Internet writers vote David Ortiz for Hall of Fame; none of Box-Toppers’ 9 choices made the cut

David Ortiz is the only player inducted into internet baseball writers’ Hall of Fame for 2022.

Ortiz was the only one of 28 possible candidates to receive the necessary 75 percent support from 131 member writers of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA), of which Shawn Plank of Box-Toppers is a member.

IBWAA Hall of Fame voting

The Internet Baseball Writers Assocation of America voted to induct David Ortiz into the Hall of Fame for 2022. He was the only player on the ballot to exceed the needed 75 percent of member writers votes for induction.
Here is a look at results, in which 131 IBWAA members voted, including Shawn Plank of Box-Toppers. None of the nine players Box-Toppers deemed worthy of Hall induction received 75 percent of the vote. And Plank also did not vote for Ortiz, who was inducted.
Our Box-Toppers Hall of Fame selections are denoted in the chart with an asterisk (*).
Note: The official Hall of Fame announcement from the BBWAA (Baseball Writers Association of America) takes place Tuesday, Jan. 25.

Player Vote pct. Votes
David Ortiz† 79.39 104
Billy Wagner* 66.41 87
Todd Helton* 59.54 78
Curt Schilling* 58.02 76
Manny Ramirez 57.25 75
Alex Rodriguez 56.49 74
Andruw Jones 55.73 73
Scott Rolen 55.73 73
Gary Sheffield 53.44 70
Jeff Kent* 41.98 55
Sammy Sosa 35.88 47
Andy Pettitte 35.11 46
Bobby Abreu 20.61 27
Omar Vizquel 19.85 26
Mark Buehrle 17.56 23
Tim Hudson* 14.50 19
Joe Nathan 10.69 14
Jimmy Rollins 9.92 13
Tim Lincecum* 9.16 12
Torii Hunter* 8.40 11
Ryan Howard 6.11 8
Mark Teixeira* 6.11 8
Jonathan Papelbon 4.58 6
Prince Fielder 3.82 5
Justin Morneau 3.05 4
A.J. Pierzynski 3.05 4
Carl Crawford 1.53 2
Jake Peavy* 1.53 2
† Received the necessary 75 percent of the vote for Hall of Fame induction.
* Player voted for Hall of Fame induction by Shawn Plank of Box-Toppers.

None of the nine candidates Box-Toppers voted for Hall induction received the necessary 75 percent support. And Box-Toppers also did not vote for Ortiz.

The IBWAA vote is unofficial. The official vote for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.,is done by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) and results will be announced Tuesday, Jan. 25. But the IBWAA vote is often a good forecast for the official BBWAA vote.

Ortiz was named on 104 out of the 131 IBWAA ballots cast (79 percent). Eight other players exceeded 50 percent, led by Billy Wagner with 66 percent. A 75 percent threshold is required for election.

Box-Toppers voted against Ortiz and in a Dec. 1 post, gave this reasoning:

“I’m withholding judgment on Ortiz at least for now because of his suspected ties to the steroids era. In 2009, the New York Times reported that Ortiz allegedly tested positive in 2003 in a confidential survey that was leaked. However, after baseball adopted a drug-testing program in 2006, Ortiz never tested positive. Still, in his first few seasons, Ortiz earned relatively few Box-Toppers points (only 3.7 total in his first four seasons) and then skyrocketed in 2004 earning 10 or more points in five of six seasons from 2004 to 2009.

“I’m generally opposed to withholding a vote simply to prevent someone from being a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer. A player is either a Hall-of-Famer or not. For Ortiz, it’s not exactly clear. The leaked confidential report is suspect and there really is no other proof that Ortiz might have been a PED user.

“Judging by Box-Toppers points and rankings alone, Ortiz belongs in the Hall of Fame. But because of the suspicion, I’m going to hold off this year. I could change my mind next year, which is something I’ve not done before on Hall of Fame votes. But the point could be moot because Ortiz could very well receive enough votes to be inducted this year.”

Ortiz played from 1997 to 2016 for the Red Sox and Twins and has 145.9 career Box-Toppers points, 28th among all players, eighth among all batters and second among all designated hitters since 1995. (Among DHs, he trails only Jim Thome’s 146.7 career points.)

He led American League batters twice, both with the Red Sox (2005, 14.7 points and 2006, 16.7 points). He led AL designated hitters three times (2005, 2006 and 2013 with 12.4 points). He was  among the top 10 overall players in 2006 (his 16.7 points ranked fourth overall). He was a top 10 AL batter six times and a top five AL designated hitter 10 times.

Ortiz was one of five candidates among the 28 on the IBWAA ballot that Box-Toppers excluded because of ties to the steroid era. The others—Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield and Sammy Sosa—would all be worthy Hall candidates if not for the steroid association. Box-Toppers would also have voted against two other steroid-associated candidates, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. While both are still on the BBWAA ballot for 2022, the IBWAA voted both into their Hall in 2018, so they no longer appear on the internet writers ballot.

Here are the players Box-Toppers voted for induction to the Hall of Fame on the IBWAA ballot and the percentage of votes they received from internet writers:

It’s kind of remarkable that only one other internet writer besides Plank of Box-Toppers deemed Peavy worthy for the Hall.

The starting pitcher who played 2002 to 2016 for the Padres, White Sox, Giants and Red Sox has 141.8 career Box-Toppers points, 31st among all players and 23rd among all pitchers since 1995.

Peavy led all players and all National League pitchers in 2007 with 23.4 Box-Toppers points. He was a top 10 overall player in 2007 and 2005 (17.4 points, ranked sixth). He was a top 10 NL pitcher five straight seasons, all with the Padres—2004 (12.0 points, ranked 10th), 2005 (17.4, fourth), 2006 (13.5, eighth), 2007 (23.4, first) and 2008 (12.7, eighth).

Also, interestingly, Schilling in his 10th and final year of Hall eligibility, was not voted by internet writers for induction. The past two seasons, Schilling received 70 percent or more of the vote by BBWAA writers and needed just a small boost of support to reach the 75 percent threshold. After falling short for the ninth time last season, Schilling asked his name be removed from the ballot for 2022. If the internet writers’ vote is any indication, giving him only 58 percent support, Schilling could find his BBWAA vote percentage actually decrease in his final year on the ballot. 

These were the players on the IBWAA ballot for whom Box-Toppers did not vote for induction. Their IBWAA vote totals are shown in the chart elsewhere on this page IBWAA Hall of Fame voting:

 About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

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