Jim Kaat and Tony Oliva Set for Hall of Fame Induction

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — A humble little baseball sits at the bottom of a display case for David Ortiz on the third floor of the Hall of Fame. No hologram, no elaborate markings. In thick black ink, just below the red-seam horseshoe, someone scrawled “First HR.” Under that, in lighter pen: “Big Show.”

The Big Papi Show was still in preproduction that day, Sept. 14, 1997, when Ortiz swatted the first of 541 home runs on his way to first-ballot induction here on Sunday. His years with the Boston Red Sox made him a transcendent star, but when he hit that first homer, he was playing for the Minnesota Twins.

The other inductees this weekend took the long way here, elected through a small-committee vote in December: Bud Fowler, Gil Hodges, Minnie Miñoso, Buck O’Neil and the two other living members, Jim Kaat and Tony Oliva, who will represent the Twins — the same franchise that released Ortiz in 2002, just before his Boston breakthrough.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/23/sports/baseball/kaat-oliva-twins-hall-of-fame.html