David Ortiz elected to Hall of Fame on first ballot

David Ortiz was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot, earning 77.9 percent of the vote in results announced on Tuesday afternoon. He is the only player elected in the 2022 class by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Ortiz, the longtime first baseman and designated hitter who hit 541 home runs with a 141 OPS+ over 20 major league seasons, was an integral part of three Red Sox championship teams, including snapping an 86-year World Series drought in 2004. He was named on 307 of 394 ballots, above the 75-percent threshold required for induction.

This marked the 10th and final year on the ballot for four players — Barry Bonds (66 percent), Roger Clemens (65.2 percent), Curt Schilling (58.6 percent), and Sammy Sosa (18.5 percent) — all of whom fell short of the 75-percent threshold required for induction.

Seven former Dodgers were on this year’s ballot. Jimmy Rollins was received 37 of 394 votes (9.4 percent) in his first year on the ballot, over the five percent required to remain on the ballot at least one more year. Fellow first-year member Carl Crawford received no votes, meaning this will be his only year on the writers’ ballot.

Andruw Jones saw the biggest increase of the five returnees, improving from 33.9 percent last year to 41.4 percent this year.

Ortiz will be one of seven players inducted to the Hall of Fame on Sunday, July 24 in Cooperstown. In addition to Dodgers first baseman Gil Hodges, other inductees include Bud Fowler, Jim Kaat, Minnie Miñoso, Buck O’Neil and Tony Oliva.