A lot of the comments surrounding the possible candidacy of Edgar Martinez for the Hall of Fame center around his being merely a DH. First and foremost, there are a good many HOF'ers whose standing has nothing to do with their fielding abilities.
Some were pretty much rocks who would have been DH's had there been a position available. No one talks about Harmon Killebrew's great reflexes at the hot corner. Great all-around hitter? "Killer's" career average is .256! As one of Bret Boone's t-shirts might say, "HOF Voters Dig the Long Ball." So he hit a lot of homers. Edgar was a well-over-.300 career hitter with one AL batting crown already in hand (plus two more at PCL Calgary-AAA while the Seattle Mariners trotted out Jim Presley at third) before being relegated to the DH role because of an unfortunate string of injuries, not poor defensive play. Though he wasn't great, he had become a decent third baseman.
That he was able to continue hitting at such a high level is testimony to his perseverance and dedication. He continued to battle hamstring injuries and vision problems that forced him to spend hours each day in demanding therapy regimens. Imagine a .315 lifetime hitter with bad eyes! A quick look at the numbers: 1992, 1995-2001 (8 years) show these averages: .331 BA, 42 doubles, 27 homers, 106 RBI, 100 runs, 100 walks per year (during 1993-94, Edgar was limited to 131 games because of injuries). Think of how much better he would have been with good eyes (and healthy hamstrings)? He lost dozens of hits in his career because of his legs. Who knows how many RBI he lost hitting behind Griffey and A-Rod (while providing both with world class protection in the batting order. No intentional walks to get to Edgar!). We might be talking about a .325 career average and one or two more batting crowns. OK, shoulda, woulda, coulda.
For a decade, Martinez was the glue that held Seattle's potent attack together. I liken his role to that of Hall of Famer Tony Perez, who was the heart and soul of the Cincinnai Reds' Big Red Machine. Another thing that has to be factored in is his loyalty. Despite several opportunities to take more money or lucrative endorsements, Gar stayed behind the scenes and in Seattle.
No money grubbing here. He was one of the most-liked players in the game amongst his teammates and opponents, and achieved nearly the same level of respect among Latin American players as an earlier generation heaped upon Roberto Clemente, one of Edgar's idols growing up.
In short (although this is getting pretty long), his numbers despite injuries (remember, Koufax only had six "great" seasons), perseverance, dedication, loyalty and standing among his peers more than make Edgar Martinez Hall of Fame material. His total package makes him the epitome of what a Hall of Famer is! And besides, how many awards are named after non-HOF'ers?
» Jeff Woodhouse is a Mariners fan and also has a strong
interest in Major League Baseball history.
» More submissions
Copyright © 2005 by Jeff Woodhouse. Posted October 17, 2005.
BALLPLAYERS | TEAMS | CHRONOLOGY | TODAY | BOOKS | NEWSLETTER | ERRATA | FAQ
