Twenty-one years ago yesterday (August 29, 1996), the Seattle Mariners made a
really bad trade. They sent a young member of their Single A
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers—a 20-year-old first-baseman named
David Arias—to the Minnesota Twins for
Dave Hollins. Hollins ended up playing 28 games for Seattle in 1996. A guy on the
other side of the Rattlers' diamond—named
Alex Rodriguez—
stayed in the Mariners system (for a while, anyway). Sometime during his stay in the Twins minor league system, Arias changed his name to
David Ortiz. The Twinkies eventually released him,
Pedro Martinez made a call to
Yawkey Way, and the rest is Hall-Of-Fame history.
Thank you, Seattle Mariners! Thank you, Minnesota Twins! Much obliged!
