David Americo Ortiz. Signed by Ramon De Los Santos (Mariners). Married to the former Tiffany Brick...The couple has 2 daughters, Jessica (10/23/96) and Alexandra (3/22/01), and a son, D'Angelo (7/10/04). Graduated from Estudia Espillat High School in the Dominican Republic, where he played baseball and basketball. Splits the off-season between the Dominican Republic and Massachusetts. Batting cages at the Red Sox Dominican Academy were dedicated in his name in December 2006. His autobiography, "Big Papi - My Story of Big Dreams and Big Hits" made the New York Times Best Seller List in the spring of 2007. Was 1 of more than 40 major league players that visited the residence of the United States Ambassador to the Dominican Republic in January 2011...The visit, sponsored by the U.S. Embassy and Ambassador Raul Yzaguirre, celebrated the charitable work of the Major League Baseball Dominican Development Alliance (MLB-DDA) and major league players in Dominican communities...It aimed to encourage additional opportunities via MLB-DDA's relationship with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
2015
Hit 37 HR, including the 500th of his career...Set new Red Sox records with both his 9th career 30-HR season and his 6th career 35-HR campaign. Led the Red Sox and placed among AL leaders with 37 HR (9th), 108 RBI (5th), 292 total bases (10th), 74 XBH (4th), 37 2B (T-8th), a .553 SLG (6th), and 77 BB (T-6th)...Also topped the AL with 16 IBB, and was 3rd in AB/RBI ratio (4.9), 6th in AB/HR ratio (14.3), and T-4th in sac flies (9). Hit .304/.395/.660 in 94 games from 6/11 through the end of the season...Led MLB in that span with 87 RBI and paced the AL with 60 XBH...His 31 HR beginning 6/11 ranked 3rd in MLB. Led the majors with a .701 SLG after the All-Star break...His 44 XBH after the break tied for the ML lead. His 37 HR marked the most by any Red Sox since he set a club record with 54 HR in 2006...Marked the 2nd-most HR by a left-handed hitter in the AL behind BAL's Chris Davis (47). At 39 years old, was the oldest player ever to reach both 37 HR and 108 RBI in a season...At 39 years and 302 days old on 9/16 at BAL, became the 2nd-oldest player ever at the time of his 35th HR (Barry Bonds, 40 years and 29 days for SF in 2004). Hit both his 499th and 500th homers on 9/12 at TB to become the 27th member of the 500-home run club. Named AL Player of the Week for 9/7-13, over which he hit career HR numbers 498, 499, and 500...In the week, went 8-for-18 (.444), led MLB in SLG (1.111), and paced the AL in total bases (20), driving in 9 runs in 5 games. Set new Red Sox records with both his 9th 30-HR season (Ted Williams had 8) and his 6th 35-HR campaign (Jimmie Foxx, Manny Ramirez, and Williams each had 5)...Was his 9th season with at least 100 RBI, matching Williams for the most in team history...Joined Babe Ruth (12 with NYY) and Lou Gehrig (10 with NYY) as the only players with at least 9 different 30-HR/100-RBI seasons for a single AL team. Tied for the team lead with 3 multi-HR games (7/26 vs. DET, 8/12 at MIA, and 9/12 at TB). On 9/6 vs. PHI, hit his 200th career HR at Fenway Park, the 4th player to reach that mark in the ballpark's history. Became the player with the longest continuous tenure for his current MLB team (13 years with BOS since 2003) when Chase Utley, who debuted with PHI in 2003, was traded to LAD on 8/19. Hit .333/.402/.667 vs. LHP from July through the end of the season (30-for-90, 6 2B, 8 HR, 11 BB)...Went homerless against lefties over the first 3 months of the season. Made 13th career Opening Day start on 4/6 at PHI, his first at 1B (12 at DH)...Overall, hit .367 (11-for-30) with 5 HR in 9 games at 1B. Hit a go-ahead HR in the 16th inning on 4/10 at NYY, his latest ever HR by inning. Went 4-for-5 with 2 HR and a career-high 7 RBI on 7/26 vs. DET...At 39, was the oldest major leaguer ever at the time of his 1st career 7+ RBI game. Lost appeal and served 1-game suspension on 5/8...Originally disciplined on 4/21 for actions taking place 4/19 vs. BAL...That day, was ejected by John Tumpane (5th inn.).
2014
Led the Red Sox and placed among AL leaders with 35 HR (T-5th), 104 RBI (6th), and a .517 SLG (8th) in 142 games, 2nd most on the team (Xander Bogaerts, 144)...Were his most HR and RBI since 2007 (35 HR, 117 RBI)...Averaged an RBI every 4.98 AB, the 2nd-best ratio in the majors behind TOR's Edwin Encarnacion (4.87 AB/RBI)...Was 3rd in the AL with 14.8 AB/HR...Drew 22 IBB, 2nd most in the AL, and finished T-7th in the AL with 75 BB overall...His 35 HR were the most in MLB among left-handed hitters...Also led AL lefty batters in RBI and SLG (.517)...Was his 8th career season with at least 30 HR and 100 RBI, all since joining the Red Sox in 2003...Passed Ted Williams (7) to set a new franchise record...Marks the most 30-HR/100-RBI seasons by a left-handed hitter since 2000...According to Elias, was the oldest player to hit 30 HR in a season since 2004, when Barry Bonds hit 45 HR and Steve Finley hit 36...His 104 RBI were nearly double the next-most on the team (Mike Napoli, 55)...No other AL player drove in a higher percentage of his team's runs than Ortiz's 16.4% (104 of 634)...Was the 2nd-highest percentage for any MLB team after ATL's Justin Upton (17.8%, 102 of 573)...Led MLB with 3 extra-inning HR, tying the club single-season record (also Ortiz in 2003, Ted Williams in 1946)...Had all 6 of the team's multi-HR games, his most since 2006 (6) and 1 shy of HOU's Chris Carter (7) for the ML lead...Hit 11 HR against left-handed pitching, matching his 2nd most in any season (also 2005) behind 2006 (18)...24 of his HR came on the road, the most by a Red Sox since he hit a club-record 32 road HR in 2006...Hit a team-best .313 (15-for-48) with 2 out and RISP and posted the AL's 2nd-best OPS in that situation (1.051)...Set the all-time MLB record with his 1,644th career game at DH on 4/24 vs. NYY, passing Harold Baines (1,643)...On 3/23, agreed on a 1-year extension through 2015 with a club/vesting option for 2016 and a club option for 2017...Made 12th career Opening Day start at DH on 3/31 at BAL (2 with MIN, 10 with BOS), tying Don Baylor for the all-time record at the position...From 5/13-14, became the 1st Red Sox to homer twice in consecutive games since Ortiz did it from 7/4-5/03 at NYY...From 6/8-22, hit 3 HR in the 9th inning or later that tied a game or put the Red Sox ahead in eventual team wins: go-ahead 3-run HR on 6/8 at DET (9th inn.), game-tying solo HR on 6/18 vs. MIN (10th), go-ahead solo HR on 6/22 at OAK (10th)...Led MLB with 25 RBI in July, his 1st calendar month atop that chart since July 2006 (35)...Was his most RBI in any month since May 2010 (27) and his 2nd most in any July (35 in 2006)...His 2 2B on 7/2 vs. CHC were the 1,000th and 1,001st XBH of his career, making him the 36th player ever to reach the 1,000-XBH mark, just the 16th left-handed hitter...With 3 RBI on 7/23 at TOR, passed the 1,500-RBI milestone in his 2,067th ML game, the 14th-fastest player to reach the plateau since RBI became an official stat in 1920...Ranked 2nd in the majors with a 1.044 OPS in August...Ranked 4th in the AL in OBP (.442) and SLG (.592), and was 9th in AVG (.342)...With his 1st of 2 HR on 8/16 vs. HOU, joined Ted Williams (521) and Carl Yastrzemski (452) as the only players to hit 400 HR as a Red Sox...Ortiz did it in 1,630 games, fewer than both Williams (1,745) and Yaz (2,804)...Drove in a season-high 6 runs in that 8/16 game, matching his single-game career-high for the 5th time...Reached base safely 4 times in 4 straight games from 8/18-22 (10-for-12, 6 BB), the 1st major leaguer to do that since Joe Mauer from 6/6-6/10/06, and the 1st Red Sox to do it since Mike Andrews from 5/30-6/4/70.
