The National Baseball Hall of Fame announced former Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz as the 2022 class's latest inclusion on Tuesday evening. Ortiz, the only player voted in by the Baseball Writers Association of America, will join a group of six veterans committee selections: Buck O'Neil, Bud Fowler, Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva, Gil Hodges and Minnie Miñoso. Those seven will be officially inducted on July 24. (You can find the full voting breakdown by clicking here.)
Ortiz, predictably, celebrated in style alongside his friend, former teammate and now fellow Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez upon learning of his fate. Take a look:
Cooperstown is calling! pic.twitter.com/de1K5bHxlZ
— Red Sox (@RedSox) January 25, 2022
Others didn't have reason to be joyful following Tuesday's reveal. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Curt Schilling were part of a group of four (along with Sammy Sosa) who had steroid- or character-related concerns facing them in their 10th and final year on the ballot. None of the four cleared the 75-percent vote share threshold required for entrance, meaning that their fates will now be up to future veterans committees.
Clemens and Schilling both reacted to their failures to reach the Hall on Twitter: Clemens, for his part, claimed that he and his family "put the HOF in the rear view mirror ten years ago," while concluding that "hopefully everyone can now close this book and keep their eyes forward focusing on what is really important in life."
Thank y’all for the great responses! Much appreciated. Not sure if I did the thread right 🤦♂️ so here’s a screenshot pic.twitter.com/oSGIniv1Bm
— Roger Clemens (@rogerclemens) January 25, 2022
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
— Curt Schilling (@gehrig38) January 25, 2022
Bonds didn't make a public statement. His longtime team, the San Francisco Giants, offered the following comment on Twitter:
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) January 25, 2022
Bonds did offer his congratulations to Ortiz through an Instagram post, however:
In turn, Ortiz provided his support for Bonds' eventual inclusion in the Hall. "I know there's a lot of things going on," he said after being elected himself, according to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, "but to me, he was a Hall of Famer before all of the talk and all of the things. He played the game to a different level."
It's to be seen if a set of voters other than the BBWAA will someday agree with Ortiz.
