| HeraldNet - Snohomish County's online news source |
 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2010 11:13 pm |
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Sports 
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Mariners’ Martinez deserves to be in Hall of Fame There are 26 names on the baseball Hall of Fame ballots that were mailed last week to voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, including one we’ve been waiting for five years to see.Edgar Martinez, who retired in 2004 after an 18-year career with the Seattle Mariners, is eligible. In my mind, Martinez is a Hall of Famer not only for what he produced as one of the great hitters in his era and at his position (yes, DH is a position, and that’s coming from me, a traditionalist who loves the National League without the DH), but also for the integrity he brought to the game. If the voting writers are going to keep Pete Rose and Mark McGwire out for integrity reasons, Edgar deserves an equal dose of extra credit as well. Martinez won two American League batting titles and finished among the top 10 in batting average seven times, led the league in on-base percentage three times and was in the top 10 in on-base percentage 11 times. And every inning, every at-bat came with the same team, the Mariners. For the longest time, my argument in support of Edgar was thrown in my face by those who believe he doesn’t measure up in three critical areas: He didn’t hit 500 home runs in his career (he finished with 309), didn’t get 3,000 hits (2,247) and, as a DH in the prime of his career, didn’t play a “real” position. There’s so much else that states a strong case for Martinez, and my hope is that this era of statistical analysis has taken hold with enough of us old-fogey baseball writers that Edgar will have a fighting chance when his name appears on this year’s ballot. To help his cause, the Mariners have produced an impressive and comprehensive review of Martinez’s career that was e-mailed last week to BBWAA members. Among the highlights: n He is one of 20 players in major league history whose lifetime batting average is better than .300 (his is .312), on-base percentage is over .400 (.418) and slugging percentage tops .500 (.515). Of the players eligible for the Hall of Fame, only Joe Jackson and Lefty O’Doul aren’t in. n Every player in history to finish with at least 300 home runs, 500 doubles, 1,000 walks, a .300 batting average and a .400 on-base percentage is in the Hall of Fame (Stan Musial, