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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 3:49:05 GMT -5
Big Papi is in! Red Sox legend elected to Hall January 25th, 2022 Ian Browne
Ian Browne @ianmbrowne
When David Ortiz went on one of his patented postseason tears in 2013 -- saving games at times and the season at others -- his teammates went from calling him “Big Papi” to “Cooperstown.”
As the results of the 2022 Hall of Fame voting became official on Tuesday, that Cooperstown moniker bestowed on him all those years ago never seemed more appropriate.
Known for his late-game heroics as a player, Ortiz got into the Hall of Fame in the earliest inning possible, being selected his first time on the BBWAA ballot.
It was a joyous moment for Ortiz, who celebrated his crowning baseball accomplishment in his native Dominican Republic. The gregarious former slugger -- who went from a platoon player in Minnesota to an icon in his 14 seasons (2003-16) in Boston -- will be formally inducted at a ceremony in Cooperstown, N.Y., on Sunday, July 24, at 1:30 p.m. ET on the grounds of the Clark Sports Center.
By getting 307 votes, which amounted to 77.9% of BBWAA members who submitted ballots, Ortiz joined other Red Sox icons like Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski and his close friend Pedro Martinez to make it to the Hall of Fame on the first try. A player needs 75% of the votes to get elected to the Hall.
This was not an honor Ortiz took lightly.
“I saw so many great players and they didn’t get in on the first ballot. It’s a wonderful honor to be able to get in on my first rodeo, it’s something very special to me,” said Ortiz. “I can’t imagine how New England feels about one of their players getting into the Hall of Fame today.
“I’m not even going to tell you about the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic is a country that breathes baseball and everyone is going crazy right now. It’s amazing. It's amazing to be part of this pack on the first ballot. It’s something very special.”
Ortiz is the fourth Dominican-born player to get elected to the Hall, joining Juan Marichal, Martinez and Vladimir Guerrero Sr.
With his wide smile, booming voice and bling-filled wardrobe, Ortiz was one of the most productive and charismatic stars of his era.
Serving as primarily a designated hitter -- arguably the best of all-time -- did not slow Ortiz’s march to Cooperstown. By comparison, Edgar Martinez, another stud DH, finally got in two years ago -- on his 10th and final year on the ballot.
Early in Ortiz’s career, it was hard to imagine he’d ever be in the Cooperstown conversation.
For the Twins from 1997-02, Ortiz played almost exclusively against right-handed pitchers and slashed .266/.348/.461 with 58 homers and 238 RBIs in 1,693 plate appearances. The Twins released him on Dec. 16, 2002, and the Red Sox signed him a month later to a modest one-year deal at $1.25 million.
Ortiz knew what the Red Sox were about to find out -- that he was a player about to come into his own. There was a hint of that in ’02, when Ortiz belted 20 homers and had an .839 OPS while getting a modest 412 at-bats.
“The Minnesota Twins let me go based on salary, because that was my best year over there without ... getting [much] playing time basically,” said Ortiz. “They didn't let me go because I didn't have the talent. People get this all twisted. It was a small market.”
It’s easy to forget that Ortiz didn’t start out like he wanted to with the Red Sox, as he jockeyed for playing time with Kevin Millar, Shea Hillenbrand, Bill Mueller and Jeremy Giambi under manager Grady Little. Get the latest from the Red Sox
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Disenchanted with a lack of playing time early in that ’03 season, Ortiz’s agent, Fern Cuza, actually asked general manager Theo Epstein if his client could be traded. But after Hillenbrand was dealt to the D-backs at the end of May, a full-time lineup spot opened for Ortiz, who spent the rest of his career as one of the most feared hitters in the game.
“The one thing that I’m most proud of is that I was able to perform at the highest level while I played for the Red Sox,” said Ortiz. “It's a lot of pressure over there. I know we changed things around.”
When Ortiz got to the Red Sox, he learned the art of great hitting from new teammates like Manny Ramirez and Nomar Garciaparra.
Big Papi became a civic treasure forever in Boston when he spoke passionately during a pregame ceremony at Fenway Park five days after the Marathon bombings in ’13.
“This is our [bleeping] city,” Ortiz bellowed to the Fenway crowd. “And nobody is going to dictate our freedom. Stay strong.”
Ortiz’s brilliant run in Boston included a trio of World Series championships (2004, ’07 and ’13) -- the first three for the Red Sox since 1918. While there were many contributors to Boston’s renaissance, Ortiz was at the center of it.
Winning consumed Ortiz.
