Ortiz reflects on career: Twins mistreated me
As David Ortiz prepares to embark on his 20th and final major-league season, he can't help but reflect on the past.
The Boston Red Sox slugger, who broke into the bigs with the Minnesota Twins in 1997, is still unhappy with Twins general manager Terry Ryan for releasing him following the 2002 season.
"Terry Ryan doesn't feel bad just because he let me go," Ortiz told Patrick Reusse of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "He feels bad because he also knows the Twins treated me bad."
Related: Twins' Ryan admits releasing Ortiz was a mistake
Big Papi hit 20 home runs and 75 RBIs in 125 games for the Twins in '02, but Ryan still cut ties with him despite the increased production.
Ortiz battled wrist and knee injuries early in his career, and is particularly upset about how he was treated during the 1999 season, when he swatted 30 homers and collected 110 RBIs in 130 minor-league games, before finally getting called up to play in a handful of big-league contests in late September.
"I was in Triple-A Salt Lake, hammerin', and every team that we played some player who had been in the big leagues would say, 'David, what are you doing here? The Twins can't score runs, they don't have power, you're exactly what they need.'
"Nobody could understand."
After signing as a free agent with the Red Sox in 2003, Ortiz would go on to claim three World Series titles and smash 445 home runs in Boston over 13 seasons leading up to his curtain call campaign.
Ortiz will have one last chance to get reacquainted with Ryan when Boston visits Minnesota for three games from June 10-12.