
via Imago
San Fransisco Giants’ Barry Bonds, left, chats with Boston Red Sox’ David Ortiz prior to their baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston Saturday, June 16, 2007. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

via Imago
San Fransisco Giants’ Barry Bonds, left, chats with Boston Red Sox’ David Ortiz prior to their baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston Saturday, June 16, 2007. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
Barry Bonds may have been snubbed from the Hall of Fame, but he remains the absolute example of a professional. In an Instagram comment from Bonds, he congratulated David Ortiz on his induction to Cooperstown. David Ortiz had taken to Instagram to announce his induction to Baseball’s Hall of Fame and Barry Bonds was quick to comment on the same.
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Add to that the former Red Sox star made it to the MLB Hall of Fame on a small margin. Requiring 75% of the vote for induction, Ortiz managed to get 77.2% of the vote from the ballot and was the sole inductee of 2022. On a ballot featuring offensive legend Barry Bonds and star pitcher Roger Clemens, it seemed as though Ortiz beat out great competition to emerge as the top contender.

Barry Bonds congratulates the Hall of Fame Inductee
Bonds was quick to recognize the achievement of the ‘true’ designated hitter as he made his way into the Hall of Fame. And several media outlets ran coverage of the same too, with some even tweeting the legend’s comment on the Hall of Famer’s Instagram post.
Barry Bonds congratulates David Ortiz on being elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame pic.twitter.com/SB9IbvW5MG
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) January 26, 2022
Bonds’ wishes sounded quite sincere, too. “CONGRATULATIONS Big Papi on your induction into the Hall of Fame!,” said Bonds. Possibly writing in all caps just to express how deeply he must have felt about the induction.
He added, “Well deserved… I love you my brother.” Ortiz was quite a likable character across his career and Bonds expressing his happiness at the induction only reinforces his true nature.
Who is David Ortiz?
While Ortiz was drafted by the Seattle Mariners, he quickly went on the trading block and was traded to the Twins. Set for assignment by the Minnesota franchise, he made his way to Fenway Park, where he captured the fans’ imagination with his play.
He endeared himself to Fenway Park by helping Boston to break the so-called “Curse of the Bambino” in 2004. And to add to his tally, he also helped power the Red Sox to titles in 2007 and 2013.

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Ortiz received plenty of individual recognition during his playing career. He finished in the top five of the AL MVP voting in five straight seasons from 2003 to 2007 and finished his career by leading the Majors in OPS (1.021). In one of the players in the league credited with longevity, Ortiz even ranked sixth in the MVP vote in 2016, aged 40.
Ortiz was a significant contributor on the offensive end of the diamond too. With a career .286/.380/.552 slash, Ortiz was also on the leaderboard for doubles scored with 632.
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Ortiz’s consistency too makes him stand out. He had 10 seasons of at least 100 RBIs; add to that, he finished in the top five of the AL MVP voting in five straight seasons from 2003 to 2007.
And while there may be some disagreement about why Bonds or Clemens were not inducted, nobody can doubt Ortiz’s addition to Cooperstown. A wholly deserved appointment, Ortiz deserves the laurel for sure.
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