“I was always concerned about going home without a trophy,” Ortiz said. “To be honest with you, I was lucky enough to have the right teammates, I was lucky enough to have the right coaches, I was lucky enough to play for the right organization who had my back all the time.”
In the regular season, he was an utter force in those Red Sox years, bashing 483 of his 541 career homers to go with a .956 OPS. Only Williams hit more homers in a Red Sox uniform than Ortiz.
But it was in the postseason that Ortiz took it to another level.
During Boston’s glorious championship run of 2004, the one that snapped the epic title drought, Ortiz ended three of Boston’s 11 wins with a hit -- two of them homers. Ortiz was the MVP of that storied ALCS against the Yankees in which the Red Sox became the first team in history to overcome a 3-0 deficit in the postseason.
Then there was 2013. The Red Sox were four runs down and four outs away from trailing the Tigers, 2-0, in the ALCS with Justin Verlander looming as the Detroit starter in Game 3. Ortiz stepped up and belted a grand slam against Detroit reliever Joaquin Benoit that sent Torii Hunter sprawling into the Boston bullpen. The Tigers never recovered.
Ortiz still revels in that moment, calling it the most memorable of his career.
“It was one of those moments that it's hard to not talk about it,” said Ortiz. “We played the Detroit Tigers, one of the best teams in baseball at the time. You’re facing [Max] Scherzer, he’s dealing at his best and all of a sudden with one swing everything changed and we ended up winning it all. Winning the World Series is hard -- everything you have to do to win it.”
In the World Series that year -- the last one Ortiz played in -- he had a Fall Classic for the ages, hitting .688 (11-for-16) with two doubles, two homers, six RBIs, eight walks and a 1.948 OPS as the Red Sox won in six games over St. Louis.
While on-field accomplishments like those were for the ages, Ortiz experienced a different kind of euphoria on Tuesday.
“This is a next-level type of thing. You don't receive this phone call every day,” Ortiz said. “I accomplished so many wonderful things during my career, I won so many championships, I got so many good hits, I put so many smiles on people's faces.
“But this is something where you don't receive that type of phone call on a daily basis. You're talking about what, 340 players [in the Hall of Fame]? You know how many players have played in a Major League Baseball game over the last 100 years and only 340 players are capable of being part of this pack. That's something that is amazing.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 3:50:06 GMT -5
Red Sox @redsox Today we celebrate a baseball legend & a friend.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 3:51:05 GMT -5
Red Sox @redsox Now a word from 𝙃𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙁𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙧 David Ortiz:
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 3:52:04 GMT -5
Red Sox @redsox Legend. All-time great. 𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩-𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙩 𝙃𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙁𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙧.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 3:54:55 GMT -5
I am just over the moon about Big Papi getting in Him and Yaz are my 2 favorite Red Sox players Can not wait until this July to watch his induction.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 4:04:49 GMT -5
David Ortiz Elected Into Baseball Hall Of Fame
By Anthony Franco | January 25, 2022 at 11:01pm CDT
The Hall of Fame announced this evening that David Ortiz has been elected by the Baseball Writers Association of America. He is the only player inducted by the BBWAA in this year’s election cycle.
“I am truly honored and blessed by my selection to the Hall of Fame—the highest honor that any baseball player can reach in their lifetime,” Ortiz wrote in a statement released by the Red Sox. “I am grateful to the baseball writers who considered my career in its totality, not just on the statistics, but also on my contributions to the Red Sox, the City of Boston, and all of Red Sox Nation. I am also grateful to my teammates, my managers and coaches and Red Sox ownership for their faith in me and allowing me to be part of three World Championships.”
Ortiz received 77.9% of the vote, narrowly edging across the 75% threshold to earn induction on his first ballot. A native of the Dominican Republic, Ortiz originally began his career in the Mariners system. He was traded to the Twins as a prospect in 1996 and debuted with Minnesota late the following year. A solid but not elite hitter early in his career, Ortiz would spend the next half-decade with the Twins.
During the 2002 campaign, Ortiz tallied 466 plate appearances, a personal-high to that point. Despite posting a solid .272/.339/.500 line with 20 home runs, he was cut loose after the season. Signed by the Red Sox that offseason, he almost immediately emerged as one of the game’s most feared sluggers.
Ortiz hit .288/.362/.592 over 509 trips to the dish his first season in Boston. So began a run of five straight seasons with offensive output measured at least 45 percentage points above the league average by wRC+, with Ortiz finishing in the top five of AL MVP balloting each season. A fantastic postseason performer, he claimed the 2004 ALCS MVP award as part of the Red Sox’s drought-snapping World Series campaign and was excellent during Boston’s run to another championship three years later.
