The Dominican Sports Pavilion of Fame selected the charismatic and legend of the Boston Red Sox, David Ortiz, one of the most notorious gunners to ever hit the Major Leagues as a designated hitter.
Ortiz, a three-time champion of the World Series (2004, 07 and 2013) will be exalted in the 55th Ceremonial of the Hall of Fame that will take place on Sunday, November 14th at the auditorium of the institution, located in the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center.
The election as immortal of the former Boston Red Sox slugger was announced by the chairman of the Standing Committee of the Hall of Fame, Dr. Dionisio Guzmán.
He argued that as he entered his first year of eligibility, Ortiz’s selection was a kind of paperwork for the jury responsible for his selection.
Ortiz is one of three professional players to be inducted into the 2021 Class, following the early selection of Julián Tavárez and Rafael Furcal, also former major leagues.
He is also the ninth athlete chosen to be immortalized in this year’s version, which includes the propellants Carlos Lamarche Rey, Nelly Manuel Doñé (deceased), the Chinese-Dominican tenimist Snow Xue WU, Gabriel Mercedes, José Luis Saint-Claire (f) and Miosotis Heredia, former taekwondo, pinwheel softball and weightlifting teams, respectively.
Big Papi highligths
Ortiz, born November 18, 1975 in Santo Domingo, was a long-range hitting marvel who dominated the offense for most of his career as a major league player. He was a fearsome first baseman and designated hitter for 20 fruitful seasons, especially after being signed by Boston on January 22, 2003 and established himself as an everyday player.
Signed in international free agency for the Seattle Mariners, by talent scout, former professional pitcher, and sports immortal Ramón-Pintacora- de los Santos, David made his 1997 debut with the Minnesota Twins and played for the organization until the 2002 season.
His career to stardom began in 2003 as a Red Sox player. This year he would have his first season of 30 homers (31) and a hundred RBIs (101), in addition to hitting 39 doubles in 128 regular-series games.
In 2004 he teamed up with his compatriots Pedro Martínez and Manny Ramírez to propel the Red Sox to win their first World Series since 1918. Watching action in almost all regular series games, Ortiz raised his home run production to 41, in RBIs to 139, spliced 47 doubles and for the first time reached the aristocratic mark of .300 in his batting average (.301).
He left the majors at the end of the 2016 season still empowered to continue contributing to the game, but still part of the exclusive circle of players who have hit 500 or more lifetime home runs (541) and is one of only six international players. who have achieved this milestone.
In 2408 regular series games, David consumed 8,640 at-bats, hitting 2,472 hits, distributed in 632 doubles, 541 homers and 19 triples. He drove in 1,768 runs, scored 1,419 and finished with an excellent batting average of .286.
He participated in 18 postseason series, performing in 85 games, had 304 official at-bats, hit 88 hits, 22 doubles, two triples, 17 home runs, scored 51 laps, produced 61 and his average was .289.