While David Ortiz's name will be brought up--and eventually put on the ballot--for the Hall of Fame, Martinez's name is already on 67% of public ballots. Although first-time names like Vladimir Guerrero and Ivan Rodriguez are favorites to get in, Martinez still has plenty of time ahead of him.
The former Seattle Mariners DH made the position significant during his time with the M's. While Martinez doesn't have that many career homers (309), he does have a career batting average of .312 along with 1,261 RBIs, a career OBP of .418, an OPS of .933, and a slugging percentage of .515 to his name. His 162-game averages consist of this: .312 BA, 24 homers, 99 RBIs, 41 doubles, 293 TB. Not bad, eh? Martinez was also a seven-time All Star, a five-time Silver Slugger, and was in the running for AL MVP five times (best finish was in 1995 when he finished third). Martinez amassed an oWAR of 66.4 and had 687 runs above replacement level along with an adjusted OPS of 147. Edgar won two batting titles (1992, 1995) and even has an award named after him!
Getting Edgar into the Hall of Fame won't just do the game justice regarding the DH position. It'll also help Ortiz as well. Ortiz, who has 541 homers and 1,768 RBIs to his name, will benefit from having a fellow DH get in before him. It'll also help the ten-time All-Star that he has a World Series MVP to go with his resume, but he'll benefit even more if Edgar gets in to set a precedent for designated hitters.
Whatever the case, Edgar Martinez deserves to be in Cooperstown. It'd be a shame to see one of the best pure hitters of the 1990s go to the wayside like Lou Whitaker did regarding the Hall of Fame vote. After all, it wasn't just Ken Griffey Jr. that made the M's fun to watch during that time period.
Photo Courtesy of The Sports Quotient
No comments:
Post a Comment