After a bit of a downturn between 2008-09, Ortiz somewhat surprisingly returned to his middle-of-the-order form as he neared his mid-30s. Between 2010 and 2016, the left-handed hitter never had a season with a wRC+ below 134. He was an instrumental factor in a third Red Sox title, claiming 2013 World Series MVP honors after putting up a comical .688/.760/1.188 showing in 25 plate appearances during a six-game series win over the Cardinals.
Ortiz remained an elite hitter through his 2016 retirement. He raked at a .315/.401/.620 clip during his final season, among the best showings of his illustrious run. That final campaign brought his career plate appearance total a bit north of 10,000 and he hung up his spikes owner of a .286/.380/.552 line. Ortiz tallied 2472 hits, 541 home runs (17th all-time) and drove in 1530 runs (23rd on the all-time list).
Despite his massive offensive production, it remained unclear until the very end whether Ortiz would have enough support to garner first-ballot selection. He was primarily a designated hitter, and his lack of defensive contributions were likely a sticking point for some voters. And, like many others on the ballot, Ortiz wasn’t without reported ties to performance-enhancing drugs.
According to reports, Ortiz failed a PED survey test in 2003. As Jay Jaffe of FanGraphs explored in much greater detail last month, however, MLB later suggested some players named in the survey test — which had been intended to remain anonymous — likely appeared on the list for substances that weren’t banned at the time. Ortiz was not named in the Mitchell Report, nor he was ever suspended for PED use during his career.
A significant enough portion of the BBWAA treated those results with sufficient skepticism to push Ortiz across the threshold for election, even as others on the ballot were excluded based on PED ties. A ten-time All-Star, Ortiz won seven Silver Slugger awards and was a key piece of three World Series teams. While Ortiz never won an MVP award, he appeared on ballots in eight separate seasons — including the aforementioned five consecutive top-five finishes. An icon in Red Sox’ franchise history, he’s now cemented as one of the greatest players in MLB history. MLBTR congratulates Ortiz — who’ll be enshrined alongside Era Committee inductees Buck O’Neil, Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva, Gil Hodges, Bud Fowler and Minnie Miñoso next summer — on his induction.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 4:22:39 GMT -5
David Ortiz already had a presence in the Hall of Fame. Now, he’ll be immortalized. By Peter Abraham Globe Staff,Updated January 25, 2022, 7:17 p.m.
The hallways of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum were nearly empty on a cold January morning. The only sound was a gentle tap-tap-tap in the Plaque Gallery, where a custodian was repairing a loose baseboard.
There is a reverential aura in the room, almost as if talking loudly would disturb Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb. But come July, there will be more of a celebration with David Ortiz at its center.
Ortiz is headed for the Hall of Fame, the announcement coming Tuesday night that he was the only player elected by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
The Red Sox icon is scheduled to be inducted July 24. At the age of 46, Ortiz is now a baseball immortal.
Fittingly, Ortiz’s plaque will be placed on the well-varnished oak walls of the gallery approximately 20 feet from that of his former Red Sox teammate and good friend Pedro Martínez.
The Hall of Fame has been collecting — and displaying — Ortiz memorabilia for years, cataloging a selection of bats, uniforms, spikes, and other keepsakes that suddenly have considerably more meaning and value.
Ortiz, who told the Globe last week that he has never visited Cooperstown, is eager to get a look.
“I know it’s a special place,” he said. “As a player, you try not to think about the future too much. But the Hall of Fame is the ultimate.”
Interactive: David Ortiz is headed to the Hall of Fame. Explore all of the 558 career home runs that helped get him there.
That Ortiz just cleared the required 75 percent — he received 77.9 percent — is the story for now. It won’t be for long.
Joining Martinez, Wade Boggs, Carl Yastrzemski, and Ted Williams as the only Red Sox players to achieve first-ballot status ultimately will be what’s remembered, as will Ortiz becoming just the fourth player from the baseball-crazed Dominican Republic to gain entrance to Cooperstown.
“That means everything to me, representing my country like that,” he said.
A vast majority of voters understood that the story of baseball in the 21st century couldn’t be told without Ortiz as a main character. It’s a Hall of Fame, after all, and who’s been more famous than Big Papi in that time?
Read more: How Boston Globe writers voted for the 2022 Baseball Hall of Fame
Ortiz may not be the best player in Red Sox history but he is surely the most impactful, given his outsized role in three championships, particularly with the historic 2004 team.
