Is David Ortiz really 33?
The struggles of the Red Sox' designated hitter have been so pronounced that it has not been merely the slugger’s abilities that have been doubted, but instead his very identity.
Even with his current six-game hitting streak, Ortiz is now hitting just .197 with two homers, a .288 OBP and .308 slugging percentage. His struggles have been so pronounced that questions about whether the accuracy of his listed age of 33 have become commonplace.
An article in Sunday’s New York Post offered a perspective that is not uncommon in scouting circles.
“He's a 40-year-old man who can't play anymore,” the article quoted an anoymous scout as saying. “The chances of his birth certificate being accurate are zero…That's both birth certificates. Remember, he was David Arias [when he played in the minor leagues for] Seattle.”
Ortiz is aware that some are questioning who he is, and more particularly, how old he is. He is unsurprised by the phenomenon, given his familiarity with the phenomenon of Dominican players who forge their dates of birth to improve their potential signing bonuses.
Even so, he is taken aback by those who would question whether he is 33. The questions had never come before, and so Ortiz wonders about the motives of those who only now are asking how old he is.
“I know there’s some guys questioning right now around here about my age. Somebody sent me (an article) in an email the other day. I was like, ‘It’s too late! I’ve already got 12 years in the league,’” Ortiz said, pausing to laugh at his joke before turning more earnest.
“You’re going to start questioning me about my age right now because I’m not hitting? You’re terrible. You are terrible,” said Ortiz, his tone still playful. “You never asked those questions when I was banging. Now you want to ask questions? I don’t pay attention to any of that (stuff).”
Of course, there is another reason why Ortiz might find it so easy to dismiss questions about his age, and why he exhibited absolutely no discomfort in discussing the issue: his listed date of birth was already corrected once earlier in his career.
A PLAYER TO BE NAMED, AND RE-BORN
David Americo Ortiz (Arias) was signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Seattle Mariners in 1992. A pair of misconceptions followed his time in his first organization.
First, as the scout suggested, the player now known as David Ortiz (the last name of his father) was referred to instead as David Arias (the maiden name of his mother). He was listed in Mariners media guides in that fashion from 1992-96, until he was traded to the Twins (as a player to be named in exchange for Dave Hollins in a deal in August 1996).
“When he signed, they just listed him as David Arias. It’s a very common mistake,” said Twins G.M. Bill Smith. “(Dominicans) include their mother’s maiden name at the end of their name in parentheses. For one reason or another, when he was signed, it was recorded as David Arias. When we acquired him from Seattle, our guys doing the media guide went to confirm everything and he said, ‘Well, my last name is Ortiz.’”
According to Smith, it was Ortiz who brought that issue to the Twins’ attention. Indeed, Ortiz realized that the visas he was receiving to play in the U.S. with the Mariners did not match up with his name on his passport.
“What they told me was you might want to fix the last name because later on in the future so you don’t have no problems,” said Ortiz. “If I didn’t fix it, then later on I would have had trouble because after 2001, after 9/11, it was going to be a (mess). So it was a good thing that I fixed all of that up.”
And so, when he first appeared in a Twins media guide for the 1997 season, it was under his current name. But something else changed in that media guide listing.
Ortiz’ date of birth, which had been listed with the Mariners as Feb. 18, 1975, was instead corrected – at the behest of the young player, according to Smith – to his actual date of birth: Nov. 18.
“(The birthday) was such a minor
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