David Ortiz was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on November 18, 1975. He is known as “Big Papi.” He became an American citizen on June 11, 2008, in Boston.
He is the oldest of Enrique Ortiz and Angela Rosa Arias’s four children. As a child, he looked up to the great pitcher Ramon Martinez and his brother Pedro Martinez, who is also a famous MLB player for the Red Sox.
Rob Gronkowski, a former tight end for the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, retired on Tuesday. Several well-known Boston athletes, like former Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, wished him well.
Ortiz quit baseball at the end of the 2017 season, which was the start of a new era in Boston sports. Ortiz was one of the best Red Sox hitters of all time.
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He hit 483 home runs and drove in 1,530 runs. These numbers are only a small part of what he did for Boston. He had an effect on and off the field.
Career
Ortiz was signed by the Seattle Mariners in November 1992, right after he graduated from high school in the Dominican Republic. He went to Estudia Espaillat High School. It had been ten days since he turned 17.
He played baseball for the Mariners’ minor league team, the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. He became one of the team’s best-hitting prospects before being traded to the Minnesota Twins in 1996. In 1996, Ortiz was named the most exciting player in the Midwest League by Baseball America.
He first played for the Twins in September 1997. David Ortiz hit 58 home runs and drove in 238 runs while he was in Minnesota. He moved up quickly in the system and did well, but on New Year’s Day 2002, he lost his mother in a terrible car accident.
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In his next one-year contract, he would have made $2 million. He played for the Twins for six years and 455 games. During that time, he hit 58 home runs and drove in 238 runs.
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Ortiz ran into Pedro Martinez at a restaurant in the Dominican Republic after being let go by the Twins. Martinez brought up Ortiz’s August home run and said that the Boston Red Sox, who were looking for a first baseman, might want to sign him.
Pedro talked to a few Red Sox team officials, and Ortiz signed a non-guaranteed free-agent contract for $1.5 million in January 2003. He helped the Red Sox beat the New York Yankees and get to the AL Championship Series.
But in a dramatic last play of the inning, the Red Sox lost, sending the Yankees to the World Series. Ortiz made $4.5 million for the 2004 season, which was the next year. The Red Sox played the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2004 World Series.
Salary Highlights
David Ortiz made just under $160 million in his career as a baseball player. In his last two seasons, 2015 and 2016, he made $16 million, which was his highest salary.
He also made tens of millions of dollars from endorsement deals with companies like MasterCard, JetBlue, Coca-Cola, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’ Donuts, New Balance, and Marucci.
Personal Life and Philanthropy
David Ortiz and his wife Tiffany have three kids: D’Angelo, Jessica, and Alexandra. Tiffany, his wife, is from Kaukauna, which is in Wisconsin. They met when he was playing in a Wisconsin minor league.
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She turned him on to the Green Bay Packers, and he has been a huge fan of the team ever since. Since Ortiz stopped playing baseball, his family has lived in Miami. He also keeps a home in the Dominican Republic, where his oldest son, David Andres.
David and Tiffany both do a lot to help people in need. In 2007, he set up the David Ortiz Children’s Fund. In 2008, he also made his own Charity Wine, and all of the money from it went to the David Ortiz Children’s Fund.
The Vintage Papi wine went on to raise $150,000 for good causes. In 2016, he became a Brand Ambassador for UNICEF Kid Power.
Shooting
Ortiz was shot and badly hurt at the Dial Bar and Lounge in Easy Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on June 9, 2019. He was apparently shot in the back by a man on a motorcycle who had sneaked up on him.
Three doctors from the area worked on him for six hours and took out part of his intestines, colon, and gallbladder.
He was brought to Boston by a medical flight sent by the Red Sox the next day, so he could get more care at Massachusetts General Hospital and have a second surgery. He was let out of the hospital on July 26, 2019, after his third surgery.
In connection with the shooting, 11 people were taken into custody. The Dominican Attorney General’s office said Ortiz wasn’t the person the crime was meant to hurt.
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Victor Hugo Gomez Vasquez, who was part of a Mexican drug cartel, had ordered the shooting to happen. The person who was supposed to be hurt was a regular at the bar, and a photo of the person who was supposed to be hurt showed Ortiz instead.
Business
Over the years, Ortiz has earned about $4.5 million from endorsements. In April 2007, Reebok, a company that makes sports gear, released the Big Papi Mid baseball cleat. Ortiz wore them for the first time at the 2007 MLB All-Star Game in San Francisco, California.
Ortiz opened a club called “Forty-Forty” in his home country of the Dominican Republic in October 2009. In April 2010, rapper and producer Jay-Z and his business partner Juan Perez sued Ortiz for trademark infringement.
They said that Ortiz stole the name of Jay-sports Z’s clubs in New York for his nightclub. In March 2011, Ortiz and Jay-Z, and Perez reached a settlement.
Charity work
Ortiz started the David Ortiz Children’s Fund in 2007 to help children in Boston, the Dominican Republic, and other places. The fund also helps Ortiz’s favorite causes.
In 2008, Ortiz gave permission for his picture to be used on the label of a charity wine called Vintage Papi. The money raised went to the Children’s Fund.
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Ortiz joined UNICEF Kid Power as a brand ambassador in 2016 and went to Burkina Faso as part of a global mission. The Ortiz Children’s Fund got $335,000 from a roast of him in 2017.
David Ortiz’s Net Worth
David Ortiz is a former professional baseball player who was born in the Dominican Republic and has a net worth of $55 million.
David Ortiz is best known for playing baseball for the Major League Baseball team Boston Red Sox. He has been an All-Star seven times, and he holds the Red Sox record for most home runs in a single regular season with 54.
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