Run.
Field.
Hit.
Hit with power.
Throw.
Those are the five historic criteria for judging an all around baseball player. They still provide a good way to evaluate.
Mike Trout is the best current example among active players. Willie Mays. Mickey Mantle. Joe DiMaggio.
Not Harmon Killebrew. Not Ralph Kiner.
You see where this is going. All five retired players mentioned are in the Hall of Fame. Except for Kiner, all were MVP. Mantle and DiMaggio three time MVP. Mays twice. Killebrew once.
Killebrew wasn't much outside the batter's box but he had to practice fielding and not concentrate on hitting. And he appeared to be trying.
David Ortiz
Positions: Designated Hitter and First Baseman
Bats: Left • Throws: Left
6-3, 230lb (190cm, 104kg)
Born: November 18, 1975
High School: Estudia Espillat (Dominican Republic)
Yesterday it was announced that David Ortiz, a designated hitter in 2,009 games started, had been elected to the Hall of Fame. Ortiz started 265 games playing first base, about 13% of his games started. A player needs 75% of votes to be elected.
https://baseballhall.org/news/david-ortiz-elected-to-hall-of-fame
David Ortiz 307 (77.9%), Barry Bonds 260 (66.0), Roger Clemens 257(65.2), Scott Rolen 249 (63.2), Curt Schilling 231 (58.6), Todd Helton 205 (52.0), Billy Wagner 201 (51.0), Andruw Jones 163 (41.4), Gary Sheffield 160 (40.6), Álex Rodríguez 135 (34.3), Jeff Kent 129 (32.7), Manny Ramírez 114 (28.9), Omar Vizquel 94 (23.9), Sammy Sosa 73 (18.5), Andy Pettitte 42 (10.7), Jimmy Rollins 37 (9.4), Bobby Abreu 34 (8.6), Mark Buerhle 23 (5.8), Torii Hunter 21 (5.3), Joe Nathan 17 (4.3), Tim Hudson 12 (3.0), Tim Lincecum 9 (2.3), Ryan Howard 8 (2.0), Mark Teixeira 6 (1.5), Justin Morneau 5 (1.3), Jonathan Papelbon 5 (1.3), Prince Fielder 2 (0.5), A.J. Pierzynski 2 (0.5), Carl Crawford 0, Jake Peavy 0.
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I guess the Hall couldn't be bothered putting the votes in a neat table on its home page.
Note that Ortiz had more than twice as many votes as another first time candidate, Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod had PED issues. Ortiz?
OPS+:
Ortiz: 141
Rodríguez: 140
Rodríguez was a great fielding shortstop until he moved to third base to accommodate Derek Jeter when Rodríguez joined Jeter on the Yankees. Rodríguez was AL MVP three times. Ortiz and Jeter were never MVP. Ortiz stole 17 bases; Rodríguez 329. Ortiz hit 541 HR; Rodríguez 696. Rodríguez hit more than 50 HR three times; Ortiz once.
Cruel and unusual punishment: Bud Selig's death sentence of Alex Rodriguez. Monday, January 19, 2015
Time limit for running out a home RUN. Inspired by David Ortiz, Fat Papi. Wednesday, July 30, 2014
David Ortiz seems determined to be as obnoxious as possible as often as possible. The other day he had yet another incident of poor sportsmanship: hitting a home run and taking far too long to start running and far too long circling the bases. Later the pitcher objected to this and Ortiz compounded things by verbally insulting the pitcher...
... a time limit starting when the ball is hit. That impacts both the standing at home plate and also the tortuously slow home run trot...
I could mention that Mickey Mantle would circle the bases with his head down so that he would not seem to be gloating. That's ancient history but Derek Jeter is playing now. Have you ever seen Jeter taunt or flaunt? And the same people who make lame excuses for the likes of Ortiz, point to Jeter as a prime example of how a player should behave.
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David Ortiz for the Hall of Fame? Of what, golf? Thursday, August 20, 2015
My disdain for the baseball Hall of Fame and the voters has been well documented in recent years on this blog...
