2022 HOF Candidates: Ortiz and Papelbon First Time on Ballot

E5 Yaz

Transcends message boarding
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Apr 25, 2002
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My asshole of a "boss," an Astros fan, just texted me about the writers electing a PED-using DH to the Hall of Fame.

I told him to fuck off ... in just those words, actually
 

Don Bradman

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May 20, 2010
505
Elated for David and RSN. So much so that I just booked two nights in a caboose 20 miles from the HOF to see the ceremony!
 

Remagellan

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Among the reasons I love this place: I was out, and then just now remembered that the HoF announcement was today. I was about to go to ESPN to check to see if Papi made it, but came here instead and found this. This was better! (Thanks, Nip!)
 

YTF

Member
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I hope we all take a moment to realize how special it's been to be fans of this team. Especially these past twenty or so seasons. Those of us born before The Impossible Dream remember a few good teams sprinkled in with a lot of not so good teams. Faith rewarded, yes?
 

macal

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Jul 31, 2005
74
My asshole of a "boss," an Astros fan, just texted me about the writers electing a PED-using DH to the Hall of Fame.

I told him to fuck off ... in just those words, actually
I can’t think of a better way to lose a job.
 

Archer1979

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Jul 18, 2005
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This made my off-season. From now and for all-time, he will be known as First Ballot Hall of Famer David Ortiz. Thank God Pedro and Manny talked Theo into signing Big Papi and providing a safety net in case Jeremy Giambi didn't pan out.

Awesome, awesome, awesome news!!!
 

bellowthecat

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Jul 18, 2010
589
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Man that was awesome. I’ll never forget that day. Brady pulled off an insane comeback against New Orleans then to this. We are so fucking lucky.
I was at this Red Sox game. I left for the park before the Pats game ended and figured they had lost for sure. Right before the Ortiz HR I was feeling pretty down thinking the Pats lost and the Sox were about to as well (I was also in the house for the game 1 loss). On my way home after the game I heard Zolack's call of the Brady to Kembrell TD and I must have laughed for 5 straight minutes. What a day that was.
 

InsideTheParker

persists in error
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Jul 15, 2005
40,371
Pioneer Valley
My asshole of a "boss," an Astros fan, just texted me about the writers electing a PED-using DH to the Hall of Fame.

I told him to fuck off ... in just those words, actually
Maybe he's getting back at you for razzing him about his cheating team? No? Then he's merely an idiot. (And not the good kind.)
 

lars10

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Jul 31, 2007
11,612
My asshole of a "boss," an Astros fan, just texted me about the writers electing a PED-using DH to the Hall of Fame.

I told him to fuck off ... in just those words, actually
You should have tapped that message to him in morse code on a trash can

edit: ..-. ..- -.-. -.- --- ..-. ..-.
 

jon abbey

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Jul 15, 2005
70,713
Genuinely liking a Boston player has always been basically impossible for me for obvious reasons but it was hard not to love (and fear) Ortiz, who seemed to get better the bigger the moment was. Big congrats to him and all of you.
 

canderson

Mr. Brightside
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Jul 16, 2005
39,428
Harrisburg, Pa.
This painting from a dear friend greets me every time I walk into the house from the garage.



What Ortiz means to all is is immeasurable. So many moments. I was lucky to witness his 500th HR in Baltimore - I cried. I cried tonight.

Congrats, Papi!
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

Found no thrill on Blueberry Hill
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Sep 9, 2008
42,271
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Watching Verducci and Costas talk about Schilling kind of drives home how rotten it is for Red Sox fans (or at least for this Red Sox fan) that Curt turned out to be such an ass.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

Found no thrill on Blueberry Hill
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Sep 9, 2008
42,271
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I could sit here and attempt to list all the ways I love David Ortiz, writing some purple prose about what he meant to me, with the subtext being that I remember his presence with a more righteous intensity than others do. But that would miss the beauty and legacy of Big Papi's career, I think. In fact, it would miss the very purpose of sports.

Why do we watch? Escapism, tribalism, inspiration. To celebrate excellence. To connect; to feel like it's us on that field, and more significantly, to share the same feelings with everyone in the stands or those bathing in the glow of flat screens across a loosely defined geographic area. Suddenly your job doesn't seem so rote or that relationship so rocky, there isn't that yawning uncertainty about why you're here and what it's all for, it's all played out on the field and you're locked into that rollercoaster with everybody else that you know or care about, some of whom you've met only because you watch, you've always watched and you seek the company of others who have as well. Maybe you even write about it on message boards or social media.

Newly-minted Hall of Famer David Ortiz made people's lives incalculably better. He is the very distillation of why we watch: He made the impossible possible. He made us brothers and sisters. And most importantly, he calmed that inner voice that fears the flicker of hope; it's so easy to laugh that hopefulness away, to piss on it as a means of self-defense, but he justified its existence and made us embrace the humanity that requires us to care enough -- and to have faith enough -- to hope.
Yeah.
 

strek1

Run, Forrest, run!
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Jun 13, 2006
31,747
Hartford area
Watching Verducci and Costas talk about Schilling kind of drives home how rotten it is for Red Sox fans (or at least for this Red Sox fan) that Curt turned out to be such an ass.
It is a sad situation. I find it more bothersome what Curt represents than what Pete Rose represents. Pete Rose had (has?) an addiction. Curt is an ignorant and dangerous truth denier.
 

