David Ortiz is one of the greatest designated hitters in Major League Baseball history and one of the most beloved players to ever suit up for the Boston Red Sox. Big Papi spent 14 seasons with the Red Sox from 2003-2016, helping them win 3 World Series titles during that span. Ortiz’s legendary career and status as a Boston icon have made his rookie baseball cards highly sought after by collectors. Let’s take a closer look at Ortiz’s rookie cards from his early years in the league with the Minnesota Twins organization.
Ortiz was originally signed by the Seattle Mariners as an international free agent in 1992 at the age of 16. He spent his first few professional seasons in the Mariners’ farm system before being traded to the Twins in 1996. Ortiz made his MLB debut with Minnesota in 1997 at age 21. His first widely available baseball card featuring him as a rookie came in the 1997 Fleer Tradition set. The Ortiz rookie card has him pictured in a Twins uniform with his stats from his debut 1997 season, which was mostly spent in the minors. He appeared in just 15 games for the Twins that year, accumulating 12 at-bats. The Fleer Tradition rookie is considered one of Ortiz’s key early issue cards from his time with Minnesota.
Another Ortiz rookie card option from 1997 is the Score brand. The Score set featured Ortiz on the “Rookie Prospects” card, showcasing some of the up-and-coming young players from that season. While it doesn’t explicitly label him as a rookie, it captures Ortiz very early in his career before he became an established MLB star. Both the Fleer Tradition and Score ’97 issues are fairly common in the trading card market given their large print runs from that era. They remain important pieces for Ortiz collectors starting a set of his early minor league and Twins tenure cards.
In 1998, Ortiz saw significantly more playing time for the Twins after being called up to the big leagues midway through the previous season. His sophomore campaign was when he started to make more of an impact and gain recognition in the baseball card world. Topps issued Ortiz in their main 1998 set, again featuring him in a Twins uniform from that ’98 season where he hit .234 with 9 home runs over 100 games played. The Topps card is considered one of Ortiz’s key rookie cards since it was his first “solo” card appearance without other players in a subset. PSA has graded examples of the ’98 Topps Ortiz in high grades that can sell for over $100 due to its significance as one of his “true” rookie cards.
Another major Ortiz rookie card release from 1998 was in the Fleer Update & Traded set. This insert set was dedicated to players who were called up or traded to new teams during the season. Ortiz fit into the “called up” category after spending the early part of ’98 in the minors. The Fleer Update & Traded rookie stands out for being one of Ortiz’s lowest printed cards from his early playing days. Combined with his rising popularity at the time, high grade examples of this rookie card in the PSA 9-10 range can sell for over $300. It remains one of the more key Ortiz rookie cards for collectors looking to obtain one of his earliest major issue cards.
By 1999, Ortiz had solidified himself as a regular part of the Twins’ lineup. He started in over 100 games and posted career highs with 20 home runs and 66 RBIs. Ortiz’s success led to increased exposure and inclusion in that year’s baseball card releases. Topps, Fleer, and Skybox all featured Ortiz prominently in their ’99 sets. While not technically rookie cards at that point, the ’99 issues were some of the last cards to feature Ortiz as a member of the Twins before he was traded to Boston. They provide a bookend to his Minnesota tenure cards from ’97-’98. Of the three, the Topps Traded and Draft Picks parallel card is one of the more scarce Ortiz issues from his early career phase.
In summary, David Ortiz burst onto the MLB scene with the Twins in the late 1990s. While his time in Minnesota was brief, it established him as an up-and-coming power hitter and set the stage for his legendary career. Ortiz’s rookie cards from 1997-1998 with Fleer, Score, and Topps are some of the most iconic from those early years capturing “Big Papi” at the dawn of his professional baseball journey. High grades of those Ortiz rookie cards still command premium prices today because of his achievements that later cemented him as a Red Sox icon and one of the greatest DHs in baseball history.
