Boston Red Sox

34 amazing regular-season numbers from David Ortiz’s career

The last regular-season at-bat of the carreer of Red Sox DH David Ortiz produced a bouncing ball in front of the plate that Toronto catcher Russell Martin pounced on and threw him out at first base in the bottom of the ninth inning. He is pictured as he heads back to the dugout as the fans cheer following the out. Globe Staff Photo/Jim Davis

By Bill Chuck

2 minutes to read

That is it for the regular-season career of David Ortiz: He began his major league career with the Minnesota Twins on Sept. 2, 1997 and played his final regular-season game on Oct. 2, 2016 for the Boston Red Sox.

Over those 6,971 days — of which 4,934 were spent playing for Boston after his April 1, 2003 Sox debut — Big Papi put up some remarkable numbers and created some indelible memories.  

Here are 34 of those David Ortiz stats associated with his regular-season performances:

  1. David Ortiz played 2,408 career regular-season games: 1,953 with Boston, 455 with Minnesota.
  2. Ortiz had 10,091 plate appearances in those games: 8,398 with Boston, 1,693 with Minnesota.
  3. Papi had 8,640 regular-season at-bats: 7,163 with Boston, 1,477 with Minnesota.
  4. Ortiz had 2,472 hits: 2,079 with Boston, 393 with Minnesota.
  5. Ortiz was a lifetime .286 hitter during the regular season: .290 with Boston, .266 with Minnesota.
  6. David had 1,280 singles: 1,056 with Boston, 224 with Minnesota.
  7. He had seven walk-off singles: five with Boston, two with Minnesota.
  8. Ortiz had 632 doubles: 524 with Boston, 108 with Minnesota.
  9. He had two walk-off doubles: both with Boston.
  10. Papi hit 19 triples: 16 with Boston, three with Minnesota.
  11. David hit 541 homers: 483 with Boston, 58 with Minnesota.
  12. He hit 11 walk-off homers (tied for eighth on MLB’s all-time list): 10 for the Sox, one for the Twins.
  13. Ortiz had a career OBP of .380 during the regular season: .386 for the Sox, .348 with Minnesota.
  14. David slugged .552 during the regular season: .570 with Boston, .461 with Minnesota.
  15. He had an OPS of .931 during the regular season: .957 with Boston, .809 with Minnesota.
  16. Ortiz scored 1,419 runs: 1,204 with Boston, 215 with Minnesota.
  17. David drove home 1,768 runs: 1,530 for the Sox, 238 for the Twins.
  18. He had 20 walk-off RBI: 17 with Boston, three for the Twins.
  19. Ortiz walked 1,319 times: 1,133 times with Boston, 186 times for the Twins.
  20. Papi had 209 intentional walks: 196 with Boston, 13 with Minnesota.
  21. Ortiz was plunked by 38 pitches: 29 HBP with Boston, nine with Minnesota.
  22. David struck out 1,750 times: 1,411 times with Boston, 339 with Minnesota.
  23. Papi hit 92 sacrifice flies: 72 with Boston, 20 with Minnesota (he never hit a walk-off sac fly).
  24. Ortiz had two successful sac bunts: one for the Sox and one for the Twins.
  25. At Fenway, Ortiz had 4,339 plate appearances, 3,664 at-bats, 1,135 hits, a .310 batting average, 325 doubles, 13 triples, 222 homers, 842 RBI.
  26. Papi hit 41 homers in Toronto, more than in any other away city; the Jays surrendered 61 dingers to him, more than any other team.
  27. Ortiz had six seasons in which he was eligible for the batting crown in which he hit over .300.
  28. Ortiz had 10 seasons of 30+ homers with a high of 54 in 2006, the only season he led the league.
  29. Ortiz had 10 seasons of 100+ RBI with a high of 148 in 2005, one of three seasons he led the league, including this season when he tied with Edwin Encarnacion with 127.
  30. Ortiz had three seasons of 100 walks with a high of 119 in 2006, one of two seasons he led the league.
  31. Ortiz had five seasons with an OPS over 1.000 with a high of 1.066 in 2007; his OPS of 1.028 in 2016 enabled him to lead the league for the first time.
  32. Ortiz had five seasons with at least 40 doubles with a high of 52 in 2007; his 48 in 2016 enabled him to lead the league for the first time.
  33. David is the Red Sox’ all-time leading designated hitter in games, hits, doubles, homers, extra-base hits, total bases, runs, and walks.
  34. David finishes his Sox regular-season career fifth on the franchise’s all-time list in games, sixth in hits, second in homers, third in RBI, fourth in walks, and fifth in runs.

The Red Sox have announced that No. 34 will be retired in a ceremony next season. And, trust me, it won’t be for the prior owner: El Guapo aka Rich Garces. It will be in honor of Big Papi, David Ortiz.

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