The 2022 National Baseball Hall of Fame class is made up of just one as Boston Red Sox slugging designated hitter David Ortiz was elected by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA), garnering the 75% of votes necessary of selection.
In his first year of candidacy, Ortiz received 77.9% of the vote.
Ortiz cracked 541 career home runs, was a 10-time All-Star, and seven-time Silver Slugger Award winner as he takes his place as one of the greatest designated hitters of all time. He’ll also forever be remembered as the spark plug that helped reverse the Red Sox’s 86-year World Series drought — overcoming a 3-0 ALCS deficit to the Yankees in 2004 before defeating the St. Louis Cardinals to win their first Fall Classic since 1918.
On their 10th and final years on the ballot, Barry Bonds (66%) and Roger Clemens (65.2%) did not make the ballot as the gatekeepers of Cooperstown have kept out the two notorious steroid users for the entirety of their Hall-of-Fame candidacy.
Quite a remarkable turn of events considering the story of baseball cannot be told without either of them.
Bonds was one of the greatest hitters — and then power hitters — the game has ever known even if it was exacerbated by performance-enhancing drugs. Before 1999 — before it is believed he began taking steroids — the Pittsburgh Pirate and San Francisco Giant was still the only player in baseball history to record 400 homers, 400 stolen bases, and possess a career on-base percentage of .400 or better.
He went on to break Henry Aaron’s all-time career home run record with 762, holds the single-season home run record with 73, and holds a league record in walks (2,558).
Results:
Ortiz 77.9%
Bonds 66.0%
Clemens 65.2%
Rolen 63.2%
Schilling 58.6%
Helton 52.0%
Wagner 51.0%
Jones 41.1%
Sheffield 40.6%
Rodríguez 34.3%
Kent 32.7%
Ramírez 28.9%
Vizquel 23.9%
Sosa 18.5%
Pettitte 10.7%
Rollins 9.4%
Abreu 8.6%
Buehrle 5.8%
Hunter 5.3%— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) January 25, 2022
Clemens was one of the most dominant pitchers of his generation, recording 354 wins (ninth all-time) and racking up 4,672 strikeouts (third all-time) over 24 seasons with the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, Yankees, and Houston Astros. His seven Cy Young Awards are the most ever won by a single pitcher while racking up seven ERA titles, two pitching Triple Crowns, and the 1986 American League MVP.
Curt Schilling, who was also in his 10th and final year of eligibility, received 58.6% of the vote after going on a tirade last year in which he implored the voters not to elect him.
Former Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, and Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez did not enjoy such first-ballot luck as Ortiz. Despite ranking fourth all-time with 696 career home runs to go with three MVP awards, his steroid usage didn’t sit as well with the writers. He received just 34.2% of the vote.