2013
Led the Red Sox while ranking among AL leaders with a .309 AVG (6th), 30 HR (T-8th), 103 RBI (7th), 76 walks (T-7th), a .395 OBP (4th), .564 SLG (3rd in MLB), .959 OPS (4th in MLB), 70 extra-base hits (5th), 292 total bases (8th), 17.3 AB/HR (7th), and 5.0 AB/RBI (3rd)... Won record 7th career Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award, unanimously receiving all 1st-place votes cast... At 37 years old, became the oldest Red Sox to lead the team in homers since 38-year-old Tony Perez in 1980... Became the 1st player to lead the Red Sox in AVG, HR, and RBI since Manny Ramirez in 2001... Was oldest player to lead his team in Triple Crown categories since Barry Bonds for the Giants from 2002-04 at38-40 years old...Before that, it hadn't been done since Frank Robinson at 37 for the 1973 Angels (Elias)... Recorded his 7th career 30-homer/100-RBI season, all since joining the Red Sox in 2003, tying Ted Williams for the most such seasons in Red Sox history.... Tallied 12th straight 20+ homer season, and 7th campaign overall with at least 70 extra-base hits... Named an All-Star for the 4th straight year and the 9th time in his career, most in MLB since 2004...Went 0-for-2 as the starting DH in the 7/16 exhibition at Citi Field…Was his 5th All-Star appearance at DH, passing Edgar Martinez (4) for the most all-time... Topped the majors with a career-high 27 intentional walks...Was the 3rd-highest total in club history behind Ted Williams in 1957 (33) and Manny Ramirez in 2003 (28)... Ranked 2nd in the AL with a .339 AVG vs. RHP (109-for-322), his 2nd-best full season mark (.343 in 2007)... Hit .313 on the road (6th in AL) and .338 in day games (4th in AL)…Batted .486 (34-for-70) with 6 home runs and 23 RBI against rookie pitchers... Had a season-high 4 hits a career-high 4 times, tied for the team lead (Daniel Nava)...Was the most 4-hit games as a DH since Paul Molitor had 4 in 1997... Matched single-game career-high for the 40th and 41st times with 2-homer games on 5/18 at MIN and 9/4 vs. DET...Marked his 38th and 39th multi-homer games as a Red Sox, 2nd in MLB since 2003 (Albert Pujols, 44)...His 5/18 effort passed Ted Williams (37) for the most in club history...Activated on 4/20 vs. KC after beginning the season on the 15-day DL with right Achilles tendinopathy...Played in 6 games on rehab with Triple-A Pawtucket prior to activation (.222 AVG, 4-for-18, HR, 4 RBI)...Appeared in 137 of the club's 147 games following 4/20 activation...Made 135 starts, including 129 at DH and 6 at 1B, and twice pinch-hit without appearing defensively...Had a season-high 15-game hit streak to begin the season from 4/20-5/7, with a .414 AVG (24-for-58), 9 doubles, 4 homers, and 17 RBI in that stretch...Was his longest career hit streak to start a season and the longest by a Red Sox since Tony Pena hit in the 1st 15 games of 1990. Including his last 12 games of 2012, hit in a career-high 27 straight games from 7/2/12-5/7/13, with a .423 AVG (41-for-97) and 23 RBI in that time...It tied for the 6th-longest hit streak in Red Sox history and was the club's longest ever to span multiple seasons (prev., Eddie Bressoud's 23-gamer from 1963-64)...Had a .423 AVG/.504 OBP/.722 SLG/1.226 OPS during the streak...It was the best AVG, OBP, SLG, and OPS among the 8 Red Sox hit streaks of 27+ games during the live ball era (since 1920)...His 1.226 OPS was the best for any ML streak of at least 27 games since George Brett's 30-gamer in 1980 (1.249)... The 27-game stretch was the longest hit streak in the AL since SEA's Ichiro Suzuki had a 27-game run from 5/6-6/3/09...The only other major leaguer ever to hit in 27 straight games, all as DH, was MIL's Paul Molitor (39 G, 7/16-8/25/87)...The 27-game streak spanned 309 calendar days...Since 1900, the only other ML hit streak of at least 20 G that spanned 300+ days was a 21-gamer by BOS' Nomar Garciaparra over 322 days from 9/10/00-7/29/01...Hit .500 with 15 RBI over his 1st 9 games of the season from 4/20-30...Was the 3rd major leaguer to begin a season with those marks, along with Hall of Famers Dave Winfield in 1988 and Willie Mays in 1964... Tallied an extra-base hit in 9 straight games from 4/21-5/1 (7 2B, 3 HR), tying the longest such streak in franchise history for a 5th time...Had previously been accomplished by Ortiz in 2004, Bill Mueller in 2003, Butch Hobson in 1977, and Ted Williams in 1939... Drove in at least 1 run in a season-high 6 straight games from 4/24-30, with 13 total RBI in that stretch...Was his longest stretch with an RBI since a 6-game run from 8/16-22/09...Drew his 827th walk as a member of the Red Sox on 4/27 vs. HOU, passing Harry Hooper (826) for sole possession of 5th place on the club's all-time list...Tied for 2nd in the majors with 20 walks in June...Ranked T-3rd in the AL with 15 extra-base hits, T-4th with 22 RBI, 7th with a .598 SLG, and T-7th with 7 homers in the month...Hit a walk-off, 3-run homer in the 9th inning on 6/6 vs. TEX, his 1st walk-off shot since 8/26/09 vs. CWS...Marked the 11th regular-season walk-off home run of his ML career, most among active players...Was his 10th walk-off homer with the Red Sox, extending his club record... The 6/6 walk-off HR was his 1st walk-off hit since a double on 7/31/10 vs. DET and the 19th of his career in the regular season, most among actives, and his 16th with BOS...Reached base safely in a career-high 30 consecutive home games from 6/8-8/27 (.330, 38-for-115, 17 BB)... Endured a 2-for-19 slide from 6/12-16, dropping his AVG to a season-low .299...Was his only game finished with an AVG below .300 all year... Reached 50 RBI in his 53rd game of the season on 6/18 vs. TB (G1)…Was his fastest ever reaching the mark (prev. 54th game in 2006)...Notched the 500th double of his ML career on 7/3 vs. SD...Became the 58th major leaguer to reach that mark...Posted a season-high 23-game on-base streak from 7/13-8/10 (.352, 32-for-91, 3 2B, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 11 BB)...Was the 2nd-longest single-season streak of his career after a 31-game run from 5/6-6/14/07...His 2nd-inning double on 7/10 at SEA was the 1,689th hit of his career as a DH, passing Harold Baines (1,688) for the most in ML history...On 7/28 at BAL, went 4-for-4 with 3 singles and a home run...Was his 3rd career game going 4-for-4 or better with a HR, his 1st since 9/27/07 vs. MIN... Reached in 10 straight PA (8 singles, 2 walks) from his last 2 PA on 8/5 at HOU through his 3rd PA on 8/7 at HOU…Was the longest streak by a Red Sox since Kevin Youkilis reached in 13 straight PA in 2009... Collected back-to-back 4-hit games on 8/6-7 at HOU...Left the game on 8/21 at SF (mid 5th) due to low back tightness...Hit .301 (28-for-93) with 10 doubles, 6 homers, 24 RBI, and 18 walks (9 IBB) in last 25 games beginning with a 1-for-2 effort on 8/30 vs. CWS to end 0-for-23 slump...Went 3-for-5 with 2 homers and a double on 9/4 vs. DET for a season-high 10 total bases...His 2nd of the 3 hits, a 6th-inning double, was the 2,000th of his ML career... Became the 14th player to record his 2,000th career hit as a member of the Red Sox, along with Bobby Veach (1924), Jimmie Foxx (1938), Joe Cronin (1940), Bob Johnson (1945), Bobby Doerr (1951), Ted Williams (1955), Carl Yastrzemski (1973), Bill Buckner (1984), Jim Rice (1986), Don Baylor (1987), Dwight Evans (1988), Wade Boggs (1992), and Manny Ramirez (2006)...Topped all 2013 postseason leaders in home runs (5), total bases (36), walks (16), IBB (4), and times on base (34) while starting all 16 games (13 at DH, 3 at 1B) en route to the Red Sox' 3rd World Series championship in 10 years…Also had the best OBP (.500), SLG (.706), and OPS (1.206) among postseason batters with at least 35 PA and topped the Red Sox with a .353 AVG (18-for-51)…Hit .385 (5-for-13) in the 4-game ALDS vs. TB, topping MLB postseason leaders with 5 walks in the DS…Notched 2 homers in Game 2, both off LHP David Price, for his 1st career multi-homer effort in the postseason…Was held to 2 hits (.091 AVG) in the 6-game ALCS vs. DET but knocked a game-tying grand slam with 2 out in the 8th inning off Joaquin Benoit in Game 2, a 6-5 come-from-behind Red Sox victory…Named 2013 World Series MVP after going 11-for-16 (.688) with 2 doubles, 2 homers, 6 RBI, and 8 walks (4 IBB) in the 6-game set…Had the 2nd-best AVG and OBP (.760) ever in a single World Series after CIN's Billy Hatcher in 1990 (.750 AVG/.800 OBP), and raised his career World Series AVG to .455 and OBP to .576, best ever marks among players with at least 50 PA in the World Series…Reached safely in 9 straight PA from the 4th inning of Game 3 through the 4th inning of Game 5, tying the record for a single World Series (CIN's Billy Hatcher in 1990)…His 19 times on base were the 2nd most ever in a single World Series after SF's Barry Bonds in 2002 (21), while his 8 walks set a club record for a single WS…Became the 1st Red Sox ever to hit a home run in both Game 1 and Game 2 of a WS.
2012
Led the majors with a .611 SLG (min. 350 PA) in his 8th All-Star campaign...Was limited to
just 90 games due to injury, his fewest since 2001 (89 with MIN).
Also led the AL (min. 350 PA) with a 1.026 OPS (2nd in ML)...Was 2nd among AL players in OBP (.415), just
shy of MIN's Joe Mauer (.416)...Hit .318 (103-for-324) with 60 RBI and 56 walks...Among major leaguers with
less than 400 PA, ranked 1st with 65 runs and 49 extra-base hits (26 2B, 23 HR)...Became 2nd big leaguer ever
to record 65 runs and 49 XBH in a season under 400 PA (also TEX's Ivan Rodriguez in 2000 with 66 R, 58 XBH).
Missed 71 of the club's last 72 games with 2 stints on the 15-day DL due to a right Achilles strain...1st went
on the DL on 7/18 (retro to 7/17)...Activated on 8/24 and played 1 game that night vs. KC (2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI)
before a season-ending DL stint beginning 8/27 (retro to 8/25).
At the time of 1st DL stint, was leading the AL with a 1.024 OPS (3rd in ML) and 157 times on base (3rd in
ML) and was tied for the ML lead with 65 runs...Also ranked among AL leaders in AVG (9th, .316), home AVG
(1st, 355), extra-base hits (2nd, 48), SLG (3rd, .609), OBP (2nd, .414), homers (7th, 23), doubles (8th, 25), RBI
(T-10th, 58), walks (T-4th, 56), and total bases (3rd, 195)...Was tied with Votto for the ML lead with 13 IBB...At the time of DL retro date, was leading left-handed major
leaguers in home runs (9), extra-base hits (17), total bases (73),
SLG (.603) and OPS (.976) against southpaws.
Played in 89 of the club's 90 games before going on the DL on
7/17...Reached base safely in 78 of 90 games overall...Failed to
reach just 10 times in his 88 starts (81 at DH, 7 at 1B).
BOS went 46-44 (.511) when he appeared in a game and 23-
49 (.319) otherwise...The Sox were 2nd in the majors in runs per
game before his injury (5.00, 450 R/90 G) and 22nd afterwards
(3.94, 284 R/72 G).
The club was 17-4 (.810) when he went deep, the 4th-best such
mark of the year among American Leaguers with at least 20 homers...BOS went 26-11 (.703) when he drove in a run.
Voted by the fans as AL starter at DH in the All-Star Game, 7/10 in KC...Went 1-for-2, playing the 1st 6 innings.
His 1.013 OPS at the break was a career 1st-half best...His .607 SLG was 2nd-best before the break (.609 in
2006) and his 22 homers were his most at the break since 2006 (31)...Was tied for the AL lead with 47 extrabase hits in the 1st half, his most since 2004 (56).
Batted .317 (63-for-199) with a .613 SLG against right-handers and hit .320 (40-for-125) with a .608 SLG
against left-handers...Batted .320 both as a DH (95-for-297) and as a 1st baseman (8-for-25)...Was the only Major Leaguer with a SLG of at least .600 against both LHP and RHP (min. 125 PA vs. each) and the 1st left-handed
hitter to do that since he and CLE's Travis Hafner in 2006.
Led the majors with a .706 SLG and a 1.169 OPS at home (min. 150 PA), both of which were the best marks
in a season at Fenway Park since Fred Lynn (.798) and Jim Rice (.728) in 1979 (min. 150 PA).
Led the AL in AVG (.381), OBP (.441), and SLG (.821) when leading off an inning...Topped the majors with a
1.262 OPS in that situation, best by a Red Sox since Cecil Cooper in 1975 (1.300).
Had an AL-leading .390 AVG (46-for-118) while pacing the majors with a .814 SLG and 1.265 OPS with no
outs (min. 100 PA)...Was the best SLG and OPS by a Red Sox with none out since (min. 100 PA).
Hit 3 homers in 7 games at 1st base...Had 52.0 innings in the field, his most since 2006 (68.0).
Hit his 400th career homer on 7/4 at OAK off A.J. Griffin, becoming the 49th player ever to reach the mark and
the 8th active major leaguer to do it (Adam Dunn followed on 8/18)...Was the 6th player to hit his 400th homer
as a Red Sox, 1st since Manny Ramirez on 5/15/05 at SEA.
