Boston Red Sox legend David Ortiz is the newest inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. This will put an end to the eligibility for some of the other greats that were in scandals, but “Big Papi” is in at 46 years old. Ortiz is a Dominican Republic native and the slugger is said to be the 58th player elected to the Hall of Fame on his first ballot after he received 307 of the 394 votes cast (77.9%). Candidates must appear on at least 75 percent of all ballots cast to earn election.

Please note that the data and references from this article were done on January 28, 2021.

Ortiz has a storied past. He was originally traded by the Seattle Mariners and was then released by the Minnesota Twins before he landed in Boston. Whoops.

Collectors Dashboard wanted to review his top memorabilia sales. There is a mix of rookie cards worth viewing and there are multiple game-used and signed items that have been sold. In a time when many cards are commanding tens of thousands (or more) even in modern era cards, Ortiz’s prices just are not all that crazy. (Image by Heritage Auctions)

HIS KEY STATS

His lifetime stats speak for themselves in a 20-year career. Ortiz ended his career with 541 home runs and had 2,472 hits over 20 seasons. His 1,192 extra-base hits are tied for 8th all-time. The Hall of Fame also noted that Ortiz had one of the greatest final seasons of any player and at age 40: batted .315 with 38 home runs and league-high figures of 48 doubles and 127 RBI. They also noted a strong slugging percentage (.620) and OPS (1.021).

Ortiz was great in his World Series performances with a total .455 average, 3 home runs and 14 RBI spanning 14 World Series games. He was also the MVP in the 2013 World Series after a .688 average, 2 home runs and 6 RBI in 16 at-bats.

HIS CARDS & MEMORABILIA

PWCC Marketplace has had many David Ortiz rookie card sales. Their two highest are below:

• 1997 Ultra Platinum Medallion David Ortiz ROOKIE RC #P518 PSA 10 GEM MINT (PWCC) Population 1 of 1 Sold for $4,238.88 on Sep 18, 2017
• 1997 Ultra Gold Medallion David Ortiz ROOKIE RC #G518 PSA 10 GEM MINT Sold for $3,850 on Mar 17, 2021

Of the top eBay recent sales, the two top recent items appear to be “Offer Accepted” and they were both the 1997 Fleer David Ortiz rookies and both were GEM MINT BGS 10. The first was at $10,000.00 and the second was at $8,999.99 which means they were sold under those prices. Both were on January 22 and they had different Beckett serial numbers.

The two highest auction prices on eBay were both in the 1997 Fleer Ultra Platinum Medallion David Ortiz. This is shown to be the rarest rookie and both were BGS 8.5 and noted only 7 total graded between PSA and BGS. The first sale was $5,910.00 after 64 bids on December 22, 2021. The second highest auction was at $5,587.00 after 28 bids on January 26, 2022 but the cards had the same serial number in Beckett.

Goldin.co has seen many David Ortiz items sell. Their highest priced items are not rookie cards though. Here are their highest priced items:

• Winter Auction 2018 Ending February 17– 2016 David Ortiz Game Used, Signed & Inscribed Marucci Papi34 Custom Cut III LDM Bat for Final Career Home Run #541 on 09/30/16 (MLB Authenticated & Fanatics) sold for $36,000.00
• Spring Premium Live and Catalog Auction Ending May 20(1-70) and June 3 — 2016 David Ortiz Game Used, Signed & Inscribed Final Career Hit Bat (#2472) Used On 10/01/2016 For Hit #2472 (MLB Authenticated & Fanatics) sold for $20,825.00
• October Legends Closing November 1 — 2012 David Ortiz Boston Red Sox Game Worn, Signed and Inscribed Road Jersey – Worn During his 400th Career Home Run! (MLB Auth) sold for $12,100.00
• Summer Live and Premium 2018 — 2016 David Ortiz Game Used and Signed Marucci LDM Model Bat Used to Hit Home Run #536 on 9/12/16 To Tie Mickey Mantle (MLB Auth / Ortiz LOA) sold for $10,800.00

Goldin.co’s top card price sales were as follows:

• 1997 Fleer Tiffany #512 David Arias (Ortiz) Rookie Card – PSA GEM MT 10 sold for $10,800.00
• 1997 Donruss Signatures Autographs Century Marks #94 David Ortiz Signed Rookie Card BGS GEM MINT 9.5/BGS 10 sold for $8,400.00
• 1997 Fleer Tiffany #512 David Ortiz Rookie Card BGS GEM MINT 9.5 sold for $3,900.00

SCP AUCTIONS has multiple auction items as well. None of their highest priced items are cards.

• 9/12/2015 DAVID ORTIZ GAME USED, SIGNED & INSCRIBED 499TH CAREER HOME RUN BAT – HIT #500 IN SAME GAME (FANATICS, MLB AUTH.) sold for $8,065.00 (Winter 2017)
• DAVID ORTIZ JUNE 22, 2004 BOSTON RED SOX HOME JERSEY WORN TO HIT HOME RUN #16 OF (WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP) SEASON SIGNED AND INSCRIBED “GAME USE 2004 HR 16 06/22/04” (PHOTO-MATCHED) sold for $7,337.00 (Mid-Summer 2016)
• 9/22/2016 DAVID ORTIZ SIGNED & INSCRIBED BOSTON RED SOX (FINAL SEASON) GAME WORN ROAD JERSEY (RESOLUTION PHOTO-MATCHED, FANATICS, MLB AUTH.) sold for $4,554.00 (Fall of 2017)

Heritage Auctions had many key items. That have already sold 243 items in total but not all are his.

• 2004 David Ortiz Home Runs 29 & 30 Game Worn Signed Boston Red Sox Jersey sold on Feb 26, 2017 for $10,800.00 and another jersey of his sold later that same year for $7,800.00.
• Heritage’s top baseball card sale was a 1997 Fleer Tiffany David Ortiz #512 PSA Gem Mint 10 on Dec 11, 2020 for a price of $7,500.00.

That is of course not the end of the Ortiz sales and other auction houses and also eBay will have other items they have sold.