Minnesota designated Ortiz for assignment in 2003 before the slugger landed in Boston
The Boston Red Sox reaped the benefits of a mistake made by the Minnesota Twins for more than a decade, and it came to the forefront again Tuesday as David Ortiz was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame the first year he was on the ballot.
Ortiz, who was cut by the Twins following the 2002 campaign, was signed by the Red Sox prior to the 2003 season. He went on to win three World Series titles with 10 All-Star appearances while becoming one of the best postseason hitters of all-time. Ortiz’s career, though, reached its pinnacle Tuesday as he claimed 77.9% of the vote to earn induction into the Hall of Fame.
And while that probably wasn’t too surprising, what was a bit bizarre was the fact that the Twins, again, who released Ortiz in arguably one of the worst moves in professional sports history, decided to bring that move back to the forefront Tuesday. Minnesota posted a congratulatory message following the news.
Yeah, you probably can predict how it played out for the organization on Twitter.
Well, Minnesota will always have those six years and 455 games to look back on fondly before cutting the first-ball Hall of Famer for a spot on the 40-man roster.