Yankees. Within six months, another Anaheim-Minnesota postseason match-up would take place. The Minnesota Wild would face off against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the 2003 Western Conference Final during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Mighty Ducks would sweep the Wild to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history, before losing to the New Jersey Devils. While the Angels and Twins experienced regular-season success in the following years, 2002 would mark a high point for both franchises. To date, the Angels have not won World Series, let alone a pennant since 2002, while the Twins have not won a playoff series since 2002. In 2020, the Twins set a mark of postseason futility when they lost their 18th straight postseason game, setting a record for major professional sports in North America. The Twins would infamously release David Ortiz during the off-season as a cost-cutting move on December 16, 2002, after being unable to swing a trade for him. Within a month after his release, Ortiz would sign with the Boston Red Sox as a favor to star pitcher Pedro Martinez (Ortiz and Martinez were friends growing up in the Dominican Republic together). This seemingly insignificant signing for Boston turned into one of their best moves in franchise history. Ortiz would turn into a hitting superstar for the Red Sox, becoming a 10-time All-Star and 7-time silver slugger at DH. In 2004, Ortiz helped the Red Sox break their 86 year drought, providing clutch hits in the 2004 AL Championship Series against the Yankees. Overall, Ortiz hit in the middle of the line-up for three of Boston's World Series winners (2004, 2007, and 2013). He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2022. To state the obvious, the release of David Ortiz proved to be ill-advised for Minnesota. He was only due for a roughly $1 million raise in 2003 and player who replaced Ortiz on the Twins' roster, Jose Morban, would never play in a game for the team. Recently, some Twins fans have considered the team cursed due to the decision to release Ortiz in 2002. After leaving Minnesota in 2007, center fielder Torii Hunter signed a five-year free agent contract with the Angels, where he continued his gold glove work in center field until moving to right field due to age and the