Big Papi still awestruck as Hall of Fame looms
Six months after he got one of the most amazing phone calls in sports, David Ortiz is still awestruck at his good fortune.
The former Boston Red Sox slugger known affectionately as Big Papi will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Sunday in Cooperstown, New York.
Maybe then baseball’s highest honor will finally sink in.
“I still can’t believe it. This is like a dream come true,” the 46-year-old
Ortiz said. “I grew up tough, man. I grew up tough. My childhood wasn’t that easy, but I had great parents to guide me and keep me away from trouble.”
Ortiz hit 541 home runs in 20 big league seasons and helped the Red Sox win three World Series. He is just the 58th player selected by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in his first year of eligibility, and he served as a designated hitter more than any previous inductee.
Six Era Committee selections are also part of the Class of 2022. Minnesota Twins teammates pitcher
Jim Kaat and free-swinging slugger Tony Oliva, and late Dodger great Gil Hodges, who managed the New York Mets to their first World Series title in 1969, are among them.
Also getting their due:
Minnie Minoso, a star with the Chicago White Sox in the 1950s; Buck O’Neil, who played for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro Leagues and was a tireless advocate for the game; and Bud Fowler, a pioneering Black player who grew up in Cooperstown in the 1860s and played in more than a dozen leagues.
Kaat’s journey to Cooperstown is rather remarkable. He was 1-4 in 1958 playing for Missoula of the Pioneer League, and he figured he was one start from being sent home. Player-manager Jack McKeon gave Kaat a place in the rotation every fourth day, and he finished the season 16-9.
“I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot about pitching,” said the 83-year-old Kaat, who grew up in Zeeland, Michigan. “I feel badly for the pitchers today because that’s where you get your foundation.”
Using finesse instead of power, the 6-foot-4 lefthander pitched for 25 years before retiring in 1983 with 283 wins and 17 saves in stints with six teams. The last was St. Louis, and when the Cardinals won the 1982 World Series, Kaat became the only professional athlete in any of the major sports to play 24 seasons before getting a championship ring.
Oliva, a native of Cuba, was on the powerhouse Twins teams in the 1960s with Kaat. The lefty-swinging Oliva spent his entire 15-year career with the Twins. He was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1964. He led the league in hits five times and became the first player in major league history to win batting titles in each of his first two seasons, finishing with a lifetime average of .304.
“It will be special to be able to go with Jim Kaat into the Hall of Fame after over 60 years we know each other,” said Oliva, also 83. “I never think I go into the Hall of Fame. As a kid, I was thinking maybe I could play baseball in
Cuba if somebody give me the opportunity. I just wanted to play the game.”
Minoso was a nine-time All-Star, led the league in triples and stolen bases three times each, and finished his career with 2,110 hits and a .299 batting average. He died in 2015.
The honor for O’Neil comes nearly 16 years after his death, though the Hall of Fame dedicated a statue to him in 2008 and established the Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award.
O’Neil was the first chairman of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.
SATURDAY’S GAMES AMERICAN LEAGUE
Guardians 7, White Sox 4: Josh Naylor snapped a ninth-inning tie with a pinch-hit single and streaking Cleveland beat host Chicago in the opener of a split doubleheader.
Steven Kwan had three hits and José Ramírez drove in two runs with a pair of sacrifice flies as Cleveland earned its fifth straight win.
Astros 3, Mariners 1:
Justin Verlander became the major leagues’ first 13-game winner, striking out nine and topping 99 mph in his final inning to lead Houston at Seattle. Verlander, who is 13-3, allowed four hits in seven innings to win his fifth straight start and lower his ERA to 1.86.
AAELSEWHERE
Mets-Pirates trade: New York acquired catcher Michael Perez from Pittsburgh for cash. It was the second day in a row the NL East-leading Mets made a trade with the Pirates.
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