The 2011 Red Sox are four games into a two-city trip in which Ortiz faces both of the organizations that gave up on him. Ortiz has collected nine hits, including three homers, in the first four games of the Red Sox’ six-game road trip through Minneapolis and Seattle.
Big Papi disputes the notion that he carries extra emotion into games against the Twins and Mariners. This is Revenge Tour Across America for David Americo Arias Ortiz.
“That was all a long time ago,’’ he said with a smile before blasting homer No. 24 to center last night in the Red Sox’ 6-4 victory. “I’m more intense against the Yankees than anyone else.’’
Still, it’s hard not to think of what might have been.
“Sure, I dreamed about playing with Griff,’’ he said. “I went to [spring training] camp with them one year and met him and went to dinner with Griff and his father. I remember thinking, ‘This is where I want to be.’ ’’
The Mariners signed David Arias ($7,500 bonus) when he was 16 in November of 1992 (Arias was Papi’s mother’s maiden name and it’s not unusual for Dominican-born players to use their mother’s surname). He played his first professional baseball season in the Dominican Summer League in 1993, hitting .264 with seven homers in 61 games. In ’94 he came to America to play rookie league ball in Peoria, Ariz., where he hit .246 with two homers in 53 games. He thought he was going to be moved up to Seattle’s Wisconsin club in 1995, but the Mariners kept him in rookie ball. Arias responded with a monster season and - at the insistence of minor league coordinator Jim Skaalen - was finally promoted to Appleton, Wis., for the 1996 season.
He was still David Arias with the Single A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in ’96, and hit .322 with 18 homers and 93 RBIs in 129 games. He played in the Midwest League All-Star Game and was voted the league’s “Most Exciting Player.’’
