Boston great David Ortiz heads Hall of Fame class of 2022

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — It was past midnight at Fenway Park, Yankees-Red Sox, 4-4, last of the 12th in Game 4 of the ALCS. The Yankees were seeking a sweep, but David Ortiz stepped up with a man on, and a loud crack reverberated through the old ballpark.

“Ortiz into deep rightfield. Back is Sheffield. We’ll see you later tonight,” Joe Buck said on the call for FOX as the ball sailed over Gary Sheffield and disappeared in Boston’s bullpen.

After that walk-off homer, Ortiz provided a 14th-inning, walk-off single in Game 5. He was on his way to winning ALCS MVP. And the 2004 Red Sox were the way to a stunning comeback and then their first World Series title in 86 years.

Ortiz always seemed to meet the moment over his 14 seasons with Boston, following six with Minnesota. He was Big Papi, a large lefty hitter from the Dominican Republic with a larger persona.

Now comes the next big moment — entry into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Ortiz will be the headliner of the seven-member Class of 2022 that will be inducted Sunday at Clark Sports Center.

“Very excited,” Ortiz said Saturday when he met with the media at the venue. “Just to hang out with the other Hall of Famers, they gave me a huge welcome.”

He was the lone player voted in this time by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, and he made it on the first ballot. 

The Golden Days Era Committee voted in the late former Dodgers first baseman and 1969 Mets World Championship manager Gil Hodges, who’s being recognized as a player, along with Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva and Minnie Minoso. The Early Baseball Era committee selected Buck O’Neil and Bud Fowler.

Ortiz was a 10-time All-Star. He cracked 541 homers — a record 485 as a DH — drove in 1,768 runs and batted .286. He’s third on the all-time list with 20 regular-season walk-off hits.

His clutch hitting carried over to the postseason where he won three rings with Boston, in 2004, 2007 and 2013. He played in 85 postseason games overall, batting .289 with 17 homers and 61 RBIs. He hit .688 — 11-for-16 — with two homers and six RBIs in the six-game World Series win over St. Louis in 2013, claiming MVP honors.

Several of his former Boston teammates are coming to watch him receive this ultimate honor.

“People come up to me and say ‘Hey man, 2004, 2007, 2013, all those years, you had a great season and did this and did that,’ ” Ortiz said. “And I’m like, ‘Yes, I did it, but without my teammates, I don’t think we would have accomplished anything.’ ”

There’s a distinct Minnesota accent on this induction ceremony.

Besides Ortiz’s early ties, there’s Oliva. The outfielder batted .304 and earned three batting titles in 15 seasons with the Twins.

Then there’s Kaat. The lefthander, a 283-game winner across 25 seasons, pitched with the Washington Senators in 1959 and 1960 before the franchise left for Minnesota. He won 189 games with the Twins before moving on to the Chicago White Sox during the 1973 season. Kaat spent parts of two seasons with the Yankees (1979-80). He also served as a TV commentator for the club.

“I was not the dominant starter that a lot of Hall of Fame pitchers are,” Kaat said recently. “ . . . I always hear my friend, Bill Parcells, talk about football players. He said, ‘I like this guy because he was built to last.’ I’m always thankful that I had a durable body and that I could last a while, because I wanted to play this game as long as I could.”