Souhan: Before becoming Boston's 'Big Papi,' David Ortiz felt joy, pain with Twins startribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from startribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Twins have played 60 seasons in our midst and the personnel decision among batters that holds No. 1 status for a blunder came on Dec. 16, 2002, at baseball s winter meetings in Nashville.
That was the day of the Rule 5 draft. The Twins made room on the 40-player roster for a selection by releasing David Ortiz. They selected infielder Jose Morban from Texas. He was waived, wound up in Baltimore in 2003, and hit two home runs in what became a career total of 71 at-bats.
Ortiz was signed by Boston on the cheap, was batting .200 after a month of the 2003 season, then started seeing the ball better: