MLB.com Names David Ortiz As Best Red Sox Player Not In Hall Of Fame

The Boston Red Sox have had a lot of memorable players throughout the course of their history.

Some as recent as this decade.

And while it’s easy to pick a Hall of Famer to be Boston’s best player, there’s still a slew of former roster members who are not in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

At least, not yet.

MLB.com put together a list of each team’s best player who isn’t in the Hall of Fame. And they chose David Ortiz for the Red Sox.

Here’s why:

Key fact: One of four players all-time with 500 homers and 600 doubles

Big Papi is the rare player who ended his career with one of his finest seasons. In 2016, at the age of 40, Ortiz led the Majors in doubles (48), slugging percentage (.620) and OPS (1.021). Ortiz will be on the ballot for the first time next year. His hitting numbers are obviously Cooperstown-worthy. In fact, as the Red Sox were pushing toward a World Series championship in 2013, teammates started calling Ortiz “Cooperstown.” That ring in ’13 was the third Ortiz secured in his time with the Red Sox, and he hit .688 against the Cardinals in that Fall Classic.

Hard to argue that.

Ortiz, as noted above, will be eligible to be on the ballot next year.

The former designated hitter has plenty of memorable moments — from his famous speech during the Red Sox’s first home game since the Boston Marathon bombing, to his Game 2 grand slam in the 2013 American League Championship Series against the Detroit Tigers.

Now we just wait and see if Ortiz will had another accolade to his résumé.