David Ortiz joins 500 home run club
David Ortiz hit two home runs – the 499th and 500th of his major-league career – to lead the Red Sox to victory over the Rays at Tropicana Field yesterday. Ortiz became the 27th player in major-league history to hit 500 homers, and he’s the second of that group to hit his 499th and 500th home run in a single game. Albert Pujols did that on April 22, 2014 at Nationals Park, and just as Ortiz did on Saturday, Pujols hit his 499th in the top of the first inning and his 500th in the top of the fifth.
Ortiz is the fourth player to hit career home run #500 while wearing a Red Sox uniform, and like the previous three, Ortiz hit his milestone homer in a road game. The previous players to do so for Boston are Jimmie Foxx (at Philadelphia in 1940), Ted Williams (at Cleveland in 1960), and Manny Ramirez (at Baltimore in 2008).
Ortiz was originally signed by the Seattle Mariners as a free agent on November 28, 1992 and was traded to the Minnesota Twins as the PTBNL on September 13, 1996 to complete an earlier trade made on August 29, 1996 when the Twins sent Dave Hollins to Seattle. At the time David Ortiz was known as David Arias.Ortiz who became well-known as “Big Papi” spent six years in Minnesota playing in 455 games while hitting for a .266 average.
Ortiz had 1,693 plate appearances while in a Twins uniform and hit his first 58 of his 500 home runs as a Minnesota Twin. The Twins released the big first baseman on December 16, 2002 and Ortiz was signed by the Boston Red Sox as a free agent on January 22, 2003 and the rest is history. Why did the Twins release him you ask? The Twins said he couldn’t play first base, was too much of a pull hitter and couldn’t hit to right field…….
Congratulations to David Ortiz from Twins Trivia!