How David Ortiz, other former Red Sox stars are doing in the Hall of Fame vote just days before the 2022 class is announced
Ortiz appears to be on a good track to get inducted as part of the 2022 class.
When the Baseball Hall of Fame announces its 2022 induction class on Tuesday, there’s a good chance that David Ortiz will be a part of it, making him a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Of the 176 ballots made public by the members of the Baseball Writers Association of America as of Saturday evening, Ortiz has received a vote on 83.5 percent of them, via Ryan Thibodeau (@NotMrTibbs on Twitter). That puts Ortiz on pace to clear the 75 percent threshold needed to make the Hall of Fame, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a slam dunk to make it.
Thibodeau’s tracker estimates that 392 Hall of Fame ballots will be cast in total, which means Ortiz needs a vote on 68.1 percent of the remaining ballots. Since Thibodeau started tracking Hall of Fame ballots in 2009, players have usually received fewer votes on ballots shared after the induction announcement or not shared at all. For instance, Barry Bonds received 23.1 percent fewer votes on private ballots than he did on public ballots in 2021. Roger Clemens saw a similar drop in 2021, receiving 21 percent fewer votes on private ballots than he did public ballots.
As Ortiz appears on track to head to the Hall of Fame, he told The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham that he’ll be at home with his family and friends in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic when the class is announced on Tuesday. Among those friends will be Red Sox great and Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez.
“Trying to stay busy. All I can do is wait,” Ortiz told Abraham.
Among the former Red Sox players on the ballot, Ortiz appears to be the only one who is likely to make it. Not only that, it appears Ortiz might be the only inductee in the 2022 class.
Bonds (77.1 percent) and Clemens (76.1 percent) are the only other players to receive more than 75 percent of the vote on ballots made public so far. But their prior history with private ballots suggests that they’ll fall short of the 75 percent mark. It’s the final year on the ballot for both players.
Manny Ramirez has 37.5 percent of the votes so far in his sixth year on the ballot, well short of the 75 percent mark but should keep him on the ballot for 2023. In his final year on the ballot, Curt Schilling has received 60.8 percent of the votes. Schilling asked to be removed from the ballot after he wasn’t inducted in 2021 but his request was denied.
Former Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon has received one vote so far in his first year on the ballot, making it likely that he’ll be knocked off the ballot in 2023.