Ortiz Reaches Cooperstown on 1st Swing; Bonds, Clemens & Schilling Retired in Order

As expected, "Big Papi" David Ortiz got into the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first attempt earning 77.9% of the BBWAA vote. 

No other player was elected by the BBWAA. "Big Papi" will be inducted along with Tony Oliva, Jim Kaat, Gil Hodges, Minnie Minoso, Buck O'Neil and Bud Fowler in Cooperstown, New York on July 24th. 

Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling, all in their last year of eligibility, garnering 66%, 65.2% and 58.6% of the vote, respectively. While Bonds and Clemens actually gained in their share of their vote, Schilling went down dramatically after gaining 71.1% of the BBWAA vote last year. Of course, after last year's result Schilling demanded to be removed from the BBWAA ballot. While I have long championed Schilling as a Hall of Famer, had he for once in his life kept his damn mouth shut he would have been sharing the stage with his former Boston Red Sox teammate.

Another of Schilling's former teammates Scott Rolen stands a very good chance of being elected to Cooperstown next year as he garnered 63.2% of the vote, an 11% jump from last year.

But the man of the hour is Big Papi. His Hall of Fame career is a remarkable one when you consider he spent four seasons in the Seattle Mariners minor league system when he was known as David Arias before being traded to the Minnesota Twins prior to the 1997 season as a player to be named later in a deal for Dave Hollins. When he joined the Twins organization, he was called Ortiz but was not yet Big Papi. After six unspectacular seasons in the Twin Cities, he was released. 

The Boston Red Sox signed Ortiz as a favor to fellow Dominican Pedro Martinez prior to the 2003 season. At first, Ortiz was a backup to Jeremy Giambi. But Ortiz found his way into the lineup and would never leave for the next 14 seasons. While in a Red Sox uniform, Ortiz earned three World Series rings including a World Series MVP, was named to 10 AL All-Star Teams, won 7 Silver Sluggers, drove in 100 or more runs 10 times while leading the AL in RBIs thrice. While never winning the AL MVP he finished in the top five in balloting five times. When he hung up his spikes after the 2016 season, Ortiz finished his career with 2,472 hits, a lifetime .286 batting average 541 HR and 1768 RBI.

There is a case to be made that David Ortiz is the greatest player to put on a Boston Red Sox uniform. That includes Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski. Without Ortiz, the Red Sox do not come back from an 0-3 deficit in the ALCS and break the Curse of the Bambino. Even if one disagrees that Ortiz is the greatest player to put on a Red Sox uniform, he is part of the team's Mount Rushmore. Induction into the Hall of Fame is a well deserved honor. Congratulations, Big Papi!!!