David Ortiz is not even a baseball player. He's a golfer. All he wants to do is swing the clubs. Fat Papi makes zero effort outside the batter's box and inside it he's no Ted Williams, who represents my criteria for those with Hall of Fame aspirations who do little or nothing outside the batter's box. That's why I oppose Edgar Martinez for consideration. If all you do is swing the clubs, you'd better do it like Ted Williams if you want to be elected to the Hall of Fame. And that's dealing only with stats, not the 50-66% of the criteria about character that's ignored by the voters except for use, real or imagined, of performance enhancing drugs (PED), including steroids.
Have you ever seen someone moving more slowly, with less interest on the bases than Ortiz? This includes his movement from the plate towards the general direction of first base. Ortiz doesn't even approach waddling speed. Is Ortiz waiting for his caddy? Who exerts less effort and shows less interest? Is there a bigger dog? Why is this tolerated by his home town fans? Why is Ortiz not excoriated as any other would be? ...
... Frank Thomas was American League (AL) MVP in 1993 and 1994. Thomas was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014. 56.5 percent of his 10,075 plate appearances (PA) were as a designated hitter (DH). 44% of the 12,167 PA for Paul Molitor, inducted in 2004, were as a DH ...
David Ortiz: high and tight, low and away. That's all you need to think about. Wednesday, February 25, 2015
I just heard David Ortiz (Fat Papi) run his mouth on MLB Network about how he needs to strut around between pitches so that he can think deep thoughts about what might happen next.
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After six seasons with the Minnesota Twins (1997-2002), Ortiz was:
December 16, 2002: Released by the Minnesota Twins.
January 22, 2003: Signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox.
One of his new Red Sox teammates was Manny Ramirez.
Manny Ramírez
Position: Outfielder
Bats: Right • Throws: Right
6-0, 225lb (183cm, 102kg)
Born: May 30, 1972
Draft: Drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 1st round (13th) of the 1991 MLB June Amateur Draft from George Washington HS (New York, NY).
High School: George Washington HS (New York, NY)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manny_Ramirez
In 2009 Ramirez was suspended 50 games for violating baseball's drug policy by taking human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), a women's fertility drug that is often taken after steroids.[2] In the spring of 2011, Ramirez was informed by MLB of another violation of its drug policy,[3] and a 100-game suspension.[4] He chose to retire on April 8 rather than be suspended.[4][5] However, in September 2011, Ramirez wished to be reinstated and agreed in December with the league to a reduced 50-game suspension. Though he played at various points in the Oakland Athletics, Texas Rangers, and Chicago Cubs systems, as well as internationally, Ramirez did not appear in another Major League game.
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2 comments:
Each and every entertainment institution in America is no longer the one we recall from our youth. What is the biggest factor? MONEY!!
The vote to add David Ortiz to the Hall of Fame and exclude Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and even Peter Rose shows us money talks. Perception is supreme as long a money joins in. Its no longer about accomplishments and dominance in baseball but more about personality, and a means to more cash.
Electing Ortiz, a viable but not first ballot worthy, candidate is about drawing close by Boston fans to quaint little Cooperstown where fanatics can drop lots of cash. It will draw all those Big Papi fans for years since Boston is a moderate drive from Beantown.
The Hall of Fame is no longer about the greats who played the game and all aspects of the game. As long as the voters want them on the outside the Hall is just a museum of entertainers whose induction carries a boatload of cash.
There's one criteria that should apply to those who've been overlooked or left out when they rightly should be honored with a plaque. Can the history of the game be told without their being mentioned?
There are plenty of members in the hall that no one knows or ever heard of except for real fans of the game.
Another addition I'd like to see added to the hall would be to induct the greatest teams of all time. That way not just the greats, but all those who contributed could be honored without personally being given a plaque. It is after all a team sport as well as one that recognizes great individual performers and performances.
Why not?
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