Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2022: Speech Highlights and Twitter Reaction

On Sunday, beloved Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz, Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Gil Hodges, longtime pitcher Jim Kaat, Cuban pioneer Minnie Minoso, Minnesota Twins hit machine Tony Oliva, Black pioneer Bud Fowler and Negro Leagues legend Buck O'Neil were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Ortiz got in via the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Hodges, Kaat, Minoso and Oliva were selected by the Golden Days Era Committee, and both Fowler and O'Neil were voted in by the Early Baseball Era Committee.

It was an emotional day for the inductees who were able to attend.

For the current generation of fans, however, Ortiz was the most prominent inductee, and the ceremony started with his daughter singing the national anthem.

In his speech, Ortiz credited the Red Sox organization for helping him reach the Hall:

Ortiz shouted out his old teammates, too.

"Jason Varitek ... that man is serious!" he said in his speech. "Love you, Cap."

In his 14 years with the Red Sox, Ortiz blasted 483 of his 541 career homers, was a 10-time All-Star and won three titles. His clutch hitting helped the Red Sox end one of the most famous and lengthy title droughts in American sports history in 2004, and titles followed in 2007 and 2013.

That made him one of the most beloved figures in Boston sports history.

"If my story can remind you of everything, let it remind you that when you believe in someone, you can change their world, you can change their future," Ortiz said in his speech, thanking those who believed in him along the way to Cooperstown.