With the Sox trailing, three games to none, in the American League Championship Series against the rival Yankees, Ortiz won Game 4 with a home run in the 12th inning. A day later, his single in the bottom of the 14th inning won Game 5.
The Sox never lost again that October. Ortiz drove in 19 runs in 14 games during that postseason.
“If I had to say what was the biggest thing, it was winning in 2004,” Ortiz said. “A team like the Red Sox went 86 years with no championships, and we did it. Everything changed after that.”
Ortiz also helped comfort a bomb-scarred city in 2013, leading the Sox to a cathartic championship. He retired a few years later, still one of the most feared hitters in the game.
Now comes the diamond-studded cap on his career.
“The Hall of Fame, it’s something you learn about when you’re a kid,” Ortiz said. “It’s like a storyteller talking to you about a superhero type of thing. When people talk about the Hall of Fame to me, that’s how I feel. You’re telling me a story about superheroes.”
Ortiz’s career was a marvel. He had 541 home runs, 632 doubles, 10 All-Star selections, and finished in the top five of the American League MVP voting five times.
‘When people talk about the Hall of Fame to me, that’s how I feel. You’re telling me a story about superheroes.’
Among players with at least 50 career postseason plate appearances, Ortiz’s 1.372 OPS is a World Series record. In all, he hit .289 with a .947 OPS in 85 postseason games.
“We all know what he did on the field. That stuff’s easy to see. You can look it up and see all the numbers,” said Jon Lester, a teammate for nine seasons and two titles. “But to take on the role of a leader, not only in the clubhouse, but in that city — we all know how that city can be at times with just how hard they are and accountable that they make players.
“For him to do it day in and day out was pretty impressive to watch all those years.”
Photos: David Ortiz’s journey through Major League Baseball to the Hall of Fame
Ortiz already has a significant presence in the Hall, and that becomes clear when you leave the plaque gallery and explore.
Over the years, the Hall has collected 13 pieces of Ortiz memorabilia — “3-D artifacts” in curator-speak — and much of it was on display before the voting results were announced.
Ortiz’s jersey from the 2004 World Series hangs in the “Viva Baseball!” exhibit recognizing the vast impact Latin American players have had on the game.
Continue walking, and the spikes he wore at the 2016 All-Star Game during his final season are in a locker along with one of the commemorative baseballs used during the final regular-season game the Sox played that year.
A bat Ortiz used in the 2013 World Series is around another corner. Keep going and there are the spikes Ortiz was wearing in 2009 when he set the record for career home runs by a designated hitter.
Photographs or videos of Ortiz uncoiling his lefthanded swing are included in several exhibits, and he is one of the players featured in the 15-minute welcome film.
Go down some stairs and the Hall of Fame’s vault reveals more treasures and a few frivolities.
There’s a souvenir Ortiz watch the Sox gave away in 2006 along with an empty bag of “Big Papi’s Tortilla Chips” and a bottle of wine he endorsed 16 years ago.
There’s also the batting helmet Ortiz had on when he hit his 43rd home run of the 2005 season, setting a record for designated hitters.
The helmet is sticky with pine tar and there’s an inch-long crack on the side.
“I was going good that season and I kept using the same helmet,” Ortiz said. “I probably threw it when I struck out and cracked it, but I kept on using it.” The David Ortiz artifacts already in the Hall include: A helmet from 2005 when he set the single-season record for home runs by a designated hitter (43); his cleats from Sept. 15, 2009, when he hit his 270th home run as a DH (a record at the time); his jersey from the 2004 World Series; and his bat from the 2013 World Series.
By 2013, as the Red Sox were in a playoff run that culminated with a championship, Ortiz’s teammates temporarily nicknamed him “Cooperstown.”
All he did that postseason was go 18 for 51 with 5 home runs and 13 RBIs in 16 games. Ortiz reached base safely in 19 of 25 plate appearance in the World Series.
By Game 6, the Cardinals gave up and walked Ortiz four times, three intentionally.
His career lasted three more seasons, but Ortiz’s performance that October stamped his Hall of Fame passport.
“We called him ‘Cooperstown’ for a reason,” teammate Jonny Gomes said. “He belongs there. I’ve never been around anybody like him before.
“In ‘13, he invited the entire team to his house every time we clinched something. Wives, kids, everybody. He had a way to connect with everybody in the room.
“He was pulled in so many different directions that season but always was as good as he could be on the field.”