Matched single-game career high for the 38th and 39th times with 2 homers on 4/30 vs. OAK and 6/25 vs.
TOR...On 4/30 recorded 1st career multi-homer tilt with both shots coming off lefties (Tommy Milone).
Hit his 11th career grand slam on 6/20 vs. MIA...Was his 10th as a member of the Red Sox, moving past Rico
Petrocelli (9) and into sole possession of 2nd place on the club's all-time list after Ted Williams (17).
Hit safely in each of his last 12 games of the season beginning 7/2, his longest hit streak of the season...Went
17-for-39 (.436) with 2 walks, 2 homers, 6 RBI and 13 walks in that stretch...Was the 2nd-longest active hitting
streak for an AL player at the end of the season (CLE's Shin-Soo Choo, 13 games).
Did not draw a walk in his return from the DL on 8/24, snapping a club-record 10-game streak with both a hit
and a walk from 7/3-16...Matched the longest such streak in the live ball era (since 1920), according to Elias...In
that time, the only other players to record a 10-game streak of that type are Jimmie Foxx (1932), Eddie Stanky
(twice, 1948 and 1950), Bobby Murcer (1975) and Victor Martinez (2006).
Set career bests for April in hits (34) and AVG (.405), the 1st Red Sox qualifier to bat .400 in April since Manny
Ramirez in 2001 (.408).
On 4/14 (4 hits) and 4/15 (3) vs. TB, notched his 1st back-to-back tilts with at least 3 hits since 3 straight
contests from 9/26-28/07...Over those 2 games, hit safely in 7 consecutive PA for the 3rd time in his career, 1st
since 9/26-27/07...Went 4-for-5 with a double, homer, 5 RBI and 2 runs on 4/14 vs. TB, his 3rd career game with
at least 4 hits and 5 RBI (also 8/12/05 vs. CWS and 7/26/11 vs. KC).
Reached base 5 times on both 4/21 vs. NYY (4-for-4, R, 2B, RBI, BB) and 5/7 at KC (3-for-4, 3 R, HR, RBI, 2
IBB)...The only other AL player to reach at least 5 times in a game twice in 2012 without the benefit of extra
innings was NYY's Robinson Cano (twice).
Led the team with 9 homers in June, tied for 4th-most in the majors and his most in a June since 2004 (10)...
Tied for the ML lead with 8 shots in a 15-game stretch from 6/10-27...Homered in 3 straight tilts from 6/17-20
for the 1st time since 9/23-25/09.
Scored a season-high 4 runs 6/27 vs. TOR, matching his career-high for the 5th time, 1st since 8/12/08 vs. TEX.
Led AL qualifiers with a .395 AVG a .547 OBP in July (min. 50 PA)...Drew the 1,000th walk of his career on
7/4, the same day he hit his 400th career home run.
2011
Won his 6th Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award and 5th Silver Slugger
at DH...Selected an All-Star for the 7th time and received the national Roberto Clemente Award.
Received 73 1st-place votes out of 84 ballots cast to garner the Edgar Martinez Outstanding DH Award...His 6
such awards pass Martinez (1995, 1997-98, 2000-01) for the most Outstanding DH honors since it started in 1973.
With 5th Silver Slugger Award at DH, moved past Edgar Martinez and Paul Molitor for the most ever at the
position...Also named the DH on The Sporting News's AL All-Star squad after the season.
Recognized for positive contributions on and off the field with the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award, presented in an on-field ceremony prior to Game 2 of the World Series in St. Louis...Also received the Tim Wakefield
Award from the Boston Chapter of the BBWAA.
162 hits, 70 extra-base hits, 40 doubles, .309 AVG, .398 OBP, .554 SLG and .953 OPS were all his best marks
since 2007.
Finished among AL leaders in AVG (6th, .309), SLG (4th, .554), OBP (4th, .398), OPS (4th, .953), multi-hit
games (9th, 51), extra-base hits (T-9th, 70), walks (T-9th, 78), intentional walks (8th, 12), home AVG (4th, .342)
and AVG vs. LHP (8th, .329).
Among designated hitters with 100 at-bats, finished 1st in homers (28), RBI (94), runs (82), walks (76), total
bases (287) and SLG pct. (.561) at the position...Tied for 1st among that group in doubles (40), 2nd in OBP
(.403), and 3rd in hits (161) and AVG (.314).
29 home runs were 2nd-most on the team (Jacoby Ellsbury, 32) and tied for 13th in the AL...Marked 8th
season with at least 25 homers, all with Boston...Passed Jim Rice (7 seasons) for the 2nd-most 25-homer
campaigns ever for a Red Sox batter behind only Ted Williams (14).
Hit at least 20 homers for the 10th straight year since 2002, including 9 with Boston...Moved past Manny
Ramirez and Carl Yastrzemski (8 each) for 4th-most 20-homer seasons as a Red Sox after Ted Williams (16),
Dwight Evans (11) and Jim Rice (11).
Voted by the fans as the AL's starter at DH for the All-Star Game on 7/12 in Arizona (went 0-for-2 in the game)...
Marked 7th All-Star selection, 5th nod as a starter...Received
6,324,793 votes, 4th-most in the Majors...Also served as captain of
the victorious AL squad for the Home Run Derby, his 5th career Derby.
Had a career-high tying 4 hits 3 times: 7/26 vs. KC, 8/8 at MIN
and 9/6 at TOR...Collected a season-high 5 RBI on 7/26, most since
he drove in 6 on 8/12/08 vs. TEX and 8th career game with at least
5 RBI...Set a career single-game mark with 3 doubles on 7/26.
Homered in each of the Sox 1st 2 games of 2011, 4/1-2 at TEX,
the 1st time he has ever gone deep in his 1st 2 tilts of any season.
2010
Tallied 6th career 30-homer, 100-RBI campaign, tying Manny Ramirez for 2nd most in
club history...Named to 6th American League All-Star team.
Led the Sox with 32 homers, 102 RBI (tied with Adrian Beltre) and 80 walks...Were best marks in each category
since 2007 (.332 AVG, 35 HR, 117 RBI, 111 BB).
Ranked among AL leaders in homers (T-5th, 32), RBI (T-10th, 102), walks (9th, 82), intentional walks (T-2nd,
14), extra-base hits (T-9th, 69), slugging (8th, .529), home run ratio (T-4th, 16.19 AB/HR) and RBI ratio (5th, 5.08
AB/RBI)...Tied Texas' Josh Hamilton for the most homers by a left-handed AL hitter.
Marked 6th career, 30-homer season, all with the Sox, tied with Manny Ramirez for 2nd in club history after
Ted Williams (8)...Also 6th triple-digit RBI season, tied for 3rd most in club history behind Ted Williams (9) and
Jim Rice (8)...Only Ted Williams has more 30-HR, 100-RBI seasons with Boston (7).
5th year with at least 30 homers as a DH, extending his all-time record, and 4th campaign with 100+ RBI as a
DH, tying Edgar Martinez for the all-time mark...Last RBI of the season, an RBI single in the 4th inning on 9/29
at CWS, was the 1,000th of his career as a DH, 3 shy of Edgar Martinez's all-time record (1,003).
Hit just 1 homer with 4 RBI in April but cracked 31 beginning 5/1, tied for 3rd in the AL in that time...After April,
also ranked among circuit leaders in RBI (7th, 98), walks (7th, 75), extra-base hits (T-4th, 63) and slugging (4th, .558).
Matched career high with 2 homers on 5/1 at BAL, 5/14 at DET and 7/26 at LAA.
Named AL Player of the Month for May after hitting 10 homers, tied for 2nd in the Majors and his largest total
in any month since August 2006 (10)...Also finished among May AL leaders in slugging (1st, .788), OPS (1st,
1.211), RBI (T-2nd, 27), batting (4th, .363) and total bases (T-5th, 63)...Had at least 10 homers, 25 RBI and a
.350 average in a month for the 2nd time in his career, also June of 2004 (10 HR, 31 RBI, .365 AVG)...Marked
his 4th monthly honor (also September 2005, July 2006 and September 2007)...Jon Lester won Pitcher of the
Month, the 1st pair of teammates to capture both awards in the same month since June 2006 (Minnesota's Joe
Mauer and Johan Santana) and the 3rd pair of Red Sox teammates ever to do so, joining Dwight Evans and Mark
Clear in May 1981, and Nomar Garciaparra and Pedro Martinez in May 1999.
Led the Majors with 21 walks in June, tied for his most June walks ever (also 2006) and most in any month
since August 2008 (25)...Ranked among June AL leaders in extra-base hits (T-6th, 13), runs (7th, 20), homers
(T-7th, 6) and RBI (T-8th, 22).
Passed Manny Ramirez (274) for 5th in club history with his 275th homer with Boston on 6/27 at SF...Passed
Ramirez for 6th on the Sox all-time list with his 869th RBI on 6/11 vs. PHI.
Elected by Player Ballot to his 6th career All-Star Game, 3rd as a DH...Pinch-hit in the 6th and finished 1-for-2
with a single in the 7/13 exhibition at Angel Stadium.
Won the Home Run Derby on 7/12 at Anaheim with 32 long balls over the competition's 3 rounds, including
an 11-homer total to defeat Florida's Hanley Ramirez in the final round...Became the 1st Red Sox player to win
the Home Run Derby, and at 34 years and 236 days old became the oldest Derby winner since the event became
a 3-round competition in 1996, passing Luis Gonzalez (33 years, 309 days in 2001).
Issued 6 intentional walks in July, 4th most in the Majors, and ranked among AL July leaders in overall walks
(T-4th, 19), RBI (T-8th, 18) and HR (T-11th, 5).
Tied a career high with 3 intentional walks on 7/6 at TB (also 7/7/07 at DET).
Batted .293 (71-for-242) with 14 homers and 43 RBI in his last 64 games beginning 7/22, 1 of just 3 AL players
to reach those marks in that span (also Chicago's Paul Konerko and Detroit's Miguel Cabrera).
Collected a pair of double-digit hit streaks (13 games from 7/22-8/4 and 11 games from 8/8-20) for the 1st
time in a single season since 2005...His 13-game run tied for his 2nd-longest career hit streak (also 7/12-28/07)
after a career-long 19-gamer, 7/17-8/6/02.
Hit 9th career grand slam on 7/30 vs. DET...Was 8th slam with Boston, tied for 3rd on club's all-time list (also
Bobby Doerr, Trot Nixon and Jim Rice), behind Ted Williams (17) and Rico Petrocelli (9)...Became the all-time
leader with 8 career grand slams at Fenway Park, passing Rice and Williams (both 7).
Hit a walk-off, 3-run double
on 7/31 vs. DET, his 18th career
walk-off hit, tops among
active Major Leaguers.
Notched only triple of the
year on 8/22 vs. TOR...Joins
Johnny Damon and Carlos
Guillen as the only AL batters
to record at least 1 triple in
each of the last 11 seasons
since 2000...12 other ML batters
overall have accomplished
the feat.
Drove in 20 runs in 21
games from 9/5-29 and tied
for 4th in the AL with 23 total
RBI in September...Recorded
multiple hits in 6 of his last 10
games beginning 9/22, batting
at a .429 clip (15-for-35) with
2 homers, 10 RBI and 6 walks
in that time to raise his season
average from .259 to .270.
