for the Orioles in 2003, batting .141 with two home runs and 5 RBI, then never appeared in a major league game ever again.
The justifications/excuses to cut Ortiz were there: He was was below average in the field as a first baseman, limiting him to the DH role. He hit only .205 against left handed pitching and .240 with runners in scoring position. He also went on the disabled list for a second consecutive season with writs and knee issues.
But mostly, it was a money thing to keep the Twins ballooning salary from exceeding a wile $50 million per year.
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