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Dominican baseball legend and designated hitter of the Boston Red SoxDavid Ortiz was the only player elected Tuesday by the Baseball Writers' Association of America to the 2002 Baseball Hall of Fame class in Cooperstown, New York.
The famed "Big Papi" received 307 votes (77.9%) of the 296 needed to meet the 75% approval requirement among committee members and will be inducted into the "Hall of Immortals" on July 24 along with the six elected by the Golden Days and Early Baseball Era committees.
Six elected by the veterans committees
Those inducted through these committees were Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva Bud Fowler, Gil Hodges, Minnie Mi�oso and Buck O'Neil.
"I was the type of player that I know I've got the talent, but all I was looking for was the opportunity to be an everyday player," Ortiz said. "Thank God at some point it came true, once I got to the Red Sox, and the rest is history. I feel so thankful and grateful for being able to accomplish what I was able to accomplish and, thank God, have the career I have."
Ortiz became only the fifth player who did not play most of his games defensively and only played offense to enter the Hall of Fame, joining Edgar Martinez, Harold Baines, Frank Thomas and Paul Molitor, but of them all he was the one who was the designated hitter the most 84.2% of the time in his 2,408 major league games.
Fourth Dominican in the Hall of Fame
In addition, "Big Papi" becomes the fourth player born in the Dominican Republic to enter the Hall of Fame, joining a group formed by Juan Marichal, Pedro Martinez and Vladimir Guerrero.
Ortiz made his MLB debut in the 1997 season with the Minnesota Twins but in 2003 he moved to the Boston Red Sox where he became a legend winning three World Series and being elected to 10 All-Star Games and becoming a key player in ending the "Curse of the Bambino" by breaking the Red Sox' 86-year championship-less fast in 2004.