2009
Posted 6th career season of at least 25 homers, tying Manny Ramirez and Mo Vaughn
for 3rd most in club history...Set the all-time mark for homers by a DH, ending the season
with 274 at the position...Finished 1 shy of 6th career 100-RBI season despite driving in just 18 runs through his 1st 47 tilts...Placed 4th in the AL with 43, 2-out RBI behind NYY's Mark Teixeira (46), LAA's Kendry Morales (45) and
teammate Kevin Youkilis (44)...Tied for 7th in the AL with 27 multi-RBI tilts, including a season-high 4 twice (7/8 vs. OAK and 9/23 at KC)...Did not hit 1st home run until 5/20 vs. TOR, his 1st roundtripper since 9/22/08...Ended a career-high span of
149 at-bats without a homer...Tied with MIN's Michael Cuddyer, TOR's Adam Lind and NYY's Mark Teixeira for the AL lead with 28 homers
from 5/20 through the end of the regular season...Led the AL with 27 homers beginning 6/6 and tied the Angels Bobby Abreu and Yankees Alex Rodriguez for
the league lead with 78 RBI in that time...The Red Sox posted a 23-4 record when he went deep in 2009...Hit just .218 (84-for-386) in his 1st 106 games 4/7-8/13 but batted .290 (45-for-155) over his final 44 tilts...Saw most action from the No. 5 spot in the lineup, batting .275 (56-for-204) with 16 homers and 43 RBI in
56 games (55 GS)...Also started in the No. 3 (40), No. 4 (23), No. 6 (24) and No. 7 (2) spots...Batted 6th on
5/26 at MIN, marking his 1st start in any spot other than 3rd since 5/13/05 at SEA (4th) and 1st in the 6-hole
since 5/11/04 vs. CLE...Drew at least 1 walk in 10 straight games from 4/30-5/19, the longest streak by a Sox hitter since he did it
over 11 contests from 9/2-9/13/05...His only longer stretch was a 12-gamer, 7/27-8/9/05...Was 3rd in the AL with a .653 slugging percentage in June, batting .320 (24-for-75) with 7 homers and 18 RBI
in that month...Finished 2nd in the league with 24 RBI in July...Collected 1,000th career RBI with a 3-run homer, 6/24 at WSH...Notched 1,000th hit as a member of the Red Sox with a home run on 7/11 vs. the Royals...Became 30th player
in club history to reach that mark and the 1st to homer for No. 1,000 since Carlton Fisk on 6/1/80 vs. MIL...Knocked 300th career home run off Luke Hochevar on 7/9 vs. KC...Became the 8th player to hit his 300th
homer for BOS and the 4th to do so at Fenway Park, joining Ted Williams (1951), Dwight Evans (1987) and
Manny Ramirez (2002)...On 8/10 vs. DET, snapped a career-long 0-for-23 drought with runners on base...Homered in 3 straight tilts, 8/16-19, going 5-for-10 (.500) with 5 RBI and 6 runs in that time...Drove in at
least 1 run in 6 straight games from 8/16-22 with 11 total RBI in that time...Hit 10th career walk-off home run on 8/26 off CWS's Tony Pena to give BOS a 3-2 victory...Marked his 9th
as a member of the Red Sox, passing Jimmie Foxx (8) for the most in club history...Was also his 2nd roundtripper
of the game, marking 34th career multi-homer effort and 32nd with the Sox, 3rd in club history behind Ted
Williams (37) and Jim Rice (35)...Belted 270th career home run as a designated hitter off Jose Arredondo on 9/15 vs. LAA, passing Frank
Thomas (269) for the all-time lead in that category.
2008
After averaging 42 homers, 128 RBI, and 147 games per season over his first 6 years in
Boston, appeared in just 109 games due to injuries...Started 108 games as the designated hitter,
finishing 2nd on the club with 23 homers, 89 RBI, and 70 walks.
AT THE PLATE: His .264 average was his lowest since a .234 figure with Minnesota in 2001...Was
just 3-for-43 (.070) in his first 12 games through April 12, the lowest mark among major league
qualifiers at that point...Hit .299 (50-for-167) over his next 42 games and was at .252 when disabled
on June 1 with a partially torn tendon sheath in his left wrist.
After return on July 25, batted .277 (57-for-206) with 10 homers and 46 RBI in final 55 games...
Was still at .253 on August 10 before batting .358 (24-for-67) over next 19 contests, improving
to .274 through September 2...Was 18-80 (.225) over final 21 games...Hit safely in a season-best
9 straight games, April 30-May 9...Had a .336 (43-for-128) average with men in scoring position
with a .346 (18-for-52) mark with 2 outs in that situation.
ROUND TRIPPERS: Had his 7th straight season with 20+ homers, including all 6 years with Boston...
Is tied with 5 others for the 3rd-most consecutive 20-homer seasons with Boston behind
Dwight Evans (9) and Manny Ramirez (8)...Went from 54 homers in 2006 to 23 in 2008, the 4th
major leaguer ever to go from 50+ HR to 23 or less in 3-year span...The others: Mickey Mantle, 54
to 15 from 1961-63; Roger Maris, 61 to 23 from 1961-63; and Willie Mays, 52 to 22 from 1965-67.
Homered twice in a game on 3 occasions, May 18 vs. Milwaukee; August 12 vs. Texas (both in first
inning); and September 17 at Tampa Bay...Has 33 career multi-homer (all 2 HR) games, 31 with
Boston which ranks 3rd in team history...Connected for 8th career grand slam, April 18 vs. Texas...Had 5 homers off lefthanders to match 2007 total.
Homered once in first 16 games of the season through April 17, then went deep just once in a
27-game period from August 16-September 14...That included a 19-game drought from August
16-September 6, matching his longest with Boston...Had 5 homers in final 10 games.
RUNS BATTED IN: Ended a string of 5 straight 100-RBI seasons with 89 in 2008...Drove in 15 runs
over 7 games, April 18-24 and had 16 RBI in last 14 games beginning September 12...Drove in 22
of his 89 RBI against Texas, the most ever for a Red Sox player vs. the Rangers...Had games of 6
(August 12) and 5 (April 18) RBI against Texas...Tied for 3rd in A.L. with 23 RBI in September.
FIRST INNING TO REMEMBER: Had 2 homers and 6 RBI in a 10-run Red Sox first inning on August
12 vs. Texas...Was the 4th player in Red Sox history to hit 2 homers in an inning, joining Nomar
Garciaparra (3rd inning on July 23, 2002 -G1 vs. Tampa Bay); Ellis Burks (4th inning on August 27,
1990 at Cleveland); and Bill Regan (4th inning on June 16, 1928 at Chicago)...Was the 54th time
in major league history that a player has had 2 home runs in an inning.
The 6 RBI tied an A.L. record for RBI in an inning, done 11 times previously, last by Seattle's Raul
Ibanez on August 4, 2008 vs. Minnesota (7th inning)...Marked the 4th time that an A.L. player
has had 6 RBI in the first inning...The only player with more than 6 in any inning was St. Louis'
Fernando Tatis with 8 on April 23, 1999.
Was the 3rd time that a Red Sox has had 6 RBI in an inning...The others: Carlos Quintana on July
30, 1991 vs. Texas (3rd inning) and Tom McBride August 4, 1945-G2 at Washington (4th inning).
INJURIES: Sustained a partially torn tendon sheath in his left wrist on a swing in the 9th inning on
May 31 at Baltimore...Put on the 15-day DL on June 3, retroactive to June 1, and missed a total of
45 games before being activated on July 25...Did not need surgery to repair the injury...Hit .294
(5-17) with 3 homers and 6 RBI in 6 games on rehab assignment, 3 contests each at Pawtucket
(July 17-19) and Portland (July 21-23)...Also missed time in April and May with a sore right knee.
2008 NOTES: Did not appear in a game defensively for the first time in his career...Last action at
first base was in Game 4 of the 2007 World Series in Colorado...Had his 2nd career sacrifice hit,
September 10 vs. Tampa Bay...Had Boston's only hit, a 7th-inning single on May 24 in Oakland.
2007
SUMMARY: Was again among the majors' top offensive performers, leading the big leagues with
a .445 on-base percentage and topping the A.L. with 88 extra base hits and 111 walks...Was 2nd
in the A.L. in doubles (52) and OPS (1.066), finished 3rd in homers (35-Tied), total bases (341), and slugging (.621), ranked 5th in average (.332), tied
for 5th in intentional walks (12), and was 6th in runs
(116), and RBI (117)...Set career highs for batting average,
doubles, and on-percentage and was the A.L.'s
most prolific DH for the 5th straight year...Started
140 games at DH and 7 at 1st base.
BATTING: His .332 average was the highest by a Red
Sox lefthanded batter since Mo Vaughn (.337) in
1998...Was his 3rd .300 season in the last 4 years with
previous career best being .301 in 2004...Hit just .207
in season's 1st 8 games and was at .291 through May
8...Produced a .398 (39-98) average in his next 27
games to reach a season high .340 on June 12...Batted
.206 (14-68) over next 20 contests, dropping to
.307 through July 4...Had a .357 (95-266) in his last
71 contests with a .389 (56-144) mark in his final 40
games...Was 16-for-29 (.552) in last 8 contests...Had
9 consecutive hits, 3 shy of ML and team record, and
reached base in 11 straight plate appearances, September
26-29...Longest hitting streak was 13 games,
July 12-28...Tied career high with 4 hits on 3 occasions,
May 9 at Toronto, August 24 at Chicago, and
September 27 vs. Minnesota.
WALKS: His 111 walks were 2nd most of career (119
in 2006)...Led A.L. in walks for the 2nd consecutive
year, the 1st Red Sox player to accomplish that since
Ted Williams was on top for 4 straight seasons from
1946-49...Joined Cincinnati's Adam Dunn as the only
ML players with 100 runs, RBI, and walks in 2007...
Has accomplished that feat 3 years in a row, longest
streak by a Sox player since 6 for Williams (1941-42;
46-49)...Tied a career best with 4 walks, July 7 at Detroit
and had 3 in a game 5 times.
BY THE NUMBERS: His 88 extra base hits tied for the
3rd most in Red Sox history and his 52 doubles were
4th most...Had the highest on-base percentage for a
Red Sox since Manny Ramirez (.450) in 2002...Ranked 4th in the American League in batting
versus righthanders at .343 (126-367) and in home games at .365 (100-274)...Led the league in
on-base percentage (.470) and slugging (.700) against righthanded pitchers...Also had the A.L.'s
best OPS (1.153) after the all-star break.
ODDS AND ENDS: Was selected as the Red Sox' September player of the month after batting .296
with 9 homers and 29 RBI in 26 games...Did not commit an error in 40 chances in his 7 games at
1st base...Was bothered by a sore left shoulder and right knee over season's final 2 months...Underwent
arthroscopic surgery on November 6, 2007 to correct the cartilage problem in his right
knee...Was ejected by Tony Randazzo on June 15 vs. San Francisco.