Don Bradman

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May 20, 2010
505
I was at this Red Sox game. I left for the park before the Pats game ended and figured they had lost for sure. Right before the Ortiz HR I was feeling pretty down thinking the Pats lost and the Sox were about to as well (I was also in the house for the game 1 loss). On my way home after the game I heard Zolack's call of the Brady to Kembrell TD and I must have laughed for 5 straight minutes. What a day that was.
Me too. Before the game we went to Tasty Burger and Bob Ryan (from the Globe) and a friend sat at the table next to us. The Pats game was on and of course everyone was watching it. I can't really recall what Bob was saying. He was more into telling his friend about his favorite burger. I love Ryan and I didn't want to bother him, but we shared some comments about the Pats as the game got tighter. We left to get into Fenway before the Pats were done, but surprisingly, to me, the Pats were on every TV in the ballpark. The end of that game was the highlight of the day until about 3 hours later. Maybe not everyone remembers, but the game was terrible until David lit it up. Scherzer was electric, Buchholz's arm was hanging on by a thread, and it seemed a quick exit was imminent. I can't really say it was the best game I've seen, but the end was as joyous as could be. Thanks Dave.... (and Gomes...)
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

posts way less than 18% useful shit
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Nov 17, 2010
14,425
The last HoF ceremony I attended was Pedro's year. My oldest - 7 now - was only a handful of months old, but I needed him to see Pedro get inducted.

He won't remember it, of course. But he'll still be able to tell his grandkids that he saw one of the greatest pitchers of all time make his HoF induction ceremony. He can tell them how his father - all 6'3 of him - held him in his outstretched arms over the crowd just so he could get a glimpse of greatness driving by. And maybe greatness could see him, too. (He didn't. He looked the other way nearly the whole time he drove past. John Smoltz' wife, however, slapped Smoltz on the shoulder and pointed at my infant son held aloft in the sky, both sharing a laugh at one of the many spectacles of the evening...but Smoltz Pedro ain't.)

Pedro was the best pitcher I'll ever see. But David Ortiz is the most important player of my baseball Fandom. Despite my hunting cabin being only 25 minutes from Cooperstown, I just haven't found the motivation to fight the crowds. The Pedro ceremony was outside in an unforgiving heat. The lines for water were obscene.

Despite bringing a cooler full of beers, I stayed reserved for the majority of the event. With one exception. During a lull in Pedro's speech, I couldn't help myself. I don't know why I blurted it out, but "Screw Shaughnessy!" May have hurled itself out of my mouth at a loud volume.

I think I'll be making a trip to Cooperstown this summer.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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Oct 1, 2015
24,369
This now makes five players who played in Game 5 of the 2004 ALCS that have been elected to the HOF.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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Aug 23, 2008
51,289
Remembering some of the awful takes circa 2009. I’m sure I had my share.

We were insanely lucky to have the first half of his Red Sox career and just as lucky to have the second half of it, sandwiched around a single down year that was merely average instead of godly.

So happy tonight.
 

Koufax

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Maybe we should charter a SoSH bus. Merry Pranksters of sorts.
 

staz

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The cradle of the game.
Ortiz and Brady are my 2 favorites of all time. I couldn’t begin to tell how much joy he’s brought to my life. I will get to tell my kids and grandkids that I saw the greatest clutch hitter who ever lived and he played for OUR team. It’s unspeakable the impact he had on us in 2004 and 2013 both on and off the field.
I mean, the guy killed the Yankees. For my entire childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood out here on the front lines of baseball's holy war, all I heard was Ruth, all their wins, and all our losses. They were up here, we were down there. 34 ended that. He fucking stopped it cold. Mystique, aura: gone. Now we win. Thank you Papi.

My asshole of a "boss," an Astros fan, just texted me about the writers electing a PED-using DH to the Hall of Fame.

I told him to fuck off ... in just those words, actually
YOU'RE GODDAMNED RIGHT YOU DID.
 

natpastime162

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Jul 15, 2005
2,944
Pennsylvania
I’m not sure if others will remember, but there was a time circa 2009 (I think) when Ortiz was struggling. His first half of the year was abysmal even by average DH standards. I remember him facing AJ Burnett and smoking a fastball on the inside corner and saying out loud, “I honestly didn’t think he was capable of turning on that pitch anymore.” He proved me wrong, then continued to prove me wrong for another 7 seasons.
 

The Napkin

wise ass al kaprielian
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Jul 13, 2002
28,534
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I could sit here and attempt to list all the ways I love David Ortiz, writing some purple prose about what he meant to me, with the subtext being that I remember his presence with a more righteous intensity than others do. But that would miss the beauty and legacy of Big Papi's career, I think. In fact, it would miss the very purpose of sports.

Why do we watch? Escapism, tribalism, inspiration. To celebrate excellence. To connect; to feel like it's us on that field, and more significantly, to share the same feelings with everyone in the stands or those bathing in the glow of flat screens across a loosely defined geographic area. Suddenly your job doesn't seem so rote or that relationship so rocky, there isn't that yawning uncertainty about why you're here and what it's all for, it's all played out on the field and you're locked into that rollercoaster with everybody else that you know or care about, some of whom you've met only because you watch, you've always watched and you seek the company of others who have as well. Maybe you even write about it on message boards or social media.

Newly-minted Hall of Famer David Ortiz made people's lives incalculably better. He is the very distillation of why we watch: He made the impossible possible. He made us brothers and sisters. And most importantly, he calmed that inner voice that fears the flicker of hope; it's so easy to laugh that hopefulness away, to piss on it as a means of self-defense, but he justified its existence and made us embrace the humanity that requires us to care enough -- and to have faith enough -- to hope.
he's a pretty decent subject for artwork as well