Winter Auction 2018 Ending February 17
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/18/2018
On September 2, 1997, David Ortiz made his Major League debut with the Minnesota Twins. Coming up through the Seattle Mariners organization as David Arias when he signed with the club in 1992 using his maternal family name, he was eventually traded to the Twins organization in September of 1996 for Dave Hollins. Ortiz informed the Twins at that time that he preferred to be listed as “Ortiz” which was his paternal family name to which a local sports writer referred to Arias/Ortiz as “literally the player to be named later”.
Ortiz would soon be a name not to be forgotten in baseball lore. His rise through the Twins organization in 1997 earned him his September call-up with the big club in Minnesota. Ortiz would spend the next five seasons with the Twins organization, showing flashes of his raw power, but not endearing himself to then-manager Tom Kelly. After the 2002 season, Ortiz was released by Minnesota, despite hitting 58 home runs and having 238 RBI.
Devastated by his release, Ortiz had a chance encounter with Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez in their native Dominican Republic. Remembering the moon-shot that Ortiz hit off him in August of 2002, Martinez put the word out to Red Sox executives and in January of 2003, Ortiz became a member of the Boston Red Sox. If ever there were a player and city that were made for each other, it was certainly Boston and Ortiz! Ortiz began 2003, battling for playing time with Shea Hillenbrand and Jeremy Giambi. With Giambi struggling and Hillenbrand eventually being traded to Arizona, Ortiz got the sought after playing-time and finished the season with 31 home runs, 101 RBI and a .288 average, all while leading the Red Sox to what would be a heart-breaking Game 7 loss to the New York Yankees in the ALCS.
It was 2004 that cemented David Ortiz’s legacy with the city of Boston. With a series of game-winning hits and walk-off home runs, the Red Sox produced a historic comeback from the hated Yankees – erasing a 3-0 series deficit to the franchise first American League pennant since 1986. Now the dreaded “Curse of the Bambino” was next. After the grueling series with the Yankees, Ortiz led the Red Sox to a four-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals to win the first World Series for the Red Sox since 1918. Ortiz would continue to be the face of the resurgent franchise, leading the team to multiple playoff appearance and two more World Series titles in 2007 and 2013. When it was all said and done, no other player in franchise history had the impact that David Ortiz had with the Red Sox. Ortiz would finish his soon-to-be Hall of Fame career in 2016 with 541 career home runs – 38 of them coming in his last season – a Major League record for a player in his last season.
Goldin Auctions is proud to offer this Marucci Papi34 Custom Cut III model bat that is the very stick Ortiz hit his final career home run, number 541, on the last game of the regular season in 2016 against Brett Cecil of the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park on September 30th. Fittingly, his home run in the bottom of the seventh inning tied the score at three – another late game clutch home run! As typical with the hitting prowess of Ortiz, this offered bat displays outstanding game use and is un-cracked. There are numerous ball marks, stitch impressions, blue ink transfers and cleat imprints present on the barrel. The upper handle has a coating of Mota Stick and the rest of the handle has a 9 ½ inch bright yellow LizardSkins covering to enhance the grip. The date of manufacture “08/02/16” and Ortiz’s number “34” have been stamped onto the knob. This two-toned bat has a cupped barrel end. Ortiz has further enhanced this bat by adding his signature on the barrel in contrasting silver marker and added the inscriptions “HR 541”, “Game Used 9/30/16 VS Blue Jays off Cecil”. This historic bat comes fully authenticated with a MLB Authenticated hologram (JB762787) which dates this bat to the September 30th game and Ortiz hitting his 38th home run of the season and 541st of his career of Brett Cecil in the bottom of the seventh inning and a Fanatics hologram (ZZ0091211), which authenticates that bat was signed by Ortiz and added the inscriptions on the bat.