However, with more than half of the votes remaining to be known, anything can still happen. There is no doubt that Ortiz He was one of the best sluggers in history with a .286 average, 541 home runs and 1,768 RBIs, in addition to hitting .289 with 17 homers and 61 RBIs in the playoffs.
But some will argue that Ortiz was primarily a designated hitter and others will point out that he appeared on a list of players who tested positive during a 2003 survey to identify the extent of substance use in baseball.
History shows that, when the voting results are announced, the percentages of those players linked in some way or another to the possible use of performance-enhancing substances suffer a drop among those voters who have not publicly revealed their ballot .
Therefore, although at this time Barry Bonds (77.3%) and Roger Clemens (76.2%) are above 75 percent, the path to the Hall of Fame of Cooperstown in his last year of eligibility does not look promising.
Of the 172 revealed ballots, both have received only three votes from voters who did not give them last year and this time they lost one each. Unless there is a radical change in the way of thinking of a good number of “non-public” voters, it is difficult for Bonds y Clemens.
I mention this because it is something to consider in the case of Ortiz. Right now it’s going well David Ortiz, but it remains to be seen if there will be a dip — a la Bonds and Clemens that was just over 10 percent last year — that will drop him below 75 percent. I think the Dominican will enter the Hall of Fame in his first year with something like that for 77 to 80 percent.
Those who go up and those who go down
The percentages of third baseman Scott Rolen (69.2%), first baseman Todd Helton (56.4%), outfielder Andruw Jones (48.8%) and closer Billy Wagner (47.5%) are up in this vote, which is very positive for voting in the coming years.
Each one has received more than 10 votes from voters who didn’t put them on their ballot last year, and a lot of that is down to sabermetrics that are helpful in seeing player input beyond conventional stats.
On the opposite side, the resounding fall of the Venezuelan shortstop stands out. Omar Vizquel, the most suffered by a candidate in the history of this vote for the Hall of Fame.
Amid accusations of domestic violence by his now ex-wife, Visquel took a slight step back in the 2021 vote with a percentage of 49.1% after a considerable increase to 52.6% in 2020.
Now a lawsuit for alleged sexual harassment by an autistic exbatboy of the subsidiary of the Chicago White Sox, the Birmingham Barons, drops to 11 percent by losing 43 votes from voters last year, or 38 percent of what Vizquel had received.
Meanwhile, former pitcher Curt Schilling, who is in his final year of eligibility, appeared to be on a solid path to the Hall of Fame, but dropped to 59.9%, compromising his induction into the Hall of Fame.
Schilling, who has caused controversy with his comments on social networks, fell short last year by only 16 votes (71.1), but when the results were announced, he lashed out at the media and voters, and he even asked to be removed from the 2022 ballot.
The consequences have been seen in the revealed ballots so far as he has lost 23 votes from voters who checked his box last year.
Like Bonds, Clemens and Schilling, Sammy Sosa is in his last year of eligibility. In 2021, the Dominican slugger finished with 17% and so far has a “strange” 25% as he has received eight votes from those who did not vote for him last year, but has lost seven votes from those same voters.
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AP
