David Ortiz Hopes To Join Other Red Sox Legends In Hall Of Fame Next Week
BOSTON (CBS) -- David Ortiz will soon know if he has a spot in Cooperstown. The former Red Sox great is hoping to receive a call to the Hall of Fame on Tuesday, which would be the final exclamation point on an incredible career.
"This is something that I don't even know how to describe it, to be honest with you. I was never expecting this," Ortiz told WBZ-TV's Dan Roche at Fenway Park on Wednesday. "I was a guy that, I was encouraged by my dad and some other friends to have the discipline to play the game so I could help my family. But if I tell you I was thinking about the Hall of Fame while I was playing, I'd be lying.
"This is like the next level thing, a very elite group -- the greatest players to ever play the game," said Ortiz. "As a kid, you'd hear those names and say 'Wow.' I'm very grateful and thankful for everything that is going on right now. If it happens, it will be an honor. A real honor."
The Red Sox have a pretty elite group of their own in the Hall of Fame, which includes the greatness of Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Pedro Martinez, Jim Rice and Wade Boggs. Ortiz said it would be an absolute honor to join those Boston legends in Cooperstown.
"Man, those guys are legends. I have a lot of respect for all of them," said Ortiz.
"Jim Rice is like a father to me. I'm not even going to mention Pedro," he said of Martinez, his fellow Dominican who he became extremely close with during their two years together in Boston. "I got to know Mr. Yaz -- he's unbelievable. Such a great human being. I never got to meet Ted Williams personally, but I've heard his story and how his career was. It was something I don't think any other human being could have done."
"Being part of that group, it would be amazing," Ortiz said.
Ortiz certainly has a Hall of Fame resume with all of his clutch postseason hits, his three World Series rings, and 541 career homers. Voting has trended in his favor, but he is no shoo-in to get his call in his first year of eligibility. Some voters will hold the career DH thing against him. Others will bring up the 2009 New York Times report that named Ortiz as one of the players who tested positive for a banned substance in 2003, when MLB did anonymous testing to determine if there was a steroid problem in baseball.
Ortiz has admitted to being careless with supplements early in his career and even into his Boston days, but he has always maintained that he did not take steroids or PEDs. It was never revealed what he tested positive for in 2003, and though he was one of the most heavily tested players for the rest of his career, all of his tests always came up clean.
"I never failed a test, so that should answer your question. I don't know why people continue to mention that," he said of the 2009 report. "When you did that test [in 2003], it was positive for anything; stuff you were buying over the counter, the supermarket.
"When they started drug testing, I never failed a test," he said. "I don't know why they continue to mention that. That's their problem."