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| {{Infobox MLB player| | |||
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| bgcolor2=#0d2b56| | |||
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| image=David_Ortiz.JPG|200px| | |||
| width=200| | |||
| name=David Ortiz| | |||
| position=Designated Hitter| | |||
| team=Boston Red Sox| | |||
| number=34| | |||
| bats=Left| | |||
| throws=Left| | |||
| debutdate=September 2| | |||
| debutyear=1997| | |||
| debutteam=Minnesota Twins| | |||
| statyear=2006| | |||
| stat1label=]| | |||
| stat1value=.283| | |||
| stat2label=]| | |||
| stat2value=231| | |||
| stat3label=]| | |||
| stat3value=763| | |||
| formerteams=<nowiki></nowiki> | |||
| *] (]-]) | |||
| *] (]-present) | |||
| }} | |||
| '''David Ortiz''' (] {{IPA|/or.ˈtis/}}, or roughly 'or-TEES', according to ] pronunciation) (], ] in ]), born '''David Américo Ortiz Arias''', is a ] ] who plays for the ] (since ]). Previously, Ortiz played for the ] (]-]). Nicknamed '''"Big Papi"''', Ortiz bats and throws ]. He wears the number 34 in honor of ], a Hall of Famer who also played for the Minnesota Twins. | |||
| ==Career== | |||
| ===Early career=== | |||
| ] of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.]] | |||
| In ], at the age of 17, Ortiz was signed by the ]. He was traded to ] in ], and made his debut in September ], then known as David Arias. After moving up and down from the majors to the ], Ortiz hit .272 with 20 home runs and 75 RBI in ], when the Twins lost in the ] to the ]. In that postseason, Ortiz batted .241 with 3 RBI and 9 strikeouts in 9 games. But Ortiz, whose left knee and right wrist had been surgically repaired, had not played in more than 130 games in a season. Thinking he was injured too often, and also fearing his salary would increase dramatically in arbitration, ] non-tendered Ortiz, letting the ] take a chance on the slugger. In six seasons with ], Ortiz batted .266 with 58 home runs and 238 RBI in 455 games. In four seasons with ], he has collected a .294 average, 173 home runs, and 525 RBI in 588 games. | |||
| ===2003=== | |||
| Along with ] and ], Ortiz was a free agent signee for the ] in ]. Originally, ] was assigned the primary role as DH/First Baseman, but his lackluster performance allowed Ortiz to step in. Additionally, the subsequent trade of ] to ] allowed ] to play full time at third base, creating more playing time. Ortiz became the full time ] and hit fifth in the ], collecting 28 home runs after the All-Star Game. He finished the season hitting .288 with 31 home runs and 101 RBI in only 128 games. Ortiz finished fifth in the ] vote. | |||
| ===2004=== | |||
| *Ortiz was suspended for five games, later reduced to three games upon appeal because of an incident on ], in a game versus the ]. In that game, Ortiz was ejected for arguing balls and strikes and proceeded to throw some of his bats in the direction of umpires Bill Hohn and Mark Carlson. | |||
| *In ], Ortiz, batting in the cleanup slot in the batting order, led the ] in ] (91) and was second in ] (139); had 33 go-ahead RBI, 50 RBI with two out, and collected career highs in batting average (.301), home runs (41), RBI (139), ] (94), ] (47), ] (3), ] (75), ] (351), ] (.380), ] (.603), ] (.983), and ] (150). | |||
| *In addition, Big Papi and ] became the first pair of ] teammates to hit 40 home runs, have 100 RBI, and bat .300 since the ] ] and ] in ]. Also along with Ramirez, Ortiz hit back-to-back home runs six times, tying the major league single season set by ] and ] (]) and ] and ] (]). A first time ], he hit a two-run home run, walked twice and scored two runs in the game. | |||
| *In the 2004 ALCS, Ortiz became the first (and so far only) professional baseball player to have walk-off hits in two playoff games in one calendar day. His 12th-inning home run won Game 4 of the ALCS against the New York Yankees shortly after midnight on October 18, 2004, and his walk-off single won Game 5 less than 23 hours later. | |||
| ===2005=== | |||
| *In ] he set a new career record of 47 home runs in the season, 43 of them as designated hitter, beating ]'s record of 37 set in ]. Twenty of his home runs either tied or gave ] the lead, and over the period ]-], he hit .326, with 22 home runs and 73 RBIs in only 221 at bats in the late innings of close games. He also led the ] in RBIs with 148, and his 47 homers were second in the AL to the ]' ]. He also finished second to ] in ] votes. | |||
