Like many hardcore baseball fans, I’ve spent way more time over the years than I’d like to admit staring at a player’s Baseball-Reference or FanGraphs page. But it’s not like doing this is a complete waste of time, ya know. After all, it’s produced fun observations like this one about David Ortiz.
A first-ballot Hall of Famer and one of baseball’s best clutch postseason performers of all time, Big Papi made his big-league debut with the Minnesota Twins in 1997. After posting career-high marks in home runs (20), RBI (75), and OPS (.839) in 125 games during the 2002 season, the Twins decided to release him.
Minnesota’s decision to cut him loose was three-fold, according to The Minnesota Star Tribune‘s Patrick Reusse. The Twins made this move because:
- They didn’t want him to get a $1.5 million salary by taking the club to arbitration
- They thought Matt LeCroy would replace him adequately as the team’s designated hitter
- They wanted to free up a roster spot to make a Rule 5 selection
So, it’s not like the Twins saw all this potential and just decided to part ways. Nobody could’ve predicted the kind of run Papi went on with the Boston Red Sox. It also turns out that he arrived in Beantown three seasons into an impressive seven-year home run progression.
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David Ortiz’s 7-Year Home Run Progression for the Ages
Between 1997 and 1999, Ortiz’s career-high mark for homers was nine, which he achieved in ’98. He set a new career-high mark with the Twins in 2000 with 10, which is where the upward trend began:
- 2000: 10 homers
- 2001: 18 homers
- 2002: 20 homers (last season with the Twins)
- 2003: 31 homers (first season with the Red Sox)
- 2004: 41 homers
- 2005: 47 homers
- 2006: 54 homers
Setting a new personal best for home runs in a single season for seven straight years is an incredible bar to set for yourself, isn’t it? To make the conclusion of this streak even more epic, the 2006 season was a record-breaking one.
What’s easy to miss while looking only at the home run totals is that Ortiz was already trending upward before he ever put on a Red Sox uniform. His final season in Minnesota produced a 120 OPS+, easily the best mark of his career to that point. He didn’t just carry that over to Boston, though — he blew past it.
Across his entire Red Sox tenure, Ortiz posted a 148 OPS+, meaning the version of him that terrorized AL pitching for over a decade wasn’t a product of Fenway Park alone. He was already becoming a different hitter before he even got there.
Ending the Streak with a New Franchise Record
Until Papi came along and surpassed the half-century mark, Jimmie Foxx was the only Red Sox slugger to do so in franchise history. His 50 home runs during a 1938 MVP campaign made him one of the oldest single-season franchise home run record kings in baseball.
But not anymore. Papi’s 2006 season included a .287/.413/.636 line with 54 homers (led the league), 137 RBI (led the league), and 115 runs scored. He also led the league in walks (119) and total bases (355) on his way to earning his third straight All-Star selection and Silver Slugger Award.
Despite racking up just 68 innings at first base during the regular season, he managed to finish third in the American League MVP Award voting behind Justin Morneau and Derek Jeter.
This was part of a run where Ortiz finished within the top five of AL MVP voting for five straight years (2003-07). Not too shabby for a full-time designated hitter, right?
The legendary slugger eventually finished his career with three World Series titles as well as being a 10-time All-Star and seven-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He earned entry into Cooperstown in 2022 by capturing 77.9% of the BBWAA vote.
There is a laundry list of reasons why Papi reached baseball immortality on his first try. But a lot of it has to do with his power — those 541 career homers carry a bit of weight — and this seven-year run of constantly setting a new single-season career-high mark for himself certainly played a role.
Enjoyed this one? Sign up for the Bases Loaded Bulletin — my monthly print newsletter — for deep dives like this delivered straight to your mailbox. Or grab a copy of The Power Kings for the full story of every MLB franchise’s greatest home run seasons.
