Edgar Martinez May Finally Get the Hall Call
The upcoming BBWAA vote for the Hall of Fame at the end of January means there are new contenders for Cooperstown immortality. For some, the vote is a long shot. For others, a mere formality. For bloggers, it’s a time for reflection; a walk back down memory lane. For Edgar Martinez, the Hall of Fame season means another year in which his fine work as a designated hitter gives writers an opportunity to express their displeasure with the DH experiment. But this may finally be his year.
Edgar Martinez
Career Review
It didn’t always seem like Edgar Martinez would come close to the Hall of Fame. For the first three seasons of his career, the then-third baseman shuffled between Seattle and Calgary, then the Mariners’ Triple-A team. As a result, he only played 92 games in parts of three seasons, despite a solid if not spectacular
Martinez was given the starting nod for a bad Mariners squad in the spring of 1990. Then 27, he was still a relative unknown, despite his advanced age. However, he responded by hitting over .300 through 140
In the preseason of 1993, Edgar tore his hamstring, an injury that would have a permanent impact on his ability to be an effective fielder, all while limiting him to 42 games that year. His bad luck continued the following season, as he was hit in the wrist on a pitch by Dennis Martinez, on his first plate appearance of the season. The following year, Martinez and the Mariners decided on making him a permanent designated hitter.
1995 was a magical year for both Martinez and the Seattle Mariners. The
By the time of his retirement in 2004, Martinez had made a name for himself as one of the best pure hitters to ever play the game, with a stellar .312 career batting average as evidence. His three OBP titles also spoke to an elite eye while in the batter’s box. With the view of the DH changing in the minds of many writers, it will be interesting to see if Edgar can finally make his way to Cooperstown on his last year of eligibility. Worth noting is that no player with over 70% of the vote on his penultimate ballot has missed out on the Hall next year.
Numbers that Matter
- 10: Number of full seasons (120 or more games) out of twelve in which Martinez had a batting average over .300
- 21: Number of position players who created more WAR from Martinez’s year-27 season onwards (19 are in the Hall of Fame).
- 14: Martinez’s place on the career OBP list for players with 7,000 at-bats or more (.418)
- 3: Number of Hall of Famers to play more than 1,000 games at DH (Harold Baines, Paul Molitor, and Frank Thomas)
- .405: Martinez’s career weighted on-base average (wOBA), a mark that ranks just higher than Hank Aaron.
Pessimist’s View
For a position many
Verdict
- Makes it in by a decent, but not significant margin
Should He Get In?
- Yes. Like Rivera, Martinez was a position-defining player.
-Bryan Armetta