| *The ] ] ] was a significant debate among baseball circles as both ] and Ortiz finished the regular season with impressive offensive statistics. He finished with new career highs in runs (119), RBIs (148), walks (102), on-base percentage (.397), and slugging percentage (.604). Two sportswriters left Ortiz completely off the ten player ballot, citing Ortiz's position as a designated hitter. Ortiz ultimately finished second in the voting because as a designated hitter, he played very few games defensively and thus many sportswriters argued that Ortiz did not contribute as much as ], who played the majority of his games at third base for the ]{{fact}}. | |||
| ===2006=== | |||
| *] has been a year of ] (the act of winning a game in the bottom half of the last inning) for Ortiz. He has hit more walk-off base hits (five, including 3 home runs) this year than most teams and is currently one away for the most walk-offs since divisional play started in ]. | |||
| *On ], ], Ortiz was admitted to ] for ] caused by ] and sleeplessness over a week's span. Ortiz reportedly said that his stress was over the first three losses in an eventual sweep by the ] in a five-game set. | |||
| *On ], ], David Ortiz tied his career high in home runs by hitting his 47th homer of the year off of Cha Seung Bak of the Seattle Mariners. On ], 2006, Ortiz tied ]'s single season Red Sox home run record of 50 set in 1938; in the 6th inning against ] starting pitcher ], Big Papi launched the ball into the center field bleachers behind the Red Sox ]. Ortiz has the unique honour of having increased his season home run tally in each of seven consecutive seasons (starting from ], year-by-year he has hit 10, 18, 20, 31, 41, 47 and 54 HRs). | |||
| *On ], 2006, Ortiz broke ]'s single season Red Sox home run record by hitting his 51st home run off his former teammate, ] of the Minnesota Twins. The ] came on a 1-0 pitch in the first inning and it was his 44th home run as a ] in 2006, which broke Ortiz's own American League single-season record. Ortiz then proceeded to hit his 52nd home run off reliever ] on a full-count in the seventh inning. | |||
| ====Health issues==== | |||
| *Ortiz also said he began feeling ill between games of a day-night ] on ], ], against New York that dragged into the early morning. Between games, he had gone home and tried to sleep but couldn't. Ortiz was reportedly driven to the hospital by a team ]. An ] was the cause for the stress according to his doctors. Ortiz would not originally talk about his condition, but opened up to the media on ], ], reportedly saying "I'm a healthy son of a ". | |||
| *], ], Ortiz had recurring symptoms from his irregular heartbeat and was a last minute scratch in the Red Sox game at Oakland. Manager ] and General Manager ] agreed that Ortiz fly back to Boston where he was reevaluated by Dr. Larry Ronan. He was cleared to play and rejoined the lineup on ], 2006 against the ] ]. | |||
| ==Career highlights== | |||
| *Three time All-Star (2004-2006) | |||
| *] vote-receiver four times (5th, 2003; 4th, 2004; 2nd, 2005; 3rd, 2006) | |||
| *2005 Hank Aaron Award winner | |||
| *Led the American League in extra base hits (2004) | |||
| *Was the MVP for the American League Championship Series (2004) | |||
| *Led the American League in Home Runs (2006) | |||
| *Led the American League in Runs Batted In (2005, 2006) | |||
| *American League ] for September ] and July ]. | |||
| *Member of the ] ] team that won the ]. | |||
| *2003 Caribbean Series MVP | |||
| *Red Sox single season home run leader (54; 2006) | |||
| *Tied with Babe Ruth for AL single season home run record in road games (32; 2006) | |||
| ==Charity and Community causes== | |||
| * On ], ], ], Ortiz was one of more than 50 hitters who brandished a ] to benefit the . | |||
| * On ], ], Ortiz played ] with a group of over 40 local kids as part of a '''Big Papi Backyard Wiffle Ball''' game that was auctioned off to benefit '''Good Sports''', a Boston-based non-profit organization that ensures disadvantaged youth have opportunity to play sports. | |||
| ==Family== | |||
| Ortiz sports a tattoo of his mother on his biceps. His mother, Angela Rosa Arias, died in a car crash in January ] at 46. Ortiz' son D'Angelo is named after her.. Ortiz's wife, a native of ], southwest of ], has made him attend ] games in the off season. The family currently resides in ], a suburb of Boston. | |||
| ==See also== | |||
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| == External links== | |||
| *David Ortiz at: | |||
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