Long before he was a 10-time MLB All-Star, a three-time World Series champion, and a first-ballot Baseball Hall of Famer, David Ortiz was just a kid from the Dominican Republic, dreaming of one day playing in the big leagues.
A native of Santo Domingo, Ortiz described his upbringing—in a country where opportunity was scarce—as "tough". The oldest of four children and a passionate fan of baseball, he dedicated himself to the sport at a young age and, shortly after turning 17 years old, earned a contract with the Seattle Mariners.
Ortiz was ultimately traded to the Minnesota Twins after four years in Seattle's system, and quickly rose up their ranks—making his Major League debut the following season. To this day, he still remembers the first time he saw himself on a baseball card:
"Man, the very first baseball card that I saw myself [on], it was this one card that said on the bottom: 'The wave of the future,'" Ortiz explained in an interview with Sports Illustrated. "I never forgot about that. When I saw that baseball card for the first time, I felt proud of myself. And believe it or not, it kind of motivated me to continue ... I want[ed] to see myself on more baseball cards."
Twenty seasons and countless trading cards featuring Big Papi later, and Ortiz is now teaming up with Topps to predict the future stars of baseball's next generation.
In a spot filmed at CardVault by Tom Brady at Boston's TD Garden, the former slugger plays the role of a tarot card reader working the back room of a trading card shop. When two friends enter the hobby to inquire about a box of Bowman Baseball 2025 sitting on the counter, they're directed to a secret room with a sign above it that says "See the Future." Upon entering, they see Ortiz, who sits with them and proclaims that prospects Jesus Made, J.J. Wetherholt, and Charlie Condon are baseball’s three biggest upcoming stars.
“The future is in the cards," he tells them. Here's a full look at the spot:
Ortiz spoke with Sports Illustrated about his appearance in the ad for Topps and how they're helping put a spotlight on the baseball's future stars:
"What Topps is doing right now is basically, the incredible talent—player-wise—that is coming, they’re trying to call people’s attention [to it]," he said. "In my days, it didn't used to be like that."
"Once you got to the big league, established yourself, started putting up numbers, that was when people started paying attention to you," Ortiz continued. "Nowadays it's different, because social media ... the job that Topps is doing right now, I mean, [in the commercial] we're talking about a kid from my country, that is a beast, that I didn't even know, now I do. That's what is happening with everybody else nowadays, they're going to pay attention thanks to Topps and everything that they are doing to make sure the new talent, those new players coming up, get to be more known way before they get to the big leagues."
Wednesday marks the release of 2025 Bowman Baseball, available today at both hobby shops and Topps.com. Each pack contains three base cards, three Paper Prospects, and two Chrome Prospects, one Chrome Prospect Mini Diamond Refractor, one Chrome Prospect X-Factor, and one Autograph.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as David Ortiz Sees the Future of Baseball in Latest Collaboration with Topps Trading Cards.
