Boston Red Sox legend David Ortiz was the sole player to receive enough votes to be elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The Baseball Writers Association of America announced the results of their vote on Tuesday, with Ortiz just barely making the cut.
In his first year on the ballot, Ortiz received 77.9% of the votes, just 11 points higher than the 75% required to make it to the Hall of Fame.
Over his 20-year career with the Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox, Ortiz was a 10-time All-Star, seven-time Silver Slugger Award winner and three-time World Series champion. He also won a World Series MVP and an ALCS MVP award.
Ortiz finished his career batting .286/.380/.552 with 541 home runs, 1,768 RBIs, 1,419 runs, a 140 wRC+, 51 fWAR and 55.3 bWAR.
Now, as there usually is with Hall of Fame voting, Ortiz brought with him some controversy in his selection. Ortiz was one of the many players who tested positive for PED use in 2003. Some of the others to do so — Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez, and Sammy Sosa — were not elected to the Hall of Fame for the same reason.
Bonds (66%) and Clemens (65.2%) just barely missed the cut despite being two of the greatest players in MLB history. PED use defines their legacy, but clearly the BBWAA decided that the same could not be said for Ortiz.
Bonds, Clemens, and Sosa — who all were on their 10th and final year being on the ballot — can only be elected through committee processes. Gil Hodges is an example of a player who missed the cut on the main ballot but was voted in via committee.
Curt Schilling is another player in the final year of being on the ballot. He missed the cut as well, getting 58.6% of the vote. He, however, is unlikely to get in via committee due to controversies surrounding hate speech and racism.
Angels on the ballot
Four former Los Angeles Angels players were represented on the ballot, none of whom came even close to 75%. Bobby Abreu received 8.6% of the vote in his third year on the ballot. Torii Hunter, in Year 2, got 5.3%.
Both in their first years, Tim Lincecum and Mark Teixeira received 2.3% and 1.5% respectively.