Ortiz’s amplified personality can charm a toddler or the president. Without trying to be, he is inclusive.
In 2011, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, the richest man in the world at the time, had one request when he visited Fenway Park. He wanted to meet Ortiz.
“What’s up, man?” said Ortiz, who startled the armed guards with Slim when he burst out of the trainer’s room to say hello.
But Ortiz was a flawed protagonist at times. He was released by the Minnesota Twins after the 2002 season. The team decided he was not complete enough to merit a salary increase.
The Red Sox signed Ortiz to an inexpensive deal and made him earn playing time. Along the way, there were occasional bursts of anger directed at umpires, opposing pitchers who brushed him back, and even his managers.
In 2009, Ortiz was identified in a report as having tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance in what was intended to be an anonymous survey six years earlier.
Ortiz denied taking anything other than over-the-counter supplements. He was deemed clean for 13 seasons after baseball started a testing program in 2004, which backed up that claim.
So did commissioner Rob Manfred, who said in 2016 that the 2003 test had discrepancies in how the results were recorded.
But suspicions and assumptions dogged Ortiz.
The Hall has never instructed voters on how to appraise the Steroid Era. But signs in the stately red-brick building near areas devoted to all-time records inform visitors that the museum acknowledges steroids were part of the game, and the exhibits reflect that time.
Ortiz was primarily a designated hitter throughout his career, and that was a factor some voters held against him.
Lester blasted a hole in that argument.
“I think we’ve got to kind of get over that DH deal,” he said. “I get it. I understand it. But it wasn’t his choice. It’s punishing somebody for having a position called designated hitter. I think that’s unfair.
“In some of the biggest games, he played really good first base for the Red Sox. He would step in in the World Series for us at first base.
“I’ve never understood that argument. If you don’t want to have that position, don’t have the position available.”
Ortiz also was shot and badly wounded on June 9, 2019, while at a bar in the Dominican Republic. Three surgeries and a six-week stay at Massachusetts General Hospital followed.
Officials in the Dominican claimed the shooting was a case of mistaken identity, an explanation that has invited skepticism but did not seem to affect his Hall candidacy.
It has been an eventful life, far more than he ever expected. Growing up, Ortiz liked to tinker with junk cars and thought his destiny was to inherit the auto-parts store owned by his father, Leo.
On Tuesday, with his father at his side, Ortiz was told he was a Hall of Famer.
“You have to pinch yourself,” he said last week. “How did this happen to me?”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 4:25:12 GMT -5
Coming to Red Sox changed David Ortiz’s career, and he changed course of history for franchise By Gary Washburn Globe Staff,Updated January 25, 2022, 9:28 p.m.
Nineteen years ago, the Minnesota Twins made a matter-of-fact roster move that would change the face of the Red Sox franchise.
They released an inconsistent first baseman/designated hitter Dec. 16, 2002, and for five weeks, David Ortiz was a free agent, uncertain of his future and looking for an opportunity.
Ortiz making the Red Sox roster and etching out a solid, respectable career was an unlikely scenario. But to become one of the best power hitters of his generation, a Boston icon, an imposing Dominican figure whose personality, bravado, style and graciousness transcended race is beyond the best movie script. Ortiz’s rise to prominence is astounding.
And the three-time World Series champion, 10-time All-Star, one of the most clutch players of all time and one of the most likeable sports figures in this city’s rich history is now a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Ortiz is just five years removed from leading the American League in doubles and RBIs. He left the game at his apex, still possessing all of his super powers. Red Sox fans thankfully never saw an Ortiz in major decline or just hanging on, he did nothing to dispel from his image as a Herculean power hitter with the bright smile who left the game with so many admirers.
“What really [matters] is how you did it,” he said. “And how much you cared about people. This man next to me [father] and my mom, rest in peace, encouraged me and educated me that everybody around you is important, no matter where you come from, no matter who you are, everybody counts, everybody matters. That’s why I treat people the way I treat people. It’s not all about who has the greatest talent, it’s how you use your talent.
“I’m a Hall of Famer today and I’m sure a lot of you guys paid attention to [that].”
The only hiccup to Ortiz’s career was an alleged positive PED test in 2003 that was disputed by not only Ortiz but baseball commissioner Rob Manfred, but it was a legitimate concern for some Hall of Fame voters.
What’s fascinating about those days, and the exclusion of Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds from the Hall after 10 years of eligibility, is that Major League Baseball did such a putrid and moronic job of approaching the steroid era and enforcing PED rules for more than a decade.
