David Ortiz is a first ballot Hall Of Famer. Period.
On Monday night, one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) designated hitter of all time played the final game of his iconic twenty year career. One can only assume that it is only a matter of time before he goes into the Hall Of Fame, right? I mean, if you look at Ortiz's career statistics, you would be absolutely bat shit crazy to think otherwise. And yesterday, while scrolling through my twitter feed, I couldn't help but discover that Max Kellerman from ESPN and Doug Gottlieb from CBS fall into that bat shit crazy category of people who do not believe Ortiz is a first ballot Hall Of Famer.
I'll give Kellerman minimal amounts of credit on this, at least he said Ortiz still is a Hall Of Fame player but not on the first ballot. This, however, does not make him any less wrong. Gottlieb, on the other hand, tweeted that he doesn't believe Ortiz even belongs in Cooperstown, giving him a slight edge over Kellerman in the bat shit crazy competition of the day (congrats Doug). First, I'll just go over some of Ortiz's stats and accomplishments. Big Papi hit 541 career home runs, knocked in 1,768 career RBI's, and finished with a career batting average of .286, and recorded 2,192 career base hits. These numbers alone are enough to get anyone into the HOF but lets put this into some perspective for a bit. Only sixteen players in this history of the sport have hit more home runs than Ortiz, only six players in the history of the sport have hit more playoff home runs than Ortiz, and Ortiz also finishes his career with a higher batting average than players like: Ernie Banks, Johnny Bench, Yogi Berra, Craig Biggio, Carlton Fisk, Ken Griffey Jr., Rickey Henderson, Reggie Jackson, Willie McCovey, Cal Ripken, Brooks Robinson, Ryne Sandberg, Mike Schmidt, Ozzie Smith, and Carl Yastrzemski...all of these players previously listed are in the Hall Of Fame. Not only did he put up all time great numbers, but he won three World Series titles (MVP of the World Series in 2013), played in ten all-star games, earned six silver slugger awards, and also holds a Boston Red Sox team record of home runs in a season with 54. The numbers don't even give his career total justice. He was a leader, a fan favorite, and one of Boston's biggest and inspirational voices following the bombing of the Boston Marathon in 2013. He hit countless clutch playoff home runs as well as playing a crucial role in engineering the greatest playoff comeback in MLB (and maybe even all professional sports) history in 2004, overcoming a 3-0 series deficit against their arch rival, the New York Yankees.
All of that being said, Max Kellerman states one of his biggest reasons that Ortiz does not belong in the Hall Of Fame, is his inability to play in the field and the fact he was a designated hitter. Well, last time I checked, Reggie Jackson is in the Hall Of Fame as well as many other players who might not be adequately qualified on the defensive side. You also can't hold his position of DH against him. In the American League, the DH position is a vital one and David Ortiz is arguably the best to ever do it. Yes, I'll agree that the DH position is the least taxing of all positions in the sport and started off as kind of a gimmick. However, if one punter and three place-kickers can make their way into the NFL Hall Of Fame then dammit a DH in baseball can do the same, especially if they are the best to ever do it. Lastly, Kellerman cited the steroid era as well as an alleged positive test Ortiz had in 2003 as reason to exclude him from baseball immortality. But when it comes to the allegations of PED usage by Ortiz, they are exactly that, allegations that nobody can prove. Ortiz has repeatedly denied ever using PEDs and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has even publicly defended Ortiz's legacy by stating that the allegations of steroid usage should not tarnish his legacy or hurt his HOF chances. The "scandal" surrounding Ortiz is nothing in comparison to Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, or even Sammy Sosa. Big Papi does not belong in the same category of shame as those players.
Given the body of work over almost twenty years of baseball, Ortiz retired on a good note. He is a front runner for A.L. MVP this year and put up crazy numbers for someone as old as he is...with a batting average of .315, 38 home runs, and 127 RBI, this was one of his best seasons yet. He retired at the top of his game and with a legacy of being a Boston fan favorite and three time champion, he certainly belongs in the HOF as soon as he is eligible...and Max Kellerman and Doug Gottlieb can kiss his ass.
@E_Campbell3
