Longtime Boston Red Sox first baseman David Ortiz was voted into the Hall of Fame, being the only one in this year’s class to be inducted. Former Sox players missing the cut included final-year ballot players Curt Schilling and Roger Clemens, meaning they won’t be able to be inducted anymore, as well as Manny Ramirez.
Ramirez received just 28.9% of the vote, while Ortiz got in with a 77.9% mark, barely making it over the 75% threshold. Ortiz is hurt by the fact that Ramirez isn’t in the Hall of Fame currently.
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“Not seeing him in the Hall of Fame right now is something that really hurts me,” Ortiz said. “It hurts him because he knows that he made mistakes that he shouldn’t.”
It’s pretty far-fetched to bet on Ramirez getting in at this point, as the former outfielder has never gotten above 30% in the six years he’s been on the ballot. Ramirez and Ortiz were teammates on Boston from 2003-2007, and Ramirez outnumbers Ortiz in nearly all statistical categories.
However, Ramirez’s suspension for PEDs that happened twice after the crackdown on steroids heavily plagued the voting percentages. Despite the PED issues, Ortiz still heavily admires the outfielder.
“This is a guy who I admire so much,” Ortiz said. “I thank him so much for being the guy that not many people know that he is. Manny, while he played, was a hard-working guy who had his personality. It’s not a secret for any one of us. He admits he did so many things the wrong way because of being immature and not being able to listen, even to my advice. He admits it now.
“You listen to Manny talk right now and it’s a beautiful thing because he knows the mistakes he made,” he added. “Manny was the type of professor that, he didn’t use to say much. All you’ve got to do is focus on his work ethic back then. You’ll learn. That’s what I did when I got to Boston.”
Ortiz views Ramirez as a “big brother.”
“He’s always going to be a big brother to me and I’m always going to thank him for being there for me and being one of the guys who loved me based on my personality,” Ortiz said.