Cooperstown, New York will be THE place to be for baseball fans this weekend with a full class of players who will be inducted as members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame‘s Class of 2022. After a 2021 Class that was non-existent, the 2022 class is headlined by some amazing baseball players. Starting off with David “Big Papi” Ortiz who is always a fan favorite. Ortiz is a three-time World Series champion with the Boston Red Sox and was the face of the franchise for years. Ortiz has always been larger than life, and even during his last year playing baseball he was putting up numbers that were better than most players have ever seen. Ortiz even helped Boston get through major tragedy after the Boston Marathon bombing, giving an inspirational speech to the crowd that will give goosebumps to listers for years to come. He is true Hall-of-Famer in every sense of the word. No matter what team you root for it was hard not to like Big Papi.
Minnie Miñoso is also going to be inducted in this years Hall of Fame class. Minnie was a Cuban born player who famously played left field for the Chicago White Sox. He was the first ever black player on the Chicago White Sox and hit a homerun on the first pitch of his first at-bat and was a star ever since. He was elected by the Golden Era Committee and will be inducted posthumously this Sunday, a feat that most baseball fans feel is long overdue.
Another candidate that will be inducted is Minnesota Twins pitcher Jim Kaat. A 16-time gold glove winner and 1982 World Series champion, Kaat pitched for over 25 years and still contributes to the game today calling baseball games for a number of television networks. Kaat pitched over 4600 inning amassing 283 wins while keeping a career 3.45 ERA. A absolute stud on the mound with his arm and his glove having the 2nd most gold gloves won by a pitcher only trailing other Hall of Famer and Atlanta Braves superstar Greg Maddux.
The Minnesota Twins will also send Tony Oliva to Cooperstown this weekend as well. Another Cuban-born player, Oliva was a two-time World Series Champion, winning 3 AL batting titles. Oliva’s first season was so amazing, he became the first ever player to win a batting title and a Rookie of the Year award as well. Oliva is also the only Minnesota Twins team member to be on all 3 World Series teams, playing outfield in 1965 and helping coach the team in 1987 and 1991. Even without as many of the bombshell stats as some Hall of Famers, Oliva was always highly regarded by all during his time as a player and beloved by all players as a coach.
As always, be sure to check out and shop our array of Autographed Baseballs, Autographed Baseball Jerseys, Autographed Baseball Bats and more at SportsCollectibles.com! Autographed Major League Baseball memorabilia and collectibles make excellent gifts for the baseball fanatics in your life.
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