David Ortiz voted into Baseball Hall of Fame; Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens left out again
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Baseball turned a blind eye, and Hall of Fame voters a deaf ear.
Despite a cacophony of calls for Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, arguably the greatest hitter and pitcher of their generation, to earn enshrinement into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, both came up short of receiving the required 75% of votes.
Where their alleged ties to the use of performance-enhancing drugs cost them enshrinement into the hallowed hall, it didn’t stop Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz from becoming only the 58th first-ballot selection.
“I thought getting into the Hall of Fame no matter what was important because I know so many great players that didn’t get in on the first ballot, but down the road they find a way to get in,” Ortiz said Tuesday evening on a video conference call. “Now, I know … how difficult it is to get in on the first ballot. It’s a wonderful to get in on my first rodeo. It’s very, very special to me.”
Ortiz received 307 of 394 votes (77.9%) and was the lone player elected by Baseball Writers’ Association of America voters from a ballot of 30 candidates. Bonds received 260 votes (66%) and Clemens 257 (65.2%), falling shy of election by 36 and 39 votes, respectively.
The results are evidence of the complications and contradictions for the Hall of Fame as it deals with the steroid era. Baseball turned a blind eye to the scandal until it gave the sport a black eye, promoting and profiting from players who hit home runs and struck out batters at historic rates in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Baseball writers with Hall of Fame votes have been less forgiving, serving as guardians of the game’s integrity in a way MLB couldn’t be bothered. Along with Bonds and Clemens, Sammy Sosa saw his 10-year window expire despite hitting 609 homers.
What had been a relationship of convenience has become complicated because of candidates tainted by connections to PEDs.
Ortiz was not above suspicion of steroid use after reportedly testing positive for a banned substance in an anonymous survey in 2003, which was leaked in a New York Times report four years later.
“All of a sudden, people are pointing fingers at me,” Ortiz said. “Then we started being drug tested, and I never failed a test. What does that tell you?”
Ortiz, 46, finished his 20-year career with 541 home runs and is recognized as one of the most clutch postseason performers of all time. A feared designated hitter on three World Series champions for the Red Sox, he batted .455 with three home runs and 14 RBIs in 14 World Series games. In his final season, at age 40 in 2016, Ortiz slashed .315/.401/.620 with 48 doubles, 38 homers and 127 RBIs.
Where Ortiz joins Red Sox greats Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski and Pedro Martinez as first-ballot Hall of Famers, he pleaded ignorance to understanding the gravity of a fate that eluded giants of the game like Cy Young, Tris Speaker, Rogers Hornsby, Jimmie Foxx and Joe DiMaggio.
On statistics alone, Bonds and Clemens would have been first-ballot selections, perhaps unanimous. Neither ever failed a drug test but couldn’t overcome being linked to performance-enhancing drugs. They have become symbols of confusion and contradictions for voters instructed to follow the Hall’s “character” clause.
A seven-time MVP who won two batting titles, Bonds set the single-season (73) and career (762) records for home runs. Embroiled in the BALCO scandal, Bonds was indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice based on his grand jury testimony. His conviction on a single count of obstruction of justice later was overturned on appeal.
Clemens finished with a 354-184 record, won seven Cy Young awards and owned the best ERA seven times in 24 seasons but was implicated in former Sen. George Mitchell’s report on the use of PEDs in baseball. Clemens testified before Congress and was indicted by a federal grand jury for perjury, contempt and making false statements. After a first trial was declared a mistrial, he was acquitted in a second trial.
Ortiz was in disbelief neither Bonds nor Clemens will join him in for the induction ceremony July 24 in Cooperstown, N.Y. Ortiz said after he watched Bonds take batting practice, the former Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants outfielder became his idol.
“I don’t think there’s ever going to be a human being capable of doing what he did while he played,” Ortiz. “Barry Bonds, to me, separated himself from the game at the highest level. I know there’s some things going on but, to me, the guy is a Hall of Famer way before everything, all the talk and all the things. This is a guy who took the game to a whole different level. Same with Roger, the ‘Rocket’. I don’t even compare myself to them.”