COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) – David Ortiz promised to speak from the heart. As usual, Big Papi delivered.
His megawatt smile tinged with some emotion, the former Boston Red Sox slugger was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday — after his daughter Alexandra sang the national anthem — and was humbled by those around him.
“I want to thank God for giving me the opportunity to be here today and for giving me the joy of being able to drive this road, this road that allowed me to be here today and hopefully inspire everyone to believe in yourself,” Ortiz. said
Ortiz was greeted by a raucous crowd chanting “Papi! Papi!” as many fans made the four-hour drive from nearby Fenway Park to attend the festivities.
When he took the stage, Ortiz flashed the sky as is his custom at special moments, a way to honor his late mother, who died two decades ago after a car accident.
“I’ve always tried to live my life in a way … so I can make a positive impact in the world,” said the 46-year-old Ortiz, just the 58th player selected in his first year on the ballot. “And if my story can remind you of anything, let it remind you that when you believe in someone, you can change the world, you can change their future, just like so many people believed in me.”
Ortiz, who survived a nightclub shooting in the Dominican Republic three years ago, soaked in the celebration.
Legions of fans crowded the field adjacent to Clark Sports Center, parasols and Dominican Republic flags sprinkled around. Ortiz’s number 34 was seemingly everywhere as fans chanted and sang in Spanish. A sign that read “I love U” summed up the admiration for Big Papi on his special day.
Six Era Committee selections also comprised the Class of 2022 – former Twins teammates Jim Kaat and Tony Oliva, the late Minnie Miñoso, former Dodgers star and Mets manager Gil Hodges, and Black pioneers Buck O’Neil and Bud Fowler.
In 14 years with the Red Sox, Ortiz hit 500 home runs – 17 of them in the postseason.
If there was a blemish, it was a report from The New York Times that said he tested positive during a 2003 investigative drug test conducted by MLB and the players’ association. Ortiz was never punished for performance-enhancing drugs, and MLB and the union never confirmed that there was a positive test. The sides said the survey test results were never verified up to the point of the testing with penalties that began in 2004.
That was far from the mind on this day, as Ortiz paid tribute to many in English and Spanish.
“It’s an honor to be on this stage,” Ortiz said. “I can’t ask for more.”
The 83-year-old Kaat, now a broadcaster for the Twins, pitched a quarter-century, winning a World Series a year before retiring in 1983. He thanked his dad for instilling the discipline needed to succeed, his wife forever. being there, and his former minor league manager, 94-year-old Jack McKeon, who was in the audience.
“I am humbled and honored to be included in this fraternity, some of the greatest players to play the game, and I thank you for being a part of this wonderful day,” said Kaat, a native of Zeeland, Michigan.
Oliva was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1964, led the league in hits five times, and became the first player in major league history to win batting titles in each of his first two seasons, finishing with a lifetime average of .304 in. 15 seasons with the Twins.
Oliva got his chance in part because of Miñoso, the Cuban Comet.
“I’ve been so blessed, so lucky,” said Oliva, who turned 84 four days ago. “I really appreciate it. I would like to thank you to all those friends, all those wonderful friends, all those friends from all over the world. I really appreciated it, very much.”
Miñoso grew up on a sugar plantation and played ball on weekends as a child and became a star with the New York Cubans in the Negro Leagues before becoming the first Black Latino player in the major leagues in 1949, two years after Jackie Robinson broke through. To Cuban players, Miñoso was the Jackie Robinson of Latin America and starred for the White Socks in the 1950s. He was a nine-time All-Star and finished his career with 2,110 hits and a .299 batting average. He died in 2015.
“From a humble ranch in Cuba to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, what a way to honor such a remarkable life lived and served in the sport he loved. He would have been so very proud to be a Hall of Famer,” said his wife, Sharon.
Irene Hodges spoke on behalf of her father, a hard-hitting first baseman who had 370 home runs and 1,274 RBIs in 18 major league seasons — all but the last two with the Dodgers. He retired in 1963 and five years later was hired to manage the Mets, leading them in 1969 to their unlikely World Series victory over the Baltimore Orioles before dying of a heart attack three years later at 47.
“He would be so proud. Today I am especially happy for my mother,” said Irene Hodges. “When the call came from the Hall of Fame … I started to cry probably the same way I did when I lost my father. I was so beyond happy for him, and even thrilled that my mom at 95 could hear this news. My mom watching today from our home in Brooklyn.”
O’Neil, who played for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro Leagues and was a tireless advocate for the game until his death in 2006, was represented by a niece, Dr. Angela Terry.
“He would remind us all that his playing career was in the Negro Leagues and today he was put in the same class as Negro baseball pioneer, Bud Fowler, and former Negro League All-Star, Minnie Miñoso,” Terry said. . “Man oh man. Nothing could be better. Thank you for loving our uncle.”
Hall of Famer Dave Winfield paid tribute to Fowler, the first black man to play for a white professional team nearly seven decades before Robinson broke the color barrier with the Dodgers. Fowler is also the first person from the Cooperstown area to receive the honor. He was born in nearby Fort Plain but grew up in Cooperstown, where he learned to play the game.
A second baseman who hit just over .300 in 13 seasons, Fowler was signed at age 20 by an all-white professional team in Massachusetts in 1878. It was the start of a 13-year career that saw him play for 18 teams, including. four in one year, the constant moves a direct reflection of the racism he had to endure.
“I’m asking you to remember Bud Fowler in a broad context,” Winfield said. “Remember him as a skilled athlete who overcame obstacles that are hard to imagine today. I personally hope you will all see him as a man who loved the game of baseball from its inception.”
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