Papi praise

alot of the pundits are setting ortiz up as the preseason mvp favorite, but i just can't see it right now unless there is clearly no one in his league at the end of the year. Still, i will continue to root for the man regardless of what happens.

From journeyman to THE man

Unwanted by the Twins, Ortiz traveled bumpy road to stardom.

By Rob Bradford Staff Writer Leader of a nation, Red Sox Nation that is, and on top of the world — this is David Ortiz. He is a 30-year-old native of baseball's most talent-rich island, the Dominican Republic, who greets not with handshakes but hugs, and expresses himself without bravado but with bat. Ortiz has found himself not only as the face of the Red Sox, but also one of the more recognizable identities in the recent inaugural World Baseball Classic. Baseball historians will hesitate to classify the rise of Ortiz into the game's hierarchy as an overnight success story. And maybe it wasn't, for, as former Minnesota Twins coach Al Newman points out, "David has always been the man." But how did a seemingly innocuous, defensively challenged infielder rise to such lofty heights? Perhaps there was one moment that paved the way for Ortiz's rags to riches story, after all. "I remember everything about that day," said former Red Sox scout/coach Dave Jauss, now the bench coach for Grady Little's Los Angeles Dodgers. "You don't forget things like that." That day which Jauss can't help but remember was a sunny, December morning at an empty Quisqueya Stadium in Santo Domingo. The longtime Sox employee was already in the Dominican, managing in the country's winter league, when newly hired Boston general manager Theo Epstein called with a request. The Red Sox were interested in Ortiz, whom Minnesota had released earlier in the month for fear he would make upward of $2 million in arbitration. Boston was looking for first-base options for the upcoming 2003 season and, with free agent Jeremy Giambi already in the fold, the candidates for the other opening had been narrowed down to Ortiz and all-or-nothing slugger Brad Fullmer. So while two scouts were summoned to put Fullmer through a workout near Los Angeles, Jauss was told to check out how Ortiz could handle himself at his position. "It took about 40 minutes, which was 38 minutes too long," Jauss remembered. "I was just being a good soldier. The man played for me (in the Dominican) and had won me a ring. And I had watched him for three seasons while coaching first base. I knew him like the back of my hand. But when people are spending a lot of money, you want to be sure of your decisions." So, at 9 a.m., Ortiz made his way to the rock-hard infield at the nearby stadium. "I didn't know what the reason was for it," Ortiz admitted. "(Jauss) just came down and hit some fungoes (fly balls). He was laughing the whole time. I don't blame them because they didn't know me at the time. I had never played for the Red Sox." With Jauss' report in hand, Epstein decided that Ortiz was a much more viable option than Fullmer (or other potential candidates Travis Lee and Greg Colbrunn). Ortiz signed a one-year contract for the base salary of a modest $1.25 million. Three seasons later, Ortiz has a much more palatable deal, which will pay him $7.75 million in 2007. That's still a bargain. The Sox have reaped the benefits of 119 regular-season home runs, and Boston fans have a T-shirt slogan-inducing icon to hang their hats on. "When you do what you're capable of doing, people like that," Ortiz said. "It's all been pretty cool." Slipping through the cracks The Red Sox may not have missed their opportunity with Ortiz, but the same certainly couldn't be said for the Twins. "I like David a lot," said Minnesota general manager Terry Ryan, "but unfortunately, I didn't make a good decision." Most labeled Minnesota's decision not to keep Ortiz, whom they had acquired in the summer of 1996 for third baseman Dave Hollins, a financial one. Yet, as some describe it, Minnesota simply was never going to be for Ortiz what Boston ultimately became, budget restraints or not. "I was shocked, especially for the amount of money they were talking," said new Red Sox outfielder Dustan Mohr, Ortiz's former teammate in Minnesota. "Sometimes a team just doesn't want a guy, so they can use money as an excuse." Minnesota's reluctance to integrate Ortiz into the starting lineup on a full-time basis can be explained on a few different levels. But the bottom line was the Twins simply didn't feel he would ever become the answer to their offensive and defensive needs. According to Newman, it might have started during Ortiz's first major league camp with the Twins in 1998. While taking infield at Minnesota's spring training facility in Fort Myers, the big first baseman collided with highly touted third base prospect Brent Gates while both were going for an infield popup. Then-Twins manager Tom Kelly immediately flung his fungo bat to the Field 3 backstop and proceeded to tear into Ortiz, who, by Newman's account, was the only one to call for the ball. "(Ortiz) called for that ball," said Newman, who managed Ortiz in Double A. "I was so upset. "It crushed me when (Ortiz) left. Tom Kelly said he couldn't catch the ball. Well, every time he played for me, he was no worse than anybody else. There's nothing wrong with him. I just said that if that's what is keeping him on the bench, tell all the infielders to throw the ball in the air." And then there was the matter of Ortiz's impending offensive explosion. In Minnesota, he never played in more than 130 games, and he failed to hit upward of 20 home runs while playing behind the man he would eventually force to the bench in Boston, Doug Mientkiewicz. "He got out of the Twins system," Newman said matter-of-factly. "Two strikes and the Twins say choke up and go the other way. Well, nobody else teaches that. If you didn't do that with Tom Kelly, you aren't going to play." Breaking the ice for good Even once in Boston, Ortiz's path to stardom was peppered with potholes in the first few months of the 2003 campaign. Kevin Millar had joined him, Giambi and Shea Hillenbrand in the quest to fill both the first base and designated hitter spots in Little's lineup. In April of that first year with the Red Sox, Ortiz received just 52 at-bats, hitting .212 with a home run. May was more of the same, resulting in 51 at-bats, an improved .333 average and another homer. "I was a little disappointed at the beginning," Ortiz said. "When I came to Boston, I wanted to show what I was all about, and still didn't get the opportunity. But you have to understand at the time what was going on here. You had guys making a lot more money than I was making, and they want those guys performing. "It was tough at the start, but I knew later on something was going to happen. I talked to Theo at the beginning, and he told me he was going to make a move. So I just kept on working." That move was finally made when Epstein dealt Hillenbrand to Arizona for Byung-Hyun Kim on May 29. For the first time in Ortiz's career, unconditional love had been sent the lefty hitter's way from his big league team. And the rest is Red Sox history. "It was one of those decisions we obviously aren't all that keen about because it didn't work out too well for us," Ryan said. "But it worked out well for him. "He's one of the better human beings I've been around. He's got a great sense of humor, he's good in the clubhouse, but it wasn't working over here for him. But he did something about it, and that's why I have a lot of respect for him. He didn't let that bother him." From dud to stud David Ortiz was a journeyman in Minnesota. Now he's an All-Star in Boston. Minnesota Year%AB%R%HRs%RBIs%Avg. 1997%49%10%1%6%.327 1998%278%47%9%46%.277 1999%20%1%0%0%.000 2000%415%59%10%63%.282 2001%303%46%18%48%.234 2002%412%52%20%75%.272 Totals%1,477%215%58%238%.266 Boston Year%AB%R%HRs%RBIs%Avg. 2003%448%79%31%101%.288 2004%582%94%41%139%.301 2005%601%119%47%148%.300 Totals%1,631%292%119%388%.297