Ortiz was part of that generation but it’s still uncertain whether he was a user or was mistakenly tagged for a substance that was not actually banned under the MLB program. What put Ortiz over the top for the voters was his dominance well into his 30s and well past the steroid era.
He was one of the best hitters in the game in the 2010 decade, years after baseball finally realized it needed to regulate PED substances and set guidelines, years after baseball no longer needed sluggers such as Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire to mash home runs to revive a sport that nearly killed itself in 1994.
Ortiz ushered in a new era of baseball, a game that was more enjoyable to watch because more players were clean, a game that was more intriguing because the Red Sox were no longer a team incapable of winning the big one, no longer a team synonymous with heartbreak.
Ortiz was the face of a franchise that was the last to integrate, 12 years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. He became the face of a franchise that had an openly racist owner in the 1960s, an icon in a city that had a reputation of being unwelcoming for people of color.
Ortiz is one of the more significant figures in Boston sports history. When the city was reeling after the Boston Marathon bombings in April 2013, Ortiz made his famous speech prior to the April 20 game at Fenway Park, cementing his status for an entire region, representing an entire sport.
His ascension to greatness was so stunning, so unexpected that it still remains implausible, and that’s what makes Ortiz so magnetic, so polarizing. And when he received the official call in his native Dominican Republic, surrounded by Martinez, family and friends, he broke out with his trademark smile.
In many ways, though it was nearly two decades ago, Ortiz still deeply recalls those days of being discarded by the Twins, being a 27-year-old flamed-out prospect seeking a second opportunity, clamoring Grady Little for more playing time in 2003 and then turning himself into an All-Star a year later with the first of three consecutive 40-plus-home run seasons and a World Series title.
He finished with a whopping 483 home runs and 1,530 RBI as a Red Sox. He led the entire Major Leagues in OPS in his final season.
And while the accolades pour in, a first-ballot induction into the most difficult Hall of Fame to crack with the most discriminant voters who are allowed to remain anonymous is the ultimate achievement. It vindicates Ortiz’s improbable journey, verifies his greatness and caps a miraculous career.
“It’s a next-level type of thing,” he said. “You don’t see this every day. I accomplished so many things during my career, I won so many championships, I got so many good hits, I put so many smiles on people’s face. A lot of people ask me, ‘What are one of those moments that stick with you?’ I have so many great and wonderful times while I play. But this one is the type of baby you just want to hold on to it and never let go.”
No question Ortiz is a Hall of Famer, and his impact on the Red Sox, this city, the sports culture and Boston is immeasurable.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 4:30:29 GMT -5
Alex Speier @alexspeier · 9h Replying to @alexspeier Ortiz: ‘It’s something very special.’
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 4:32:20 GMT -5
Alex Speier @alexspeier · 8h Ortiz says he talked to Manny Ramirez at length yesterday. ‘I admire him so much … Not many people know who he is.’
Ortiz says Ramirez transformed him as a hitter. ‘Not seeing him in the Hall of Fame right now is something that hurts me… He knows he made a mistake that he shouldn’t.’
Ortiz says Pedro will ‘have to babysit me’ in Cooperstown, ‘just like he did in Boston.’
David Ortiz: ‘I really never dreamed of it … All I was looking for was the opportunity to be an everyday player. … Thank God it came through when I came to the Red Sox. The rest is history.’
Ortiz on being a first ballot HOF: ‘I can call myself that. I started paying attention to that lately… I learned how difficult it is to get in first ballot. It’s a wonderful honor to get in on my first rodeo. It’s something very special to me.’
Ortiz closes with: ‘I’ll be there July 24th!’
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 4:34:38 GMT -5
Chris Cotillo @chriscotillo · 9h I have a feeling NESN's ratings will suffer when the Red Sox take on the Blue Jays game at 1:10 pm on July 24.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 4:36:31 GMT -5
Alex Speier @alexspeier · 9h Replying to @alexspeier Ortiz thanks the fans. ‘They always got the best out of me.’
Ortiz: ‘The Red Sox are an organization that, if I was born again, I’d like to get the opportunity to play for them again.’
Ortiz on 2003 test: ‘You don’t know what anybody tested positive for … I never failed a drug test (when testing became institutionalized in 2004). What does that tell you?’
Ortiz says he started thinking about the Hall of Fame in the last year, when questions about HOF in the Dominican became frequent.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 4:39:14 GMT -5
David Ortiz elected to Hall of Fame: Red Sox, MLB react to Big Papi earning induction Updated: Jan. 25, 2022, 11:33 p.m. | Published: Jan. 25, 2022, 6:55 p.m.
