In 2003, the Boston Red Sox took a chance on a guy who had been released by the Minnesota Twins at the behest of their ace, Pedro Martinez. This man was David Ortiz.
Ortiz had been let go by Minnesota and was down on his luck when he had a conversation with Martinez, a close friend of his, about the whole situation. Martinez however, reversed the course of the conversation, telling his friend that his team, the Red Sox, might have a spot open for him. Martinez then began reaching out to Red Sox team officials about a potential fit for Ortiz, and in late-January of 2003, Boston took a chance on him, signing him to a one-year deal.
And Ortiz didn’t disappoint, blasting 31 homers and driving in 101 runs in his first year with the Sox. He returned in 2004 and was instrumental in the team’s improbable run to winning the World Series and breaking “The Curse of the Bambino”. By the time he retired in 2016, “Big Papi”, as he had become affectionately known, had three rings, seven Silver Slugger awards, a World Series MVP award, and an ALCS MVP award while being named to the AL All-Star team 10 times.
But what would happen if Boston never took a chance on Papi? How would Major League Baseball be different today and where would he have ended up? How would the Red Sox fare without him?
There’s no telling where he would have ended up. Having hit 20 homers the previous year, it’s highly likely he would have found a home away from Boston. To start, we know things would not have been so rosy in Boston without their franchise guy. They still had a solid team in 2003 and for several years beyond. But without him, the Yankees would have most likely had an easier time defeating them in the ‘03 ALCS, should they even have gotten there. They might have missed the playoffs altogether, as in real time, the Mariners were only two games behind them in the Wild Card race. Perhaps Seattle would have taken the final spot.
2004 would be quite different too. It’s very possible that the AL Wild Card that year could have been the Oakland A’s instead of Boston. Even if Boston got in and got to the ALCS, they wouldn’t be able to get past the Yankees without Big Papi. It’s also likely that they would not have traded away Nomar Garciaparra, and he would still be at short for the BoSox, meaning no Orlando Cabrera and no Edgar Renteria a year later.
Ortiz was an instrumental piece on every Red Sox team he was a part of. The one constant from their championships in 2004, 2007, and 2013, was Ortiz. Sure, Boston would still have Manny Ramirez, Jason Varitek, Curt Schilling, Dustin Pedroia, and others, but Ortiz was the glue that held those teams together. As we know, the Sox could have still been contenders. We saw the Nationals win the World Series a year after Bryce Harper left and we also saw the Cardinals keep on keeping on when Albert Pujols skipped town. So Boston would have still been a contender most likely, but would not have won it all in ‘07 or ‘13, meaning the curse would still be alive and well. It’s possible they could have still won in 2018, but the curse would have ended up lasting an entire century, and would only be a few years shorter than the Cubs’ curse.
So without Big Papi, the Red Sox would have had to wait a little bit longer to break the curse. Perhaps it could still be happening today. Ortiz was an integral part of the Red Sox organization for 14 years, and not having him present would change many things.
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