MLB has just announced the results of this year's Hall of Fame, and Red Sox star David Ortiz received 77.9% of the votes to be inducted into the Hall of Fame for the first time in his career. Drug-resistant duo Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens received 66 percent and 65.2 percent of the vote, with Philadelphia star Scott Rowland getting 63.2 percent of the vote and Curt Schilling only 58.6 percent of the vote, all of them far from the 75 percent threshold.
In a statement, Ortiz wrote, "I am truly honored to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, a lifetime honor for any baseball player." I'm thankful to the journalists who voted for me, who took my career into account instead of just looking at the statistics, who took into account my contribution to the Red Sox, to Boston as a whole. I also thank the owners of the Red Sox and my teammates for winning three championships in my career."
Dominican-born Ortiz grew up in the Mariners' minor league system, and in subsequent trades he was sent to the Twins as a potential rookie. He made his major league debut there and spent almost the entire period in control, in Minnesota, Ortiz was a steady major league-level hitter, but far from being a star, and in 2002, he contributed .839 OPS with 466 plays, but he was actually cut by the Twins at the end of the season. He was immediately signed by the Red Sox, and in Boston he completed his transformation, becoming the top five of the MVP vote for five consecutive years, and was selected for the Star Race five times in six years and won four Silver Rod Awards.
During this time, he won the title twice with the Red Sox, and in the classic series of the Red Sox in 2004, Ortiz won the MVP of the American League Championship in three of the last four games. Three years later, the Red Sox won the championship again, and Ortiz played steadily throughout the playoffs.
After that, Ortiz ushered in a low ebb before stepping forward, just when people thought he would decline, since 2010, his wRC+ has never been lower than 134, and in the 2013 World Series, he contributed .688/.760/1.188 hits and two bombs in six games, helping Boston after the bombing to get out of the haze and win the MVP of the World Series.
Even in the final season of his career, Ortiz, who turned 40, still contributed .315/.401/.620 hits and 38 shots, which was almost the best season of his career. His 20-year career has amassed a total of 10,091 hits, with a .286/.380/.552 strikeout, 541 hits and 632 second-run hits, but a slightly less hit, "only" 2472.
But that's pretty much all Ortiz's career contribution, with almost zero contributions on the defensive end, standing just past first base in 2162.0 innings, and other than that, without any record of standing. In addition, he has suspected of drug prohibition, even if he has not been caught in the official drug test, but there is multiple evidence that he seems to have a record of medication.
Despite this, and despite not winning the MVP, Ortiz has been selected for the Star Race ten times in his career, won seven designated strike silver rod awards, won three championships and is still the core, and received MVP votes eight times, which is enough to prove his greatness. With the greatest designation in history striking the precedent of Edgar Martinez finally knocking on the Hall of Fame after a decade of voting, Ortiz's first qualification for the first time in his career is well deserved.
(Text/Geng Haoyang)