Red Sox legend David Ortiz was told he might receive a phone call from the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday.
“They don’t say much,” Ortiz said. “They just tell you, ‘This is what you’ve got to do’ and ‘you might receive this phone call, blah, blah, blah.’ I mean, the time, it started ticking.”
It was a stressful afternoon as Ortiz waited by the phone, hoping to hear from Baseball Writers Association of America secretary and treasure Jack O’Connell. The call finally came. O’Connell informed the longtime designated hitter that he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Ortiz received 77.9% of votes from the BBWAA. A candidate needs at least 75% to be elected.
“My day was kind of smooth until like noon,” Ortiz said. “Once it was noon, you know what it’s like when you go to the gym for the first time and then you jump on the bicycle and you want to go for 30 minutes but the first two minutes, they feel like they were the longest? That’s exactly how my day felt.”
Ortiz was the only candidate elected this year.
“I had so many great and wonderful times while I played, but this one, it’s the type of baby that you just want to hold onto it and never let go,” Ortiz said. “It’s just something that you don’t receive that type of phone call on a daily basis. You’re talking about like 340 players. You know how many players I have met? You know how many players have played in a Major League Baseball game throughout the years, over a hundred years, and only 340 players are capable of being part of this. It’s something that’s amazing.”
Red Sox legend and Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez was there with Ortiz when he received the call.
“Once I received that phone call today with the whole family, my kids, my dad, Pedro, my agent, my friends, it was something, man — it was crazy.”
Ortiz batted .286 with a .380 on-base percentage, .552 slugging percentage, .931 OPS, 541 homers, 632 doubles, 19 triples, 2,472 hits and 1,768 RBIs during his 20-year big league career.
“It’s a next level type of thing,” Ortiz said. “You don’t see this every day. You don’t receive this phone call every day.”
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