POSTSEASON PLAY: Hit .370 (17-46) with 3 homers, 10 RBI, and 14 walks while hitting safely in 12 of Boston's 14
playoff games...Batted safely in 1st 9 games of post-season at .462 (12-26) before going 5-for-20
in final 5 contests...Hit .714 (5-7) with 6 walks in the 3-game sweep of Los Angeles in the ALDS...
Had the highest batting average, on-base percentage (.846), and slugging percentage (1.571)
ever in a Division Series (10+ PA) with the most walks and homers (tied) ever in a 3-game DS...Tied
the DS record with 4 walks and 2 intentional walks in Game 2...His 6 career DS intentional walks
are a record...Homered in Games 1 and 3...Has hit safely in last 11 DS games at .447 (17-38).
Batted .292 (7-24) with 3 RBI and 6 walks in 7-game ALCS against Cleveland...Homered in Game
4 at Jacobs Field...Extended his overall post-season hitting streak to 14 games, T7th longest alltime,
before going 0-for-5 in Game 7 at Fenway Park...Had a .333 (5-15) average with 4 RBI in
4-game sweep of Colorado in World Series...After starting 1st 12 games of post-season as the DH,
played 1st base in the final 2 WS contests at Coors Field...Was 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles and
2 RBI in Game 1 victory at Fenway Park.
CAREER NOTES
HONOR ROLL: Has captured an unprecedented 5
consecutive Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated
Hitter Awards with career total matching Martinez' 5
honors as top DH...Has been named as the DH on the
A.L. Silver Slugger team each of the last 4 seasons and
was selected as the DH on 2007 post-season all-star
teams selected by Baseball America and The Sporting
News...Is the only player to rank among the top 5 in the BBWAA A.L. MVP voting each of the last
5 years: 2003 (5th); 2004 (4th); 2005 (2nd); 2006 (3rd); and 2007 (4th).
LEADERBOARD: Over the last 5 years (2003-07), is the major league RBI leader (642) and also
places 1st in go-ahead RBI (160)...Ranks 2nd in extra base hits (424), and is 3rd in doubles (207),
homers (208), total bases (1675), slugging (.612), and OPS (1.014)...Tops the majors with 177 homers
and 541 RBI since 2004.
His .612 slugging percentage with Boston is the 2nd
highest in team history (3000 or more PA) behind
Ted Williams (.634)...Is also among the Red Sox' alltime
leaders in OPS (3rd, 1.014), on-base percentage
(7th, .402), homers (10th, 208), batting average (14th,
.302), and RBI (16th, 642).
HOME RUNS: His 35 homers in 2007 were his fewest
since 2003 (31)...Ranked 5th in A.L. with a homer
every 15.7 at bats...Had increased his year home run
total in each of the 7 previous years from 2000-06,
one of 4 players in history to do that...Had his 5th
straight 30-homer season, matching Carlos Lee for
the 3rd longest current streak among active players
behind Alex Rodriguez (10) and Albert Pujols
(7)...Matches Jimmie Foxx (1936-40) for the 2nd longest
streak in Red Sox history behind Manny Ramirez
(6, 2001-06)...Was his 6th season in a row with 20+
homers...Homered twice in a game 4 times, April 8
at Texas, July 31 vs. Baltimore, August 24 at Chicago
(N), and September 12 vs. Tampa Bay...Has 30 career multi-homer games including 28 with Boston to rank
3rd on team's all-time list...Grand slam on August 18
versus Los Angeles was 7th of career, 6th with Boston
and 6th at Fenway Park.
Hit 16 homers in final 40 games beginning August
17...Homered 8 times in August and 9 in September,
the latter ranking 4th in the A.L. for the month...Went
19 games without a long ball, his longest drought
with the Red Sox, May 10-June 3...Ranked 3rd in the
A.L. with 19 road homers...Produced his 9th career
regular season walk-off homer in the bottom of the
9th inning, September 12 against Baltimore...Was his
8th with Boston, tying Foxx for the most ever...Connected
for his 200th homer as a Red Sox, September
6 at Baltimore.
THE DESIGNATED LEADER: Batted .338 (177-523) in 140 games as a designated hitter in 2007...Set
major league records with 51 doubles and 85 extra base hits as a DH, recorded 3rd most total
bases (329), had the 4th highest batting average ever, a Red Sox record, and the 5th most walks
(106)...Previous best average for a Boston DH was .330 for Mike Easler in 1984...Also topped
leagues' DHs in runs (111), hits (177), and RBI (113) and was 2nd in homers (33), 2 behind Jim
Thome...Is a career .294 (977-3323) hitter as a DH with 225 homers, 4th all-time, and 717 RBI, 7th
all-time...Has .578 slugging percentage, best lifetime among all DHs with at least 2400 plate appearances,
has the 4th best on-base percentage (.390), and ranks 5th in walks (529).
IN THE CLUTCH: Batted a career best .362 with runners in scoring position in 2007, 6th highest in
the A.L....Had a career .300 (101-362) mark with men on base, including .371 (14-38) with the bases
loaded...Tied for 3rd in A.L. in game-winning RBI (15) and tied for 6th in go-ahead RBI (29)...Lone
walk-off hit in 2007 was a 9th inning homer to defeat Tampa Bay on September 12... Has 16
regular season walk-off hits in his career, 13 with Boston, most of any major leaguer since start of
2003...9 of the hits have been homers, and his 8 with the Red Sox ties Foxx for the most in club
history...All-time regular season career record is 12, and Bonds, Sosa, and Thome share the active
lead with 10...Also had 3 walk-off hits, including 2 home runs, in Sox' 2004 post-season run.
STAR STRUCK: Started his 3rd consecutive All-Star
Game in 2007 after being elected in fan voting, his
2nd at 1st base...Was 1st A.L. player with consecutive
ASG starts at 1B since Jim Thome in 1998-99...Only
other Red Sox with 2 ASG starts at 1B was Foxx (1938;
40)...Was hitless in 2 at bats in July 10 game at San
Francisco.
2006
SUMMARY: Led the American League and ranked second in the Majors to Ryan Howard with a club
record 54 homers and 137 RBI...topped the A.L. with 355 total bases and 119 walks while also
ranking among the league leaders in intentional walks (2nd, 23), extra base hits (2nd, 85), slugging
percentage (2nd, 636), runs (T3rd, 115), and on-base percentage (T6th, .413)...led the Red
Sox in all of the above categories, was second in on-base percentage and ranked third on the club in
games (151), at-bats (558), and hits (160)...started 137 games as the DH and 10 at first base.
HISTORIC HOMER DATES: September 20 vs. Minnesota-hit 50th homer off Boof Bonser to tie
Jimmie Foxx' single season club record...Sept.
21 vs. Minnesota-hit 51st homer off Johan Santana
to set single-season club record...Sept. 24 at Toronto
-hit 32nd road homer off Gustavo Chacin to tie
Babe Ruth's single-season A.L. record.
BATTING BITS: His .287 average was his lowest in
four seasons with the Red Sox...batted .382 (13-34) in
season's first nine games and .303 (20-66) in first 17 contests
through April 21...had a .236 (37-157) mark over
next 42 games to fall to .256 on June 10 before hitting
at a .337 (60-178) clip in next 45 contests, improving
to .292 through Aug. 1...batted .257 (43-167)
in final 47 games...was 5-for-14 (.357) with the bases
loaded...hit .351 (13-37) with seven homers and 14 RBIs in
10 games as a 1st baseman...had a pair of season-high
7-game hitting streaks...tied career high with four hits,
July 29 vs. Los Angeles Angels.
JOYRIDE IN JULY: Was selected as the American
League Player of the Month for July, leading the Majors
with 14 homers, 35 RBI, 87 total bases, and 21
extra base hits (tied) and ranking second in slugging at
.798...batted .339 (37-109) in 26 games...also won
A.L. monthly honor in September 2005...tied club record
for homers in any month (Jackie Jensen, 14 in
June 1958) and set team mark for RBIs in July, the most
by a Red Sox in any month since Nick Esasky's 35 in
August 1989.
SHIFTY BUSINESS: Teams employed three fielders on the
right side of infield when he was batting for most
of the season...Tampa Bay often used a four-outfielder
alignment with third baseman moving to left field and
the other three infielders stationed to the right of second
base...had three bunt singles after entering 2006 with
just one in ML career.
WALKING TALL: His 119 walks were the most for a
Boston player since Wade Boggs had 125 in 1988...was just the fifth different Red Sox player to record at
least 119 BBs in a season...was first player to lead his
league in homers, RBIs, and walks in same season since
Philadelphia's Mike Schmidt in 1981...was first A.L. player to accomplish feat since Washington's
Frank Howard in 1970 and first Red Sox player since Ted Williams in 1949...tied career high with
four walks, Sept. 14 at Baltimore and had 27 multi-walk contests...walked in nine straight games
on two occasions.
MISCELLANEOUS: Shared A.L. Player of the Week
honors for July 31-Aug. 6 with Cleveland's Travis
Hafner...batted .370 with five homers and eight RBIs in that
span...recorded 1000th career hit, homer off Jimmy
Gobble, Aug. 8 at Kansas City...had a .971 fielding
percentage (2 E/70 TC) in 10 games at first base...experienced
palpitations prior to Aug. 28 games in
Oakland and returned to Boston, where tests were
performed at Massachusetts General Hospital...all
tests turned out normal except for changes commonly
found in well-trained athletes...returned to action
on Sept. 5 after missing eight games.
WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: Had a .150 (3-20) average in seven games for the Dominican Republic
in the 2006 World Baseball Classic...all three hits were homers, two on March 7 versus Venezuela and the
other on March 13 against Cuba...tied for third among all WBC players in homers.
2005
SUMMARY: Enjoyed a 3rd consecutive career year, further cementing his status as one of the elite sluggers and clutch performers in the game by batting .300 and establishing career highs with 47 home runs, 148 RBI, 119 runs, 102 walks, a .604 slugging percentage and a .397 on-base percentage...was named team MVP for the 2nd consecutive year by the Boston chapter of the BBWAA and finished 2nd to Alex Rodriguez in A.L.
MVP voting (listed first or 2nd on every ballot cast)...won the Hank Aaron Award, his 2nd
consecutive Silver Slugger Award, and received the Edgar Martinez Award as the top DH in the A.L. for the 3rd straight year...won the Players Choice Award as the A.L.'s Outstanding Player...led the majors in RBI (148) and ranked among A.L. leaders in extra-base hits (first with 88), home runs (2nd with 47, just one behind Rodriguez), slugging (2nd at .604), RBI ratio (2nd with one every 4.1 at-bats), walks (2nd with 102, 27 more than his
previous best from 2004), total bases (3rd
with a career-high 363), runs (3rd with 119),
home run ratio (3rd with one every 12.8 at-bats), on-base percentage (4th at .397), average with runners in scoring position (5th at .352), intentional walks (tied for 7th with 9)
and doubles (tied for 8th with 40)...played in
a career-high 159 games and set a personal
best with 601 at-bats...was elected to start
the All-Star Game at DH as the leading vote-getter in baseball, his 2nd trip to the Mid-Summer Classic and first start.
