Ortiz Elected on First Ballot, Bonds and Clemens Left Off For Final Time

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 Written By: Matt Ferreira






 I would first like to start this article by congratulating David Ortiz. One of, if not the best designated hitter of all time. A player that I grew up watching as a kid in the suburbs of Boston hoping he would hit a home run every time he stepped up to the plate, because it felt like he did. 

 Not only does he have many career milestones, 500+ home runs, 2400+ hits, and 1700+ RBIs to name a few, he also has three World Series Championships, a World Series MVP, and American League Championship MVP. Words themselves can not describe how good David Ortiz was as a player or how important he was by helping the Boston and Dominican Republic communities. 

 A great player on the field, may be better known for the actions and words he said when not playing. Papi helped the healing process with his famous speech after the Boston Marathon Bombings in 2013, and helped push the Boston Strong narrative that has stuck with Bostonians and everyone from New England for life. The David Ortiz Children’s Fund was started in 2007, the fund has helped children and their families in Boston and the Dominican Republic pay for hospital services. 

 While I am a lifelong Ortiz fan as a player and person, I am sad to say this year’s Hall of Fame Inductee ceremony will not be celebrating Ortiz’s career as much as it is scrutinizing those who did not vote to get Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens in the Hall of Fame.

 2022 was the final year that Clemens and Bonds were eligible to be inducted into the Hall of Fame via the voting of  baseball writers. Unsurprisingly, both failed to reach the 75 percent threshold to get the call to be inducted into the hall, with Bonds getting 66 percent of the vote and Clemens getting 65.2 percent. 

 

 The Baseball Hall of Fame has now lost significant meaning that the all time home run leader, hits leader, the player with the most MVPs, and the player with the most Cy Young Awards will not be in the Hall of Fame. It is hard to believe that Cooperstown can be called a baseball museum when it does not have three of the best players in history.  

 While there is certainly an argument for the use of performance enhancing drugs and the integrity of the game, we can not erase the steroid era by just not allowing players from this time period into the Hall of Fame. 

 If anything these players should be celebrated, steroid and performance enhancement drug usage was only frowned upon until 2004 when Major League Baseball set up a testing regimen. Before that, some of the most exciting times in baseball occurred. The 1998 home run race between Sosa and McGwire, the rise of the 90s Mariners with Griffey and A-Rod, Barry Bonds with the Pirates and Giants smashing home runs, Mike Piazza becoming one of the greatest hitting catchers of all time. On the pitching side with Randy Johnson’s devastating fastball, Pedro Martinez’s changeup that fell off a table, Roger Clemens dominating in his mid to late 30’s. The steroid era was one of the most exciting decades of baseball. While not all of these players have used steroids, they still dominated and competed with those who did. 

 Without even going into their stats Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are two of the most iconic baseball names not just of the 90’s but ever. The fact that these two players are not a part of the ultimate baseball museum questions the integrity of the voting process and baseball writers who voted against them over the past ten years. 



Location: Boston, MA, USA

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