David Ortiz Receiving More Hall Of Fame Votes Than Anyone Else On Public Ballots
BOSTON (CBS) -- The deadline is nearing for Baseball Writers' Association of America members to cast their Hall of Fame ballots. Among those who have already voted and shared their choices, David Ortiz has been the most popular selection.
On the ballot for the first time, Ortiz has received votes from 82.3 percent of the 96 publicly known ballots thus far, according to the excellent Baseball Hall of Fame Tracker website run by Ryan Thibodaux.
Candidates need to receive 75 percent of the vote in order to earn induction.
As of Dec. 30, only Ortiz, Barry Bonds (80.2%) and Roger Clemens (79.2%) have received more than 75 percent of the votes.
Those numbers are sure to go down for all three players as the rest of the BBWAA send in their ballots -- which have to be signed and dated by Dec. 31. (The tracker notes that Bonds received 23.1 percent lower voting on private ballots last year, while Clemens had an appropriate 21 percent drop.) Thus far, just under 25 percent of ballots have been made public.
Still, it represents a positive sign for Ortiz. The tracker website calculates that Ortiz will only need to be on 72.6 percent of the remaining ballots in order to earn enshrinement, which may still be a reach but is nevertheless a real possibility.
Ortiz is on the ballot for the first time, while both Bonds and Clemens are on for the 10th and final time. Curt Schilling, who's also on the ballot (against his wishes) for the 10th and final time, has received 66.7 percent of the vote from the public ballots thus far.
Last year, no player earned the 75 percent required for enshrinement, with Schilling (71.1 percent), Bonds (61.8 percent) and Clemens (61.6 percent) receiving the most votes.