Current college-aged Red Sox fans like myself were born into an unprecedented run of legendary Boston ballclubs. With World Series victories in 2004, 2007, 2013 and 2018, our generation has already seen more titles than any Sox fans in the last 100 years. It’s been an absolutely glorious run. If history is an indicator of future results, the Red Sox are due for a World Series this year and then none for the next 86 if they were to replicate their run through the 1910’s. Let’s hope that won’t be the case.
Terrifying hypotheticals aside, Boston will likely not be in contention for a World Series for at least two years. The team is still built for the future with a strong core in Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts, but offseason moves pushed them out of realistic contention this season. Over the last decade we’ve seen a few legends of our childhood walk away from the game. Though our time is done rooting for them on the field, we can still cheer for our guys off the field - on the Hall of Fame ballot. Entering the Hall with a team’s logo on your plaque cements a player’s legacy as a representative of that franchise for life. Here’s a breakdown of three players from the World Series winning groups’ Hall of Fame chances.
Curt Schilling– Entering ninth year on ballot.
Accolades: 3x World Series Champion (2004 and 2007 with Boston), 6x MLB All-Star, 2001 World Series MVP, one of 18 members of the 3,000-strikeout club.
Perennially one of the most controversial figures on the ballot, Schilling is down to his last two years of eligibility for Cooperstown. I will always argue Schilling is a worthy candidate as one of the best Postseason pitchers of all time. His legendary bloody sock game landed him firmly in place with the Mount Olympus of other gutsy Boston performances, and his years in Arizona were equally impressive. However, Schilling’s extremely controversial political comments and vulgar remarks towards journalists (the HOF voter base, mind you) have prevented him from attaining immortality. As a Hall of Famer, he will become a voice of the franchise, so he will need to reign things in to represent the Red Sox in the best way he can. I believe Schilling makes it to Cooperstown in his last year on the ballot, 2021.
David Ortiz– Eligible for the first time in 2022.
Accolades: 4x World Series Champion, 10x All-Star 2013 World Series MVP, 500-home run club.
Arguably the best Red Sox player of all-time, Big Papi has been the face of the franchise ever since he played an enormous role in breaking the Curse of the Bambino. He could have retired then and there and never paid for a drink in New England again, but Ortiz went on to win three more championships before retiring in 2016. From his iconic speech after the Marathon tragedy in 2013, to his shenanigans with teammate Manny Ramirez, there was never a dull moment in Papi’s career. As a designated hitter he will face some resistance from the Hall of Fame voters, but fellow
DH Edgar Martinez’s recent induction should eliminate any skepticism of Ortiz’s chances. He is internationally loved and could not represent everything the Red Sox strive to communicate through their organization better. Big Papi should be a first ballot Hall of Famer, and I cannot wait
to see the work he does with the Red Sox for the rest of his life.
Mookie Betts– Entering his prime… With the Los Angeles Dodgers
For the last player on this list, I figured it would be fun to look at Mookie Betts. Even though his trade is still a sore spot for Red Sox Nation, we will have to face the reality that he is spending at least one year of his prime somewhere else. There is still a chance that the Red Sox re-sign Betts next year, but Mookie will most likely have only spent the beginning of his Hall of Fame career in Boston. Six years into his career he’s won a ring, an MVP trophy, three Silver Slugger awards and four Gold Gloves. The four-time All Star was sent to Southern California in a questionable yet painfully understandable move that left the Red Sox without one of the brightest personalities in baseball and a hole in right field. Sox fans will be dreaming of the day that Betts returns home to Fenway, but for now they’ll have to watch the future Hall of Famer exemplify everything it means to wear Dodger Blue.
Final Words
Hall of Famers represent their franchises for life and have great value from a public relations standpoint. The Red Sox have seen their most success in franchise history in my lifespan, and the players that achieve immortality in Cooperstown will become the club’s ambassadors forever. I believe all of these three will. They symbolize success and greatness, making it extremely important that they are publicly involved with the club’s future.
Works Cited in Infographic
https://www.mlb.com/news/hall-of-famers-broken-down-by-mlb-team-c302916132
https://www.mlb.com/redsox/history/hall-of-famers
https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers
https://baseballhall.org/explorer?name=&team=All&induction=All&pos=25&state=All&born%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=&bats=All&throws=All
https://www.mlb.com/news/2021-baseball-hall-of-fame-ballot-first-look
http://www.baseballessential.com/news/2016/01/19/retired-numbers-boston-red-sox/
I've often played out these same scenarios with my favorite Royals players of all time, though given that it's the Royals I usually have to ground myself and think more just the organization's hall of fame rather than the league's. This post was a great choice for a way to incorporate an infographic into your analysis. Before delving into the players that you put up for discussion, it is nice to see the statistics and numbers on what it traditionally has required for a Red Sox player to be HOF-worthy. The infographic also does a very clear job of creating different levels both through visuals and the information. Every angle that you could look at when analyzing important factors of…