USA TODAY International Edition
The case for Long wait nearly over for this DH
Edgar Martinez is likely to earn election to Baseball Hall of Fame fraternity
USA TODAY is counting down the top 10 candidates on the 2019 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot in advance of the election results next Tuesday. The countdown is based on voting by our power rankings panel, which includes five Hall voters. Tied at No. 5 is Edgar Martinez.
Martinez was a consummate hitter during his 18-year career spent with the Mariners.
He was so good Major League Baseball renamed an award after him, the Edgar Martinez Award, in 2004, which is presented annually to the most outstanding designated hitter in the American League.
The seven-time All-Star, who blossomed late in his career, reached legendary status in the Great Northwest, helping lead the Mariners’ four playoff runs in six seasons from 1995 to 2001.
However, his Hall of Fame candidacy has been up for debate during his 10 years on the ballot, with the stigma of spending three-quarters of his career as a designated hitter weighing against him.
Martinez won two AL batting titles and registered a career batting average of .312 with 309 home runs and an OPS of .933.
His career numbers rank among the best members of the Hall of Fame, proving his worthiness. Among those:
❚ His on-base percentage (.418) is superior to that of Stan Musial (.417).
❚ His on-base-plus slugging percentage (.933) ranks above that of Frank Robinson (.926).
❚ His slugging percentage (.515) is the same as Willie McCovey’s.
❚ His .418 on-base percentage ranks 15th among current Hall of Famers and his .933 OPS is close to Jeff Bagwell’s .948 mark, and Bagwell was elected to the Hall in 2017.
The case against
Martinez is recognized as one of the top three DHs of all time alongside Frank Thomas and David Ortiz. Yet Martinez has been dogged by the fact that he played a majority of his career as a hitter and contributed little as a fielder. He wasn’t much of a baserunner either.
He started 1,396 of his 2,055 games at DH, compared to 532 at third base.
Also, as a designated hitter, he didn’t have the power many of his contemporaries had during the height of the socalled steroid era, especially for a position that warranted one. He retired with 309 home runs, which ranked 132nd on the all time list, and his 1,261 RBI are one notch higher.
He also finished in the top five in the MVP voting just once, third in 1995, when he led the AL in batting average.
X factor
Are designated hitters finally being recognized in Cooperstown?
Some of today’s voters are taking a different approach when it comes to voting for a DH, which is good sign for future candidate Ortiz.
In 2014, Thomas became the first player elected after spending the majority of his career as DH, a position instituted in 1973.
Then came Harold Baines, who was elected by Today’s Modern Game Era committee in December.
Baines’ election, in all likelihood, will cement Martinez’s chances. Baines was a six-time All-Star who produced 2,866 hits, 384 homers and 1,628 RBI. By comparison, Martinez had better offensive numbers despite playing nearly 800 fewer games.
❚ Batting average: .312 vs. .289.
❚ On-base percentage: .418 vs. .356.
❚ Slugging percentage: .515 vs. .465.
❚ On-base-plus slugging percentage: .933 vs. .820.
Consensus
The time has come, in his 10th and final year of eligibility on the ballot. In 2018, Martinez collected 70.4 percent of the vote, 20 votes shy of the 75 percent needed for induction. Judging by the rise in voting figures, from 27 percent in 2015 to a near-miss in 2018, his case should all but be cemented, especially with Baines’ election by Today’s Modern Game Era committee.
According to early returns from @NotMrTibbs’ ballot tracker, Martinez is trending well above the mark needed for induction, with 90.3 percent of the current votes cast.