On December 16, 2002, the Minnesota Twins released designated hitter and first baseman David Ortiz. They did so in order to make room on the 40-man roster for a Rule 5 draft pick, Jose Morban, whom the Twins had selected earlier that day at the conclusion of the Winter Meetings.
The Daily Puig: David Ortiz hits 4 homers in 2 days against Twins
It’s more than a decade later and David Ortiz still loves crushing the team that released him.
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Ortiz latched on with the Red Sox, and in short order became known as Big Papi to Boston and the rest of the baseball world. It's 12 years later, and all Ortiz has done is win three World Series, make nine All-Star teams, finish in the top-five in MVP voting on four occasions, and rack up 384 more homers. The last four of those have come against the Twins in the last two days. I wonder how David Ortiz feels about that?
David Ortiz said last night that he enjoys "whupping the Twins' ass." He's still doing that. Double, home run so far tonight.
— Brian MacPherson (@brianmacp) May 15, 2014 You would think he’d be over getting cut all those years ago, but that’s not how David Ortiz works. And hey, if he’s going to keep mashing against Minnesota like he has over the years, it’s not like anyone besides Twins fans are going to want him to get over it. The four homers (and a double!) pushed Ortiz’s career line against Minnesota to .350/.440/.701, an 1140 OPS, and gave him 19 homers in just 56 career games against them. That is by far the most damage he’s caused to anyone by way of OPS, minimum 100 plate appearances, in what is now an 18-year career.
Ortiz passed Hall of Famer Jim Rice on the Red Sox all-time home run list with his third Minnesota shot, and the fourth of four put him into a tie for the 39th most in major-league history alongside Dave Kingman. Ortiz is 38 years old, and batting .305/.396/.596 with an AL-leading 992 OPS that belies that fact.
Meanwhile, Jose Morban played in just 61 MLB games in his career, none of them for the Twins: He was placed on waivers and plucked back from them by the Orioles before the 2003 season even began, and moved from the minors to the Independent Leagues in 2007. No wonder Papi still hasn't gotten over being cut.
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