SEATTLE — Everyone knows the story of the poor Minnesota Twins and their pitiable ex-general manager, Terry Ryan — the man who released David Ortiz. Big Papi made the Twins pay dearly in 14 subsequent seasons, haunting them from the other side of Fort Myers every spring, then crushing them during the regular season. Over and over, Ryan has had to explain why he so casually dismissed one of the greatest sluggers of this generation.

But there is another team that let go of David Ortiz: the Seattle Mariners.

The Mariners had Big Papi in their stable for the first five years of his professional life, and they were no better than the Twins at evaluating what he would become. Seattle scouts signed Little Papi when he was a rangy 16-year-old in the Dominican Republic in 1992. And former Seattle GM Woody Woodward is the man who made Ortiz the proverbial Player To Be Named Later in a deadline deal for the immortal Dave Hollins back in 1996.

Now it’s all come full circle. Wednesday night at Safeco Field was the Mariners’ time to honor Ortiz in a pregame ceremony as part of his farewell tour. Enjoying one of his best seasons, Ortiz has 87 RBIs in 97 games and has already broken the big league record for doubles by a 40-year-old player (36).

There aren’t a lot of folks here who remember young David Ortiz. Papi was different then. Skinny. He never got out of A ball and was only 20 when the Mariners let him go.

“I have no memory of him from when he was here,’’ says Mariners batting coach Edgar Martinez, who was the greatest DH of all time before Big Papi retired the trophy.

Martinez would not have much reason to remember Little Papi. Ortiz never made it to big league camp with the Mariners and was never a “can’t miss’’ college prospect on a par with Andrew Benintendi. He wasn’t even David Ortiz. He was David Arias, an homage to his mother’s side of the family.

“I’m still David Arias,’’ the Sox slugger proudly proclaims whenever he is asked about his name change.

There are only a handful of folks in the Seattle organization who remember Little Papi.

Roger Hansen, a special assistant to Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto, was a roving minor league scout for the Mariners when Arias/Ortiz was playing rookie league ball in Arizona in 1994 and ’95. Hansen also saw young David when Arias/Ortiz was playing first base for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in A ball in 1996.

“Back then, David was exactly like the guy you’ve had in Boston all these years,’’ says Hansen. “He was always smiling, always having fun. We really liked him. He worked his ass off.

“He could really play first base. I mean, he was good at it.

“What I remember most is how much he loved playing the game. In ’96, you could see he was starting to take off. Everybody in our organization really liked him. He hit a ton of home runs, but I remember we were hoping he was going to get a little stronger.’’

Rick Griffin has been head trainer of the Mariners for 34 years and remembers Ortiz from a 1996 home run contest in Fox Cities Stadium (Appleton, Wis.) that has become franchise folklore.

“We had a lot of stars in those days, and we were scheduled to play an exhibition game against our A ball team in Appleton,’’ says Griffin. “We had this great buffet before the game, but then the rains came and they had to call off the game.

“The guys felt bad, so Jay Buhner said we should have a home run derby, and we did. It was Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez and Dan Wilson and this 20-year-old kid, David Arias. Our coach, John McLaren, threw to all of them.

“Young David kept hitting these towering homers, and Griffey was asking, ‘Who is this guy?’ David was hitting some home runs through a door out there in right field.’’

“I think we were all wondering why he wasn’t coming back with us to the Kingdome,’’ A-Rod told ESPN.com.

“I remember him launching a lot of baseballs,’’ says Wilson, now the Mariners’ minor league defensive coordinator. “A lot of us were impressed with the balls that he hit.’’

Woodward was general manager of the Mariners during Ortiz/Arias’s time with the organization; a year after sending Ortiz to the Twins for Hollins, Woodward traded Jason Varitek and Derek Lowe to the Red Sox for Heathcliff Slocumb.

Last year, Woodward told the Globe’s Nick Cafardo, “Minnesota did a nice job identifying David as the player they wanted. We needed a third baseman and Hollins came over and did a nice job for us. We had a lot of good hitters at the major league side so it was hard to project David down the road on our club.’’

Wilson never forgot the skinny young man who hit all the homers in Appleton. A year after the home run derby, the Mariners catcher saw the same kid with his new name hitting shots over the right field wall at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

“Recognized him right away,’’ recalls Wilson. “He was hitting balls over the baggie in right and we were thinking, ‘Oooh, that’s the kid we gave up for Hollins.’ ’’

David Arias.

David Ortiz.

Big Papi.

Dan Shaughnessy can be reached at dshaughnessy@globe.com