WHAT A FINISH: Was named A.L. Player of the Month for September after batting .320 (33-for-103) with 11 homers, 29 RBI, a .425 OBP and a .670 slugging percentage in 29 games...Ortiz's 11 home runs were the most in September in Red Sox history...Jimmie
Foxx hit 10 in September of 1938, and Tony
Conigliaro hit 10 in September of 1970...from
August 1 through the end of the regular season, in his final 57 games, Big Papi batted .303 (64-for-211) with 22 homers, 60 RBI, a .412 OBP and a .673 slugging percentage.
WHEN IT MATTERS MOST: 19 of Ortiz's 47 home runs either tied a game or gave the Red Sox the lead...Papi led the A.L. with 34 go-ahead RBI and 21 game-winning RBI...hit .352 (57-for-162) with runners in scoring position, .368 (21-for-57 with runners in scoring position and 2 outs, .400 (6-for-15) with a double, 2 homers and 20 RBI with the bases loaded and .346 (27-for-78) with 11 homers in close-and-late situations...19 of his 47
home runs came from the 7th inning on.
WALKING AWAY A WINNER: Delivered 3 walk-off hits, including a pair of game-ending home runs...June 2 vs. Baltimore, crushed a 3-run homer with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th for a walk-off 6-4 win over B.J. Ryan and the Orioles...launched a walk-off solo homer off Scot Shields with one out in the bottom of the 9th to give the Red Sox a 3-2 win over the Angels September 6 at Fenway...September 29 vs. Toronto, in a game he had tied with a homer in the 8th, singled Johnny Damon home from second with one out in the bottom
of the 9th to give the Sox a walk-off 5-4 win...in his Red Sox career, has delivered 10 walk-off hits in the regular season, including 6 walk-off home runs...additionally, hit a pair of walk-off home runs and a walk-off single in the 2004 postseason.
HEROICS: Doubled home Trot Nixon with 2 outs in the top of the 9th to give the Red Sox a 2-1 win May 5 at Detroit...the game-winning hit came off Ugueth Urbina...June 2 vs. Baltimore, crushed a 3-run homer with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th for a walk-off 6-4 win over B.J. Ryan and the Orioles...August 16 at Detroit, hit a game-tying solo homer off Fernando Rodney with one out in the 9th, then hit a 2-run homer in Boston's 7-run 10th
en route to a 10-7 victory...launched a walk-off solo homer off Scot Shields with one out
in the bottom of the 9th to give the Red Sox a 3-2 win over the Angels September 6 at
Fenway...the walk-off homer was the 5th of his career, his 4th as a Red Sox, plus 2 in the
2004 postseason...homered twice, including a blast to snap a 5-5 tie in the 11th, giving
the Sox a 6-5 win September 12 at Toronto...the game-winner off Pete Walker was his 40th
homer of the season...2 days later, in the series finale, hit a game-winning 2-run homer
off Josh Towers, snapping an 8th-inning 3-3 tie in a 5-3 win...down 2-1 in the 6th, hit a
game-tying solo homer in an eventual 10-inning 3-2 win September 16 vs. Oakland...September 29 vs. Toronto, with the Sox in danger of falling 2.0 games out of first place and a game back in the Wild Card hunt with 3 games to play, slugged an 8th-inning solo homer off Vinny Chulk to tie the Blue Jays 4-4...an inning later, singled Johnny Damon home from second with one out in the bottom of the 9th to give the Sox a walk-off 5-4 win.
DESIGNATED SLUGGER: Of his 47 home runs, 43 came as a designated hitter, most ever by a DH since the DH rule went into effect in 1974...Edgar Martinez hit 37 for the Mariners in 2000, and Rafael Palmeiro hit 37 for the Rangers in 1999...his 145 career homers as a DH are already 7th-most in history despite the fact he's played far fewer games as DH than any player in the top 10:
PLAYER (GAMES AS DH) HR
1. Edgar Martinez (1,403) 243
2. Harold Baines (1,643) 235
3. Don Baylor (1,284) 219
4. Jose Canseco (846) 208
5. Chili Davis (1,161) 200
6. Frank Thomas (959) 196
7. David Ortiz (615) 145
8. Hal McRae (1,388) 143
9. Brian Downing (822) 125
Andre Thornton (735) 125
EXCLUSIVE COMPANY: With 47 homers--2nd to only Jimmie Foxx's 50 in 1938 in club annals--joined Carl Yastrzemski (1969 and 1970) and Manny Ramirez (2004 and 2005) as one of 3 players in Red Sox history to record consecutive 40-homer seasons...Ortiz hit 41 long balls in 2004...Papi's 88 homers over the last 2 seasons are most in club history...Jimmy Foxx hit 86 in 1937 (36) and 1938 (a club-record 50)...David hit 2 homers in a game 9 times...the only Red Sox with more multi-homer games in a season is Foxx, who had 10 in 1938.
ROAD WARRIOR: 27 of his 47 home runs and 74 of his 148 RBI came on the road...broke Ted Williams' 1957 Red Sox record of 26 home runs hit on the road in a season...Ortiz hit 24 on the road in 2004, 3rd-most in club annals.
PICK YOUR POISON: Ortiz (47 homers and 148 RBI) and Manny Ramirez (45 homers and 144 RBI) combined for 92 home runs and 292 RBI...no pair of teammates in baseball hit more home runs or combined for more RBI...over the last 2 seasons, they are tied for the most home runs in baseball (88 each), while they rank one and 2 in RBI (Ortiz with 287 and Manny with 274)...in club history, no teammates have hit more homers in a season
than David and Manny in 2005, and only Vern Stephens and Ted Williams combined for
more RBI in a season, when they both drove in 159 for a total of 318 in 1949...David and
Manny are the first teammates in Red Sox history with consecutive 40-homer seasons...the
only other pair of Sox to ever slug 40 long balls in the same season even once is Carl
Yastrzemski and Rico Petrocelli in 1969...they join Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig (1930-31)
as the only teammates in baseball history with consecutive 40-homer, 140-RBI campaigns.
STAR OF STARS: Was voted to start at DH for the A.L. in the All-Star Game at Comerica
Park in Detroit, receiving 4,138,141 votes, more than any other player in baseball...went
2-for-3 an RBI in the July 12 Mid-Summer Classic...singled off Chris Carpenter in the
first...added an RBI single off Roy Oswalt in the 3rd...flied to left off Roger Clemens in the
5th.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Played in a team-high 159 games, 148 as DH...started 10 games at first base...the left-handed swinger batted .302 (62-for-205) with 11 homers and 46 RBI off lefthanders and .298 (118-for-396) with 36 long balls and 102 RBI vs. righthanders...batted at a .322 clip (95-for-295) with 20 homers and 74 RBI at Fenway, while hitting .278 (85-for-306) with 27 homers and 74 RBI on the road...hit .338 (23-for-68) with 4 homers and 15 RBI in 17 interleague games vs. National League
foes...among his most frequent victims: Ortiz hit 10 homers and drove in 20 runs in 19
games against Tampa Bay, he hit 7 homers and drove in 24 runs in 17 games against Toronto, he slugged 5 homers and knocked in 19 in 19 games against the Yankees, and he added 5 homers and 17 RBI in only 10 games against the Tigers.
MORE 2005 HIGHLIGHTS: Hit .474 (9-for-19) with 3 doubles, 2 homers and 6 RBI through his first 5 games of the season...had an extra-base hit in his first 6 games of the season (4 doubles, 2 homers), 3 games shy of his career-best run 9 straight games with an extra-base hit set April 19-29, 2004...slugged the 3rd grand slam of his career, part of a 7-run 2nd inning against Hideo Nomo, April 15 vs. Tampa Bay...hit a pair of solo
homers off Doug Waechter April 23 at Tampa Bay...the blasts were measured at 432 and
455 feet, with the 2nd landing 3 rows shy of the back wall in right field at Tropicana Field
beneath the Wade Boggs retired jersey...it was said to be the longest home run hit by a
left-handed batter at the Trop...collected his 200th career double April 26 vs. Baltimore,
part of a 5-run 2nd against Rodrigo Lopez...in game one of a Fenway Park doubleheader
with Seattle on May 8, went 3-for-4 with 2 doubles, his 9th homer and 3 RBI...became the
19th player to homer into the center field batter's eye at the reconfigured Yankee Stadium when he slugged a 3rd-inning solo shot (his
2nd of the game) May 29 off Mike Mussina...June 15
against the Reds, had an RBI double in the 3rd and a 2-run double in the 5th to lead the Sox to a 6-5
win...finished 3-for-4 with 2 homers, 4 RBI and 3
runs scored in a 9-2 win June 21 at Cleveland...stole second base in the 9th inning July 10 at Baltimore...the stolen base was his first as a Red Sox and his first since July 22, 2002 with the Twins at Chicago (AL)...hit his 2nd grand slam of the season, the 4th of his career, in a 17-1 win over the Yankees July 15 at Fenway...the 6th-inning shot off Buddy Groom capped the scoring...hit his 99th and
100th homers as a Red Sox and drove in a career-high 6 runs in a 9-8 win August 12 vs. Chicago (AL)...hit a solo homer to snap a 5-5 tie in the 7th, and launched a 3-run blast to make it 9-5 in the 8th...went 6-for-12 with 4 homers and 7 RBI in a 3-game set September 12-14 at Toronto...shared Bank of America A.L. Player of the Week honors for the week of September 12-18 with Robinson Cano of the Yankees...during the week, Ortiz batted .385 (10-for-26) with a double, 5 homers, 9 RBI, a 1.000 slugging percentage and a .433 on-base percentage...the honor was the 2nd of Ortiz's career, first since June 21-27, 2004...September 19 at Tampa Bay, went 2-for-4 with a double, a homer and 4 RBI...the following
night, homered his first 2 times up, giving him 3 long balls in 3 plate appearances over 2
nights, all in the span of 7 pitches...finished the game 4-for-5 with 2 homers, 4 RBI and
4 runs scored.
IN THE POSTSEASON: Hit .333 (4-for-12) with 2 doubles, a homer, an RBI and 2 runs
scored in the 3-game ALDS vs. Chicago...was 2-for-4 with a double in Game 1...doubled
and scored a run in 4 at-bats in Game 2...was 1-for-4 with a 4th-inning solo homer off
Freddy Garcia in Game 3 at Fenway.
2004
SUMMARY: Teamed with Manny Ramirez to form the most fearsome 3-4 punch in baseball before turning in an October performance for the ages in helping lead the Red Sox to their first World Championship in 86 years...won the Thomas A. Yawkey Award, presented annually by the Boston chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America to
the Red Sox' Most Valuable Player...batted .301 with 47 doubles, 3 triples, 41 homers,
91 extra-base hits, 139 RBI, 351 total bases, 75 walks, a .380 on-base percentage and a .603 slugging percentage--all career bests...was named to his first career A.L. All-Star team, won the Edgar Martinez Award as the American League's top designated hitter in a media vote and received his first career Silver Slugger Award...finished 4th in A.L. MVP voting.
