COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (WCBS 880) -- David Ortiz has officially been deemed among baseball's greats, and will be the only member of the Baseball Hall of Fame's newest class.
In his very first time on the ballot for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Ortiz was voted in, garnering 77.9% of the vote. He becomes the fourth designated hitter to be voted into the Hall of Fame.
Those just missing out on joining Ortiz were steroid-tainted stars Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds, both of whom were in their 10th and final year of eligibility. Bonds finished with the second-most votes at 66%, while Clemens was third with 65.2%.
Clearly helping Ortiz’s vote total was the last impression he left, which saw the designated hitter cap a 20-year career by turning in one of the best seasons of his career, hitting .315 with a 1.021 OPS and 38 homers.
Ortiz finished in the top 10 of American League Most Valuable Player voting seven times, while winning the Edgar Martinez Award as the league's top designated hitter on eight occasions. He finished with 541 home runs (17th all-time), 1,192 extra-base hits (8th all-time) and 632 doubles (12th all-time).
But it was the slugger’s postseason track record that truly separated him, winning the MVP for both the 2004 American League Championship Series and 2013 World Series. Ortiz, who played for three World Series-winning teams (2004, 2007, 2013), appeared in a total of 18 postseason series, hitting .289 with 22 doubles, 17 homers and 61 RBI in 85 games.
Ortiz also has PED-related baggage, but it didn't hold back him getting elected to Cooperstown on the first ballot. Voters pushed aside a positive test that came during survey testing in 2003 that was supposed to be anonymous. He has denied using steroids.
His enshrinement will come on July 24.
While Clemens and Bonds both took jumps forward from their 2021 totals, neither could quite reach the finish line before their time ran out. The same went for Curt Schilling, whose vote total dipped significantly from the 71.1% managed the year before.
Yankees legend Alex Rodriguez didn't have much luck in his first year on the ballot, getting just 34.2% of the vote.