With David, there are already 18 Latinos in Cooperstown

When the great Roberto Clemente was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973 after his tragic death in a plane crash, he became the first player born in Latin America with a plaque in Cooperstown.

The Puerto Rican idol opened the doors, but it took years for many others to join him. During the next 37 election cycles, only five Latinos who played in the Major Leagues entered the Hall of Fame: Juan Marichal (Dominican Republic, 1983), Luis Aparicio (Venezuela, 1984), Rod Carew (Panama, 1991), Orlando “Peruchín” Cepeda (Puerto Rico, 1999) and Atanasio “Tany” Pérez (Cuba, 2000).

Three other Cuban players, who saw action in the Negro Leagues before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947, were also inducted: Martín Dihigo, José Méndez and Cristóbal Torriente.

But since the beginning of the last decade, that little river of Latino players in the Hall has been getting bigger and bigger, and everything seems to indicate that it will continue to be that way for the rest of the course of this decade and beyond.

On Tuesday, the account reached 18 immortals born in Latin America with the election of Dominican David Ortiz. Big Papi did it with 77.9% of the votes of the members of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) in his first year of eligibility.

In December, the Latino brotherhood in Cooperstown had already grown thanks to the election, by the Golden Era Committee, of Cubans Orestes “Minnie” Minoso and Tony Oliva. With the entry of the two sluggers, Cuba is now the Latin American country with the most members in Cooperstown with six, surpassing Puerto Rico.

The immortals of the second decade of this century
Over the past decade, the number of Latinos in the Hall of Fame has gone from six to twelve. And five of the new hotheads arrived in the second half of 2010. Between 2017 and 2019, four of the 11 selected by the BBWAA were born in Latin America.

Roberto Alomar, Puerto Rico (2011, second year on the ballot): The 12-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove winner, the second baseman followed the legacy of his father, Sandy Alomar, who played 15 seasons in MLB. His brother, Sandy Jr., played 20 seasons in the Major Leagues and is now a coach for Cleveland.

Pedro Martínez, Dominican Republic (2015, first year on the ballot): Pedro joined Marichal as the second Dominican and second Latino pitcher to make it to the Hall. He honored that bond during a stirring two-language exaltation speech, during which he called Marichal to the stand.

Iván Rodríguez, Puerto Rico (2017, first year on the ballot): “Pudge” and his mighty arm paved the way to Cooperstown with 13 Gold Gloves as a catcher, 14 All-Star appearances and the 1999 American League MVP award.

Vladimir Guerrero, Dominican Republic (2018, second year on the ballot): One of the most spectacular and dynamic players of his time, Guerrero arrived at the Hall based on hits. During his induction speech, he was already thinking of all those who would come after him, saying, “I know this could open doors for other players.”

Mariano Rivera, Panama (2019, first year on the ballot): The all-time saves leader became the first player to be elected to the HOF unanimously, being named on each of the 425 BBWAA ballots.

Edgar Martínez, Puerto Rico (2019, 10th year on the ballot): Martinez, who was born in New York but raised in Puerto Rico, finally got the call in his final year of eligibility on the BBWAA ballot, completing a dizzying rise after receiving just 27% support in 2015.

David Ortiz, Dominican Republic (2022): The Red Sox idol joined Rivera, Rodríguez, Martínez, Carew and Clemente (special election in 1973, three months after his death) as the only Latin American players to be inducted in their first year of eligibility.

Those who come on the ballot
Over the next few years, the Latino Hall of Fame brotherhood will continue to grow, with at least one candidate with a high probability and others with high hopes. This is a look at the upcoming BBWAA ballots.

2023: Puerto Rican Carlos Beltrán has a stellar argument because of his complete game (435 home runs, 312 stolen bases, three Gold Gloves in center field). But his chances took a hit after the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, which ultimately led to Beltran leaving his Mets managerial job before he managed his first game. Alex Rodríguez, the Dominican Manny Ramírez and the Venezuelans Omar Vizquel and Bob Abreu will once again be among those eligible.

2024: Several prominent Latino players are expected to be on this ballot, but Adrián Beltré is the most likely to make it to the Hall, having passed 3,000 hits in his 21-season career at third base.

Of course, as the cases of Oliva and Miñoso demonstrated once again, the BBWAA ticket is not the only way to enter the Hall, whose Era Committees (formerly known as the Veterans Committee) are in charge of evaluating the arguments of those who have already left the ballot of the journalists. The candidates are divided into eras and these are rotated year by year. Eleven players, including the six this year, have been chosen by this method since 2018.

Among the players whose cases could be reconsidered in the coming years by these committees are Cuban Luis Tiant, Puerto Ricans Bernie Williams and Carlos Delgado, and Venezuelans David Concepción and Johan Santana.

Cuba
Martin Dihigo
Jose Mendez
Orestes “Minnie” Minoso
Tony Olive
tany perez
Christopher Torrent

Puerto Rico
Robert Alomar
Orlando “Peruchin” Cepeda
Robert Clement
Edgar Martinez
Ivan Rodriguez

Dominican Republic
Vladimir Guerrero
John Marichal
Peter Martinez
David Ortiz

Panama
Rod Carew
Mariano Rivera