By Matt Vautour | mvautour@masslive.com
Moments after David Ortiz’s election to the Baseball Hall of Fame became official, the Red Sox ownership group sent out statements congratulating the team’s iconic slugger:
Red Sox Principal Owner John Henry:
“There are countless reasons why David is deserving of this honor, beginning with three World Series trophies that we would not have without his heroics on the field and his leadership. He was critical in transforming the narrative around the Red Sox from one of curses and superstitions to tales of clutch moments and a collection of championships. David’s most meaningful and profound contributions, however, are not fully reflected in trophies and awards, but rather on the faces of every player held in David’s bear-hug embrace over the years, by our memories of stirring dugout rally speeches, and with his fist raised in solidarity with our community during its darkest hour. For the past two decades, David has meant the world to us and we are proud that Cooperstown will be another stop on his supremely impactful journey. Congratulations, David.”
Red Sox chairman Tom Werner:
“It has been a privilege to watch David’s storybook career in Boston for fourteen years and three World Series Championships. This honor only confirms what many of us at the Red Sox and throughout New England already knew: that he is not only one of our greatest players, but one of baseball’s greatest players. Even now, as the sole BBWAA ballot inductee, he continues to stand out in the same way he did throughout his playing career. David, you deserve to take your rightful place alongside the Hall of Fame’s legends. Congratulations on this special recognition.”
Red Sox President & CEO Sam Kennedy:
“David Ortiz is the most important player to ever wear a Red Sox uniform. He came to Boston in relative anonymity and with his captivating personality and his formidable bat he shattered expectations and paved the franchise’s future in championships and Duck Boat parades. The record numbers he put up and the dedication he showed in meticulously honing his craft is deserving of first ballot entry into the Hall of Fame. David, Boston and Fenway Park will always be your home but we will make an exception for Cooperstown. Congratulations, my friend. Enjoy your moment.”
From the team’s official Twitter account the Red Sox posted a picture of a signed ball by Ortiz with “HOF 22
Red Sox manager Alex Cora posted a picture of himself with Ortiz on Instagram with the message:
“Proud of you @davidortiz, sorry,#HallOfFamer David Ortiz.💪🏽👊🏽🙌🏾”
Cora then tweeted:
“David #HallOfFamer.That’s sounds great! Congratulations @davidortiz.”
Pedro Martinez who was with Ortiz when he learned he’d been elected, congratulated his friend in two languages on Twitter:
“Congratulations Big Papi! Welcome to Cooperstown! It’s an honor to have been your teammate and to be your brother! I’m so proud of you!
Felicidades Big Papi! Bienvenido a Cooperstown! Es un honor haber sido tu compañero de equipo y ser tu hermano. Felicidades compa! Que orgullo!”
Manny Ramirez saluted him in Spanish on Instagram:
“Congratulations mi brother @davidortiz con su ascenso merecido al Salón de los inmortales del béisbol de las Grandes Ligas, nos sentimos más que honrados, gran orgullo y regocijo para todos los dominicanos 🙏🏻 que bendición fue los años que jugamos Juntos , fueron tiempos inolvidables! @god bless you @davidortiz”
Which translates to:
“Congratulations my brother for your well-deserved induction to the Hall of Fame of Major League Baseball. We are more than honored with great pride and joy for all Dominicans. The years we played together were a blessing. Oh, those were unforgettable times. God bless you.”
Luis Tiant tweeted:
“Felicidades @davidortiz what a proud moment for you and your family! You are like a son to me, and have always treated me and my family with so much love and respect @baseballhall #redsox #redsoxnation @redsox #BigPapi
Dennis Eckersley tweeted: “Congratulations @davidortiz! Welcome to the Hall of Fame! Great career. @redsox @baseballhall #redsox #hof”
Mike Lowell, Ortiz’s teammate on the 2007 World Series-winning team, tweeted:
“Congrats @davidortiz. Loved having a great seat to your show!@redsox”
Curt Schilling, Ortiz’s former teammate who wasn’t elected, tweeted:
“Every year the conversation revolves around who didn’t get in. Like all star voting, who got cheated. I say it every year and especially this year, focus on who did get in. @davidortiz deserved a 1st ballot induction! Congratulations my friend you earned it! #bigpapiHoF”
Barry Bonds, who also was left out, posted on Instagram: “CONGRATULATIONS Big Papi on your induction into the Hall of Fame! Well deserved…I love you my brother. ♥️ @davidortiz”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 4:40:22 GMT -5
Red Sox’s David Ortiz addresses alleged PED use in 2003: ‘You don’t know what anybody tested positive for,’ Hall of Famer says Updated: Jan. 25, 2022, 10:52 p.m. | Published: Jan. 25, 2022, 10:52 p.m.
