This 7-Year Home Run Progression From David Ortiz Will Always Be a Thing of Beauty
Big Papi took "Getting better every season" quite literally in the power department.
Like many hardcore baseball fans, I’ve spent way more time staring at a player’s Baseball-Reference or FanGraphs stats page over the years than I’d like to admit. But it’s not like doing this is a complete waste of time, ya know. After all, all that time has produced fun observations like this one about David Ortiz!
A first-ballot Hall of Famer and one of baseball’s best clutch postseason performers of all time, Big Papi made his big-league debut with the Minnesota Twins in 1997. After posting career-high marks in home runs (20), RBI (75), and OPS (.839) in 125 games during the 2002 season, the Twins decided to release Ortiz.
He was scooped up by the Boston Red Sox, and as they say, the rest is history. But it turns out Papi arrived in Beantown already three seasons into an impressive seven-year home run progression.
Blog Spotlight: Red Sox All-Time Home Run Leaders
David Ortiz’s 541 homers are among the most all-time. And while he owns the franchise’s single-season home run record, he’s not Boston’s all-time leader. His 483 homers rank second all-time in franchise history behind Ted Williams. Check out the full list here.
Big Papi's 7-Year Home Run Progression for the Ages
Between 1997 and 1999, Ortiz’s career-high mark for homers was nine, which he achieved in ’98. He set a new career-high mark with the Twins in 2000 with 10, which is where the upward trend began:
2000: 10 homers
2001: 18 homers
2002: 20 homers (last season with the Twins)
2003: 31 homers (first season with the Red Sox)
2004: 41 homers
2005: 47 homers
2006: 54 homers
Setting a new personal best for home runs in a single season for seven straight years is an incredible bar to set for yourself, isn’t it? To make the conclusion of this streak even more epic, the 2006 season was a record-breaking one.
Ending the Streak with a New Franchise Record
Until Papi came along and surpassed the half-century mark, Jimmie Foxx was the only Red Sox slugger to do so in franchise history. His 50 home runs during a 1938 MVP campaign made him one of the oldest single-season franchise home run record holders in baseball.
But not anymore. Papi’s 2006 season included a .287/.413/.636 line with 54 homers (led the league), 137 RBI (led the league), and 115 runs scored. He also led the league in walks (119) and total bases (355) on his way to earning his third straight All-Star selection and Silver Slugger Award.
And despite racking up just 68 innings at first base during the regular season, he managed to finish third in the American League MVP Award voting behind Justin Morneau and Derek Jeter.
This was part of a run where Ortiz finished within the top five of AL MVP voting for five straight years (2003-07). Not too shabby for a full-time designated hitter, right?
The legendary slugger would eventually finish his career with three World Series titles as well as being a 10-time All-Star and seven-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He earned entry into Cooperstown in 2022 by capturing 77.9% of the BBWAA vote.
Single-Season HR Performances | Career HR Performances | Postseason HR Leaders | HR Derby Performances
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