David Ortiz’s Hall of Fame Bid: C&C Staff Discussion

Mathis Bauchner

Last Saturday David Ortiz crushed two home runs against the Tampa Bay Rays to get himself into a very exclusive club, becoming just the 27th player in MLB history to reach 500 career home runs. This week C&C staff weighed in on Ortiz’s candidacy for a spot in the Hall of Fame and whether or not Big Papi deserves to be enshrined.

Jason Haskins:
In hitting his 500th home run last weekend, Ortiz has joined an elite group of players, a club that should no doubt cement his eventual election into the Hall of Fame.

If the number of home runs isn’t enough, one needs to look no further than last year’s election to Cooperstown of Frank Thomas. The former two-time American League MVP became the first player to be officially elected to the Hall as a designated hitter. Career numbers of 521 home runs, 1704 runs batted in, and 5 All-Star appearances are similar to those of Ortiz.

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Things get a little fuzzy for me as a baseball fan first and Red Sox fan second. We hold these athletes accountable for cheating and Ortiz was on the list of nearly 100 players that allegedly tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs during spring training in 2003. According to Ortiz, the MLB never told him what substance showed up on the test specifically. Did he test positive for steroids? We may never know, but we have to hold these guys to a higher standard if we make cheating as big a no-no as the Hall of Fame has done by not electing a single guy with PEDs on his record.

My stance is if Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens can’t be in the Hall of Fame, why should guys who were on that 2003 list get the chance? If we could see the results and what Ortiz failed for that would make this debate much simpler for everyone. Unfortunately, the list is sealed and that ends my argument for Papi’s Hall chances.

Does he have the numbers? Yes. Is he one of the best designated hitters of all-time? Yes, but Edgar Martinez has not been elected into the Hall, so it will even be tougher for Ortiz. Until that list is revealed I believe Papi belongs outside of Cooperstown. Still though, he is and always will be a Red Sox legend. Don’t let anybody forget it.

Brian Stone:

In all honesty, I’m not a huge baseball guy. The season is way too long for me, and it’s difficult for me to watch Red Sox games on television, due to living in Georgia and all. However, I do know that Big Papi should be a Hall of Famer. The fact that he’s only the fourth player in baseball history to hit 500 home runs and win three world championships is amazing. And to be the only player out of those four to not be a Yankee is simply mind-blowing to me. If Frank Thomas is in the Hall of Fame as a designated hitter put Ortiz in as well.

Next: Staff Takes Continued...Big Papi Only Plays Half The Game,
And That's A Problem?!?

Matthew Rewinski:

More than any of his career milestones that will take all of any Hall of Fame writer’s fingers and toes to count, David Ortiz’s HOF case seems to have revolved around his status as a full-time designated hitter. Why induct someone, Ortiz’s critics wail, that only plays half of the game? Why should someone who almost only exists for the purpose of offense and rarely takes the field even be considered for the Hall?

BREAKING: The Hall of Fame inducts people that only play half of the game EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR.

They’re called pitchers, the guys that David Ortiz has been terrorizing since he joined the Red Sox in 2003 (and before that on the Minnesota Twins), when the top-selling album of the year was…Get Rich or Die Tryin’.

Seriously, though, think about how ridiculous the idea that a DH doesn’t belong in the Hall is, especially if you’re one of those National League dorks that goes around saying, “But pitchers hit! That’s REAL baseball!”

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I guess, if you can call what guys like John Lester do when they shuffle up to the plate “hitting.”

More importantly, Ortiz has been murdering innocent baseballs for so long, three guys that he hit home runs off of just got into the Hall this year or last year – Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, and, of course, Pedro Martinez.

And while there’s no formula, no calculation of “clutch,” Ortiz’s otherworldly batting average in the famous 2004 MLB playoffs was .400, with 5 homers and 19 RBIs. Nine years after that, in the 2013 postseason, he notched 5 home runs again, batting .353, and adding 13 RBIs. Just more of Senor Octubre doing Senor Octubre things. Oh, and if David Ortiz has a relatively quiet year (by his standards) next year, and knocks in 22 homers (he’s hit 30+ for the last three seasons)?

He’ll pass Gary Sheffield, Ernie Banks, Ted Williams, and Frank Thomas in the Mr. 500 club.

If a kicker can get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Big Papi’s Hall of Fame candidacy is the easiest choice baseball writers will have when that ballot lands on their desks.

Mathis Bauchner:
Full disclosure, I love David Ortiz. He’s my favorite baseball player far and away and I was a strong supporter of him making the Hall of Fame before he hit his 500th. Reaching this milestone further cements a legacy that was already pretty staggering. I’ll admit, I’m inclined to dismiss the 2003 steroid allegations, as the MLB never actually said the specific substance Ortiz tested positive for. He’s played over a decade since and put up amazing numbers, no doubt passing numerous drug tests in the process.

From 2004-07, Papi finished in the top four in AL MVP voting four straight times. That included a two-year span in which he hit 101 home runs with 285 RBIs. And the guy has continued to crush it well into his 30s. At age 39, he’s currently got 35 home runs, matching his total from a year ago. In fact, his average total over the last six seasons in nearly 31. That kind of long-term productivity outweighs the allegations in my mind.

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Ortiz has just never seemed like a steroid guy to me. He didn’t have some kind of crazy physical transformation. He’s a classic, big-bodied slugger. True, he played in an era when PEDs ran rampant, and he was taking something back in 2003 that the MLB didn’t allow, but is that really enough to disqualify him from Cooperstown? Ortiz has clearly outlasted that era. All those players that put up insane home run totals in the late ‘90s and early 2000s are long gone, but Ortiz is still in the league and thriving.

I have yet to touch on his legendary postseason play, but here goes. At age 37, he won his 3rd title and 1st World Series MVP, batting .688 in the six game series with 1.948 OPS. After Ortiz went 4 for 6 with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs in the first two games, the Cardinals opted to walk him 7 times in the final four, include 4 free trips to first in the deciding game six.

He’s 7th on the all-time postseason home run list with 17 and 5th in RBIs with 60. His 19 RBIs in the 2004 playoffs are the second most in MLB history in a single postseason. That year he hit a walk off shot in 12th inning of game four against the Yankees, igniting the greatest comeback in baseball history.

Here we are, more than ten years later, and Ortiz remains one the baseball’s most dangerous hitters. He’ll likely be back with the Red Sox next year to finish out his contract, but as far as I’m concerned his bid for the Hall of Fame is already a done deal. The voters may hold that 2003 test against him, but I don’t see definitive proof of anything there. Instead, I see it on the field, where Ortiz has done nothing less than become one of the game’s all-time greats.

Next: Titletown: Ranking Boston's Championship Teams Since 2001

Mathis Bauchner

Cambridge, Massachusetts, born and raised. Enjoyer of numerous Championship parades. Covering the Boston sports scene and all its craziness to the best of my abilities.