By Chris Cotillo | ccotillo@MassLive.com
Shortly after being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on his first try, Red Sox legend David Ortiz had a tough question to answer. Considering that alleged steroid users like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa had just fallen off the ballot after failing to garner enough votes for the 10th straight year, why did his reported positive test from 2003 not play into the thinking of the voters?
Ortiz, as he has throughout the years, discredited the “survey testing” that was done 19 years ago and noted that he never tested positive once MLB strengthened its PED testing program in 2004.
“We had someone coming out with this one list that you don’t know what anybody tested positive for,” Ortiz said. “All of the sudden, people are pointing fingers at me but then we started being drug tested and I never failed a test. What does that tell us?”
In 2009, a New York Times article cited Ortiz as one of more than 100 players who had registered a positive test during spring training in 2003, when the league was testing to determine how it should proceed with its drug program. The exact substance Ortiz tested positive for has never been made public, though the slugger has said he believes it to have been a vitamin over over-the-counter supplement.
In the years after MLB began testing more rigorously and punishing PED users in 2004, Ortiz never tested positive for any kind of banned drug. In 2016, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said it was possible that Ortiz never registered a positive test in 2003 because of the questionable accuracy of those tests. He also said the 2003 testing should not come into play when determining players’ legacies (or Hall of Fame candidacies).
“I think whatever judgment writers decide to make with respect to players who have tested positive or otherwise been adjudicated under our program, that’s up to them,” Manfred said in Oct. 2016. “That’s a policy decision. They’ve got to look into their conscience and decide how they evaluate that against the Hall of Fame criteria. What I do feel is unfair is in situations where it is leaks, rumors, innuendo, not confirmed positive test results, that that is unfair to the players. I think that would be wrong.”
Ortiz lamented the fact that Bonds, Clemens and former teammate Manny Ramirez failed to make the Hall of Fame because of their links to steroid use.
“Not having them join me at this time is something that is hard for me to believe to be honest with you,” he said when asked about Bonds and Clemens. “Those guys did it all.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jan 26, 2022 4:42:16 GMT -5
Red Sox’s David Ortiz compares waiting for Hall of Fame call to first two minutes riding bicycle at gym Updated: Jan. 25, 2022, 10:06 p.m. | Published: Jan. 25, 2022, 10:06 p.m.
By Christopher Smith | csmith@masslive.com
Red Sox legend David Ortiz was told he might receive a phone call from the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday.
“They don’t say much,” Ortiz said. “They just tell you, ‘This is what you’ve got to do’ and ‘you might receive this phone call, blah, blah, blah.’ I mean, the time, it started ticking.”
It was a stressful afternoon as Ortiz waited by the phone, hoping to hear from Baseball Writers Association of America secretary and treasure Jack O’Connell. The call finally came. O’Connell informed the longtime designated hitter that he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Ortiz received 77.9% of votes from the BBWAA. A candidate needs at least 75% to be elected.
“My day was kind of smooth until like noon,” Ortiz said. “Once it was noon, you know what it’s like when you go to the gym for the first time and then you jump on the bicycle and you want to go for 30 minutes but the first two minutes, they feel like they were the longest? That’s exactly how my day felt.”
Ortiz was the only candidate elected this year.
“I had so many great and wonderful times while I played, but this one, it’s the type of baby that you just want to hold onto it and never let go,” Ortiz said. “It’s just something that you don’t receive that type of phone call on a daily basis. You’re talking about like 340 players. You know how many players I have met? You know how many players have played in a Major League Baseball game throughout the years, over a hundred years, and only 340 players are capable of being part of this. It’s something that’s amazing.”
Red Sox legend and Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez was there with Ortiz when he received the call.
“Once I received that phone call today with the whole family, my kids, my dad, Pedro, my agent, my friends, it was something, man — it was crazy.”
Ortiz batted .286 with a .380 on-base percentage, .552 slugging percentage, .931 OPS, 541 homers, 632 doubles, 19 triples, 2,472 hits and 1,768 RBIs during his 20-year big league career.
“It’s a next level type of thing,” Ortiz said. “You don’t see this every day. You don’t receive this phone call every day.”
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