‘Big Papi’ to the Hall of Fame in his 1st opportunity

NEW YORK (AP) — David Ortiz was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first appearance on the ballot, while Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens missed their last chance to be voted into the precinct.

Ortiz, a Dominican slugger elected to the All-Star Game 10 times during his brilliant 20-season career, most with the Boston Red Sox, was mentioned on 77.9% of the ballots, according to results revealed Tuesday by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA).

With this, he exceeded the minimum required of 75% support for his enthronement. He is the fourth player who served primarily as a designated hitter to enter the hall.

“I am truly honored and blessed to be elected to the Hall of Fame, the highest honor a player can receive in his life,” Ortiz said in a statement released by the Red Sox.

“Big Papi” joins Juan Marichal, Pedro Martínez and Vladimir Guerrero Sr. to bring the number of Dominican players in Cooperstown to four. Ortiz appeared on MLB Networks in a brightly colored floral print shirt.

He was accompanied by Martinez.

“For a kid from Santo Domingo, I always dreamed of playing professional baseball,” Ortiz said.

With his broad smile and charisma, “Big Papi” was one of the benchmarks in baseball during the 2000s and 2010s, earning the affection of local and foreign fans. In contrast, his hulking physical presence intimidated pitchers, and he had an innate gift for making himself felt in late innings.

He totaled 23 game-winning hits, including three during the 2004 postseason in which Boston exorcised an 86-year World Series curse.

Ortiz batted .286 and hit 541 home runs for Boston and Minnesota. 88% of his plate appearances were as a designated hitter, the most by anyone in the Hall of Fame. He leaves behind Puerto Rican Edgar Martinez, who was a DH in 71.7% of his appearances. Frank Thomas and Harold Baines are the other hotheads who served as DH the most.

But he was exempt from the doping substance scandals. In the end, however, a large voting bloc overlooked the positive result detected in a series of tests in 2003 that were supposed to remain anonymous.

Ortiz has always denied using steroids. In addition, commissioner Rob Manfred stated in 2016 that it seemed “wrong” to exclude him from the Hall of Fame based on that single piece of evidence.

The three-time World Series champion has remained in the spotlight after retiring. He has served as an analyst for the Fox Sports network during the postseason.

He was hospitalized in 2019 after being shot in the Dominican Republic. His recovery required three surgeries, and doctors removed his gallbladder and parts of his intestines and colon.

Ortiz will be exalted at the Cooperstown museum, in upstate New York, on July 24, along with Cubans Minnie Miñoso and Tony Oliva, as well as Buck O’Neil, Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat and Bud Fowler, selected by the committees of the eras.

Clemens, Bonds, and Curt Schilling will not be in the room. All three fell short of the required endorsement, in their 10th and final year on the BBWAA ballot.

Bonds is the leading home run hitter in major league history and Clemens set a record seven Cy Young Awards. Voters denied them baseball’s top honor over suspicions they used performance-enhancing drugs.

Bonds got 66% of the vote and Clemens 65.2%.

Support for Schilling fell sharply after 2021, when he fell 16 votes short of being enthroned.

Many voters withdrew their support for the right-hander in the face of bigoted remarks he has made in retirement against Muslims, transgender people, journalists and other groups.