Congratulations Big Papi!

In the event you missed it, David Ortiz has been elected as the newest member of baseball's Hall of Fame.  Ortiz was named on over 78% of the votes in his first time on the ballot.  75% was needed to win election into the hall.

"Big Papi" as he was known to Boston Red Sox fans and his teammates was a powerful player who slammed 541 career home runs, ranking him 17th in baseball history.  In addition to the 541 HRs, Ortiz ended his career with a .286 lifetime batting average along with 1768 RBI.  And during an era in which PEDs were used extensively, Ortiz was tested frequently and every time was clean.

I was fortunate to see him in person in mid September of 2015 at Fenway Park.  I was on vacation and took a tour of the park early in the afternoon prior to that night's game against the Toronto Blue Jays.  During our time on the field I was within about 30 feet of Big Papi and he was enjoying life laughing and joking with his Red Sox teammates.

The tour ended with a trip to the top of the Green Monster in left field while the Sox took batting practice.  I was visiting with some Blue Jay fans when another fan yelled "heads up".  I looked up to see a baseball screaming about ten feet over our heads before departing Fenway and landing across Lansdowne Street.  I knew he was strong but that blast removed any doubt of how much power he really had.  He repeated this two more times while I looked on in awe.

I had a chance to buy tickets to the Jays - Red Sox game that night, but because of having to leave early the next morning and the length of American League games I decided against it.  I should have gone to the game.  That same evening Ortiz slammed a three run homer to deep left center field off of Jay's starter Drew Hutchinson.  I looked it up today and it was his then 32nd homer of the year.  He would go on to hit 37 that season even though he was in the twilight of his career and 39 years old.

Ortiz's WAR was 55.3 which was a little lower than some of his peers in the hall, and I really didn't think he would get elected in the first year he was eligible.  But, I am glad he is the Hall of Fame's newest member.  Congratulations David Ortiz!