Todd Helton gains ground on Baseball Hall of Fame, David Ortiz elected to Cooperstown

Despite not hearing his name on Tuesday during the Baseball Hall of Fame announcement, Todd Helton took another step closer towards reaching Cooperstown.

David Ortiz received 77.9% of votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and was the only one on the 30 player ballot to reach the required 75% mark. 

Ortiz slugged 541 home runs during his 20-year career which began with the Seattle Mariners before debuting with the Minnesota Twins. The designated hitter spent the majority of his career with a Boston Red Sox franchise that won three championships during his tenure, including the 2007 World Series against the Colorado Rockies.

The other integral player in the opposing dugout from that Fall Classic has to be pleased about his progress on the 2022 ballot.

Helton received 52.0% of votes in his fourth year, appearing on 205 of the 394 submitted ballots. The increase over the 44.9% in 2021 is now his third consecutive year of growth for the Rockies’ first baseman. 

In comparison to the only member of the franchise in the Hall of Fame, it took Larry Walker until his ninth ballot to finally go above the 50% mark. He made a massive push in the 10th and final year to get 76.6% of votes in 2020, becoming only the seventh player to gain entry to Cooperstown via the BBWAA in his last opportunity.

Though Helton could have six more chances, it’s beginning to appear he won’t have to wait nearly as long.

Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling and Sammy Sosa have fallen off the ballot for next year as the superstars fell short of the induction mark due to various controversies.

While this clears room for players like Helton, these four players will be eligible for induction through the Today’s Game Committee next year, a separate election voted upon by a 16-person panel comprised of members of the Hall of Fame, executives and veteran media members.

Controversy still lingers with players such as Jeff Kent, Andy Pettitte, Manny Ramírez, Álex Rodríguez, Gary Sheffield and Omar Vizquel returning on the 2023 ballot alongside Helton.

Only Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodríguez are the notable contenders of those players earning a place on their first ballot next year, at least according to Bill James’ Hall of Fame Monitor, a metric used to predict who will be elected to Cooperstown.

All of which means only Scott Rolen (63.2%) will be the only incumbent ahead of Helton with Billy Wagner (51.0%) as the only other with a majority of votes. 

Ortiz joins Golden Days Era Committee electees Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Minnie Miñoso and Tony Oliva and Early Baseball Era Committee electees Bud Fowler and Buck O’Neil as members of the Class of 2022.

The induction of Ortiz into the Baseball Hall of Fame takes place on Sunday, July 24 at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown. The 2022 Ford C. Frick Award winner Jack Graney and 2022 BBWAA Career Excellence Award winner Tim Kurkjian will also be honored during the Induction Weekend.

Diamond Details

• Of the 340 members of the Hall of Fame, only 56 spent their entire career with one team. Helton hopes to make that number 57 thanks to his 17-year career with the Rockies.
• The election of Ortiz brings the total of first-year BBWAA inductees to 58.
• Including the newly elected Ortiz, as well as Veterans’ Committee inductees Kaat and Oliva, there are currently 75 living Members.
• At 46 years old, Ortiz is now the youngest living Hall of Famer.
• Ortiz was an eight-time winner of the Edgar Martinez Award as the outstanding designated hitter. He was a 10-time All-Star and seven-time Silver Slugger Award at  DH. His 1,192 extra-base hits are tied for eighth all-time.
• Voting breakdown for 2022
  • Of the 340 elected Hall of Fame members, only 135 have come through the BBWAA ballot.
  • The average ballot in the 2022 election contained 7.11 names, up from 5.87 last year, with 33.8 percent of the voters using all 10 slots, up from 14.5 percent a year ago.
  • The total of ballots cast marked a 97.3-percent return rate of the 405 ballots mailed to voters.