A CHECK OF THE LEADERBOARD: Ranked at or near the top of the league in virtually every major offensive category including: extra-base hits (first with 91), RBI ratio (first with one every 4.2 at-bats), RBI (2nd with 139), total bases (2nd with 351), slugging (2nd at .603), home runs (tied for 2nd with 41), doubles (3rd and 47), home run ratio (3rd with one every 14.2 at-bats) and batting with runners in scoring position (4th at .350).
SEEING STARS: A first-time All-Star, Ortiz cracked a 6th-inning 2-run homer off Carl Pavano at the Mid-Summer Classic in Houston...also walked twice and scored 2 runs.
DYNAMIC DUO: Ortiz and Manny Ramirez became the first pair of A.L. teammates since Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in 1931 to both bat .300 with 40 homers and 100 RBI...in major league history, the feat has been accomplished only 11 other times (including by Albert Pujols an Jim Edmonds of the Cardinals in 2004)...Ruth and Gehrig are the only
other A.L. teammates to turn the trick (in 1927, 1930 and 1931)...Ortiz and Ramirez were the first pair of teammates in major league history with 40 homers and 40 doubles in a season...the only other Red Sox teammates to club 40 long balls in the same season are Carl Yastrzemski and Rico Petrocelli in 1969...Ramirez (130 RBI) and Ortiz (139 RBI) became only the 3rd pair of Sox to reach 130 RBI in the same season...Vern Stephens and Ted Williams both knocked in 159 in 1949, and Walt Dropo and Stephens plated 144 each in 1950.
EXTRA!...EXTRA!: David's league-leading 91 extra-base hits were one shy of matching the Red Sox record of 92, set by Jimmie Foxx in 1938...his 41 homers and 139 RBI are both tied for 9th-most in club annals...since 1950, the only Red Sox with
more RBI in a season was Mo Vaughn (143
in 1996)...Ortiz's 47 doubles are tied for
7th-most in Sox history.
TWO CAN PLAY AT THAT GAME: Ortiz and Manny Ramirez homered in the same game 12 times, setting a club record...Jim Rice and George Scott went deep in the same game 11 times in 1977, and Jimmie Foxx
and Ted Williams turned the trick 11 times
in 1940...the pair homered back-to-back 6 times in 2004, tying a major league record held by Hank Greenberg and Rudy York of the 1938 Tigers and Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez of the 2000 White Sox...prior to 2004, no Red Sox teammates had gone
deep back to back more than 3 times in a season.
HOME, SWEET HOME: Batted .325 with 17 homers and 64 RBI in 77 games at Fenway and .274 with 24 long balls and 75 RBI in 73 road games...David's 24 road home runs tied Mo Vaughn (1995) for the 2nd-most ever hit away from home by a Boston player...Ted Williams connected for 26 road homers in 1957.
NEW DEAL: A potential free agent at the end of the 2004 season, Ortiz signed a 2-year contract extension with a club option for the 2007 season on May 21, 2004.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Had a team-high 33 go-ahead RBI, knocked in 10 game-tying runs and delivered 50 RBI with 2 outs...started 111 games as DH and 32 at first base...homered at least once against 18 of the 19 clubs the Red Sox faced in 2004, all
but the Padres...was, however, 6-for-13 (.462) in the 3-game set vs. San Diego...hit .326 with 31 homers and 96 RBI off righthanders...batted .352 (25-for-71) with 6 homers and 18 RBI in interleague play...his biggest month was June, when he batted .365 with 10 homers and 31 RBI in 25 games...had 7 homers and 21 RBI in 19 games vs.
Toronto and 5 homers and 15 RBI in 18 games vs. Baltimore...hit 12 homers with 2 strikes....batted .307 (115-for-374) with 26 homers and 89 RBI batting 3rd and .280 (52-for-186) with 14 homers and 46 RBI in 51 games out of the clean-up spot.
HEROICS: Smoked a game-winning 2-run homer off Toronto's Aquilino Lopez to lift the Sox
to the 12-inning, 6-4 victory on April 11...the blast was his 2nd walk-off homer as a Red
Sox (September 23, 2003 vs. Baltimore)...June 11 vs. Los Angeles, sliced a single down
the right field line in the 9th to score Johnny Damon for the walk-off 2-1 win...had earlier
staked the Sox to a 1-0 lead with a solo homer off Odalis Perez in the 7th...slugged 2 homers
August 14 vs. the White Sox, including a solo shot in the 8th inning to break a 3-3 tie in
Boston's 4-3 win...crushed homer No. 31 of the season in the 8th August 22 in Chicago
to match his 2003 career high, snap the 5-5 tie and give the Sox their 6-5 win.
MORE 2004 HIGHLIGHTS: Had an extra-base hit in 9 straight games April 19-29 (9 doubles and 2 homers), 2 shy of the A.L. record set by Jesse Barfield in 1985...homered in his first
2 at-bats May 5 at Cleveland to lead the Sox to a 9-5 win...posted a season-best 12-game
hitting streak April 19-May 1...was 18-for-50 (.360) with 9 doubles, 3 homers, 8 RBI and
7 runs during the tear...fell a triple shy of the cycle May 11 vs. Cleveland, going 3-for-4...clubbed his 100th career homer May 28 vs. Seattle, a grand slam that put the Sox up
6-4 in the 5th inning...was his 2nd career grand slam, his first since September 7, 2000
with Minnesota at Boston off Ramon Martinez...posted a career-high 5 RBI June 17 at
Colorado, going 3-for-4 with a double and a home run...followed that up with 3 hits, a homer
and 4 RBI June 18 at San Francisco and 2 hits and a run June 19...was named A.L. Player
of the Week for the week of June 21-27 after hitting .440 (11-for-25) with 4 homers, 3
doubles, 9 RBI and 8 runs...hit safely in 10 straight games June 22-July 2...hit .429 (18-for-42) with 7 homers, 5 doubles, 13 RBI and 12 runs during the tear...homered in 3 straight
games June 27-30...went 3-for-7 in a July 22 doubleheader vs. Baltimore, including his
first-career 2-triple game in Game 1 to give him a career-high 3 triples in 2004...homered
in 3 straight games for the 2nd time in 2004 September 4-6...September 6 at Oakland,
posted his 8th game of the season with at least 4 RBI...entered 2004 with just 8 such games
in his entire career...clubbed a solo homer September 18 at New York to break up Jon
Lieber's no-hit bid with 2 outs in the 7th.
IN THE POSTSEASON: The MVP of the 2004 ALCS, Ortiz batted .400 (22-for-55) with 5
homers, 19 RBI and 13 runs scored in 14 post-season games for the World Champs...Senor
Octubre delivered 3 extra-inning walk-off game-winning hits, a 10th-inning homer to win
the Game 3 finale of the ALDS vs. Anaheim, a 12th-inning homer to keep the Sox alive in
Game 4 of the ALCS vs. the Yankees and, the next night, a 14th-inning RBI single to slay
the Yanks again and force Game 6...no player in major league history has more than 2 post-season walk-off hits in his career, and no player ever had more than one in a single post-season...Ortiz's total of 19 post-season RBI matched the major league record for a single
postseason shared by Cleveland's Sandy Alomar Jr. in 18 games in 1997 and Anaheim's
Scott Spiezio in 16 games in 2002...went 6-for-11 (.545) with 2 doubles, a homer, 4 RBI
and 4 runs scored in the 3-game ALDS vs. Anaheim...ended the series with a walk-off 2-run homer off Jarrod Washburn in the 10th inning of Game 3 at Fenway...the blast capped
a 4-for-6 game with 2 doubles, a homer and 2 runs scored...en route to MVP honors, batted
.387 (12-for-31) with a triple, 3 homers, 11 RBI and 6 runs scored in 7 games in the ALCS
vs. the Yankees...went 2-for-4 with a triple, 2 RBI and a run in Game 1...was 3-for-5 with
a run in Game 3...down 3 games to none, gave the Sox life with walk-off game-winning hits
in Games 4 and 5...was 2-for-5 with a homer, 4 RBI and a run in Game 4...the 12th-inning
long ball off Paul Quantrill with a man on games the Sox a 6-4 win...in Game 4, went 3-for-6 with a homer, 3 RBI and 2 runs...went deep in the 8th off Tom Gordon...delivered a 14th-inning game-winning single off Esteban Loaiza, as the Sox prevailed 5-4...was 1-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBI in Game 7, getting the 10-3 pennant-clinching rout started with a 2-run homer off Kevin Brown in the top of the first...was 4-for-13 (.308) with a double, a homer and 4 RBI in the World Series...slammed a towering first-inning 3-run homer off Woody Williams in Game 1...the Sox would never trail in the series...Ortiz became the 28th
player in history to go deep in his first World Series at-bat, the first since Anaheim's Troy
Glaus in Game 1 of the 2002 Fall Classic...the only other Boston player to turn that trick
was pitcher Jose Santiago in Game 1 of the 1967 Series vs. St. Louis off Bob Gibson...finished
the Series opener 2-for-3 with the homer, 4 RBI and 2 walks...was 1-for-3 with a double,
a walk and a run scored in the title-clinching Game 4.
2003
SUMMARY: In his Red Sox debut, posted then career bests with a .288 average, 31 homers and 101 RBI in 128 games and provided far more than
his fair share of heroics...finished 5th
in A.L. MVP voting behind Alex Rodriguez, Carlos Delgado, Jorge Posada and Shannon Stewart...was
named Baseball's Outstanding DH...appeared in only 31 of the club's first 54 games through the end of May, batting .272 with 2 home runs and 19
RBI...moved into the lineup on a regular basis after Shea Hillenbrand was traded to Arizona and hit .293 with 29 homers and 82 RBI in 97 games the
rest of the way...appeared in 45 games
(44 starts) at first base and 73 games
as DH...posted 6 multi-homer games,
a single-season total surpassed by
only 3 players in Red Sox history...his
21 homers after the All-Star break
were 3rd-most in the A.L. and ranked
6th in the majors...his 55 RBI after
the break were 5th in the A.L. and 8th
in the majors.
A CHECK OF THE LEADERBOARD: Finished 3rd in the A.L. with a .592 slugging percentage...his ratio of an RBI every 4.4 at-bats was 2nd in the A.L., and his average of a homer every 14.5 at-bats was
5th in the league...with 16 game-winning RBI, was one behind league leaders Eric Chavez
and Hideki Matsui...ranked 5th in the league with a .961 OPS (on base + slugging)...was
9th with 8 sac flies and 10th with 39 doubles.
POWER SURGE: After hitting 3 homers in his first 50 games (163 at-bats), an average of
one every 54.3 at-bats, hit 28 long balls in his last 78 games (285 at-bats), one every
10.2 AB's.
EXTRA!...EXTRA!: 72 of his 129 hits (56 percent) went for extra bases, 39 doubles, 2
triples and 31 home runs...July 27-August 7, saw 12 hits in a row go for extra bases,
banging 5 doubles, 2 triples and 5 home runs in that stretch.
STREAKS: Homered in 3 straight games (5 total), going deep once July 3 at Tampa Bay
and twice on both July 4 and 5 at New York...went 6-for-14 (.429) with 5 homers, 6 RBI and 6 runs in the 3 games...homered in 6 consecutive starts August 23-30...went deep in 3 straight games August 23-25 vs. Seattle, did not homer as a pinch hitter August 26 vs. Toronto, then went deep in 3 starts in a row August 27 vs. Toronto and August 29-30 vs. New York...in all, homered in 3 straight games 3 times.
SAFE AT HOME: Batted .315 (76-for-241) with 17 homers and 62 RBI in 69 games at
Fenway Park and .256 (53-for-207) with 14 long balls and 39 RBI in 59 games on the
road.
BIG AUGUST: Set single-month career highs with 11 homers, 24 RBI and 19 runs in
August, posting a .723 slugging percentage in 27 games...in all of baseball, only Alex
Rodriguez (15) and Frank Thomas (13) hit more homers in the month...the 11 homers
were the most by a Red Sox in any calendar month since Nomar Garciaparra hit 11 in July
of 1998.
HEROICS: Went 3-for-4 with a game-tying 2-run single off Lance Carter in the bottom of
the 8th in a 6-4 win April 16 vs. Tampa Bay...slugged a tie-breaking pinch-hit home run
off Mickey Callaway to lead off the 14th in a 6-4 win April 27 at Anaheim...the pinch
homer was the first of his career...delivered a 3-run double off Juan Rincon to key a 7-run
7th in a 9-1 win May 3 vs. Minnesota...ripped a 2-run double off Jose Contreras to highlight a 5-run 7th in a come-from-behind 10-7 win over the Yankees May 20 at Fenway...cracked a 3-run double
against Tim Redding in a 4-run 5th,
snapping a 2-2 tie and leading Boston
to an 8-4 win June 14 vs.
Houston...facing Jeff Tam, doubled
home Manny Ramirez to snap a 7-7
tie in the top of the 9th, lifting the Sox
to an 8-7 win July 9 at Toronto...gave
the Red Sox a walk-off win against the
Yankees July 26 at Fenway when he
clocked a pinch-hit double high off the
wall in left-center field off Armando
Benitez, scoring Jeremy Giambi for a
5-4 win...the next night, helped slay
the Yanks again, delivering a 2-run
triple off Jesse Orosco to cap a 6-run
7th, as the Sox overcame a 3-0 deficit for a 6-4 win...snapped a 1-1 tie with a 2-run double in a 3-run 3rd off Joel Pineiro as the Sox won 5-1 August 16 at Seattle...September 1 at
Philadelphia, hit a 2-run double in the
8th to give the Red Sox a 7-6 lead
over the Phillies...the Phils would recapture the lead in the bottom of the inning before
Boston exploded for 6 in the 9th...went 3-for-5 with 2 homers and matched his career-best with 4 RBI in a 5-4 10-inning win September 3 at Chicago...hit a go-ahead 2-run
homer off Scott Sullivan in the 8th, then, after the White Sox tied it on a Jose Valentin
homer in the bottom of the inning, Ortiz crushed a 10th-inning solo shot off Tom Gordon
to give Boston a 2-game sweep...snapped a 1-1 tie with a one-out RBI single in the
bottom of the 8th September 16 vs. Tampa Bay...provided what may have been the most
dramatic moment of the regular season, leading off the bottom of the 10th with a walk-off
homer over the Green Monster to give the Red Sox a 6-5 win September 23 vs. Baltimore...the blast, off Kurt Ainsworth, came after Todd Walker had forced extra innings with a 3-run homer on a 3-2 pitch with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th inning.
MORE 2003 HIGHLIGHTS: Went 3-for-5 with 2 doubles, 3 RBI and a run in an 11-8 loss June 1 at Toronto...his batting average peaked at .317 on June 14 after a 27-game 35-for-91 (.385) stretch lifted it from .188...scored a career-best 4 runs June 27 vs. Florida...went 3-for-4 with 2 solo homers, part of a 6-long ball barrage, in a 7-5 win August 3 at Baltimore...4 days later, went deep twice again, including a lead-off shot to
ignite a 6-run 2nd as the Sox beat Anaheim 9-3 to close out a 3-game sweep at Fenway...mashed a first-inning 3-run homer off Rich Harden, propelling the Sox to a 14-5 win August 21 vs. Oakland...3-days later, hit a 3-run homer in a 5-run 4th as the Red Sox beat Seattle 6-1...matched his personal bests for the 6th and 7th times with 4 RBI August 25 vs. Seattle and September 3 at Chicago...August 25, hit a 2-run homer in the 3rd and a 2-run single in the 5th as the Sox completed a home 4-game sweep...the
homer, his 20th, gave the Red Sox 6 players with 20 long balls for the first time in their
history.
ON THE DEFENSIVE: Appeared in 45 games defensively, all at first base, where he made
44 starts...was charged with 3 errors in 375 total chances for a .992 fielding
percentage...made just 2 appearances in the field after August 10.
IN THE POSTSEASON: Went 9-for-47 (.191) with 2 doubles, 2 homers and 8 RBI in 12
post-season games against the Athletics and Yankees...was 2-for-21 (.095) with a
double and 2 RBI in the ALDS vs. Oakland...was 0-for-16 in the series until he ripped a
game-winning 2-out 2-run double off Keith Foulke in the 8th inning of Game 4...the blast
turned a 4-3 deficit into a 5-4 win...finished the ALCS 7-for-26 (.269) with 2 homers and
6 RBI...hit a 4th-inning 2-run homer off Mike Mussina to open the scoring en route to a 5-2 Game 1 win...went 2-for-4 in Game 5...was 2-for-5 with 3 RBI and a run scored in a 9-6 Game 6 win...his 2-run single highlighted a 4-run 3rd...hit a game-tying RBI single in the top of the 7th and came around to score the go-ahead run.
2002
In his final season with the Twins, batted .272 with 20 homers and 75 RBI in 125
games...was on the D.L. April 19-May 13 after undergoing surgery to remove bone chips
in his left knee...enjoyed a career-best 19-game hitting streak July 17-August 6...hit .419
(31-for-74) with 5 doubles, 7 homers and 18 RBI during the tear...scored a run in 11
straight games July 17-28...had his 2nd career 2-homer game July 20 at Detroit...gave
the Twins a walk-off 7-5 win with a 2-run homer off Dave Maurer in the bottom of the 12th
September 25 vs. Cleveland...hit .299 with 15 homers against righthanders...after the
season, was named MVP of the Caribbean Series, leading his native Dominican Republic
to the title...hit 2 home runs and led all batters with a .480 average, 11 RBI, 8 runs and
5 doubles...he hit .351 with 4 home runs, 23 RBI, a .422 on-base percentage and a .622
slugging percentage in 20 games for Escogido in the winter league's regular season.
2001
Played in only 89 games for the Twins due to surgery on his right wrist...still, hit 18
homers in 303 big league at-bats, one every 16.8 AB's...underwent the surgery May 17,
and was transferred to the 60-day D.L. June 5...rehabbed in the minor leagues from July
5-20 and was activated by the Twins July 21...homered in consecutive games August 9
and August 12...went deep in 3 straight contests September 2-5, including his first career
2-homer game September 5 at Texas.
2000
In his first full big league campaign, batted .282 with 10 long balls and 63 RBI in
130 games for Minnesota...finished 2nd on the club in doubles (36), 3rd in walks (57), 4th
in homers and 5th in RBI...hit a walk-off 2-run single in the bottom of the 9th to beat Tampa
Bay April 4...had his first career 4-hit game July 19 vs. Chicago, going 4-for-4 with a double,
part of a career-best run in which he had 8 hits in 8 at-bats July 18-21...hit his first career
grand slam September 7 at Boston off Ramon Martinez...hit .423 (33-for-78) vs. lefties.
1999
Was a PCL All-Star at Triple-A Salt Lake prior to going 0-for-20 after a September 13 promotion to Minnesota...batted .315 with 35 doubles, 30 homers and a league-high 110 RBI in 130 Triple-A contests...tied for the PCL lead with 68 extra-base hits, tied for 2nd with 79 walks and ranked 3rd with 291 total bases and a .412 on-base
percentage...finished 4th in the league in slugging (.590) and tied for 4th in doubles and
home runs...was named a Triple-A All-Star by
Baseball America.
1998
Played 86 games for the Twins, hitting .277 with 9 long balls and 46 RBI...ranked 2nd among A.L. rookies with 39 walks, tied for 5th with 46 RBI, tied for 5th with 20 doubles and tied for 6th with 29 extra-base hits...fractured the hook of the hamate bone on his right hand and was on the D.L. May 10-July 9...after an 11-game rehab stint with Triple-A Salt Lake, homered in his first 2 games back with the Twins July 11-12...drove in 4 for the first time July 12 at Cleveland...stole his first base in the majors August 19 vs. the Yankees.
1997
After being acquired by Minnesota from Seattle, made stops at Single-A Fort Myers, Double-A New Britain and Triple-A Salt Lake before enjoying his first taste of the majors, appearing in 15 September contests for the Twins...combined to lead the organization in hits (187), doubles (41), total bases (328) and RBI (130)...tied for the organization lead with 32 homers...won the Sherry Robertson Award as Twins Minor League Player of the Year...hit .432 (19-for-44) with 5 homers and 22 RBI during a season-opening 11-game hitting streak with Fort Myers...was named Twins Minor League Player of the Week for the week of May 15-21, going 12-for-24 with 2 homers and 6 RBI...hit .319 (36-for-113) with 5 homers and 25 RBI in May to earn organization Player of the Month kudos...was promoted to New Britain June 7 and hit .322 with 14 homers and 56 RBI in 69 games...promoted to Salt Lake August 21, he appeared in 10 games for the Buzz before a September 2 promotion to the big leagues...debuted with a pinch-hit at-bat that night at Wrigley Field...doubled off the Cubs' Mark Pisciotta for his first hit September 3...hit his first major league homer September 14 at Texas off Julio Santana...was named the No. 4 prospect in the Florida State League and the No. 6 prospect in the Eastern League by
Baseball America.
1996
In his 4th and final season in the Mariners organization, hit .322 with 18 homers
and 93 RBI in 129 games with Single-A Wisconsin...led the club in batting, runs (89), hits (156), homers and RBI...ranked 2nd
in the Midwest League with 156 hits
and 248 total bases...was 3rd in hits,
4th in batting and RBI and tied for 4th
in doubles...played in the MWL All-Star Game and was named the league's Most Exciting Player, Best
Defensive First Baseman and No. 6 prospect.
1995
Was named team MVP and an
Arizona Rookie League All-Star for
the Mariners' Arizona Rookie-level
club in Peoria...batted .332 with a
league-high 18 doubles, 4 homers
and 37 RBI (tied for the league lead)
in 48 games...topped the league in
extra-base hits (26) and total bases
(99)...ranked 2nd in slugging (.538),
3rd in hits (61), 4th in batting and 5th
in on-base percentage (.403)...led
ARL first basemen in fielding (.989)
and assists (27).
1994
Appeared in 53 games for the Mariners' Arizona Rookie League club in Peoria...led league first basemen in games (44), total chances (393) and putouts (372).
1993
Made his pro debut with the Mariners Dominican Summer League club...batted .264
with 7 home runs and 31 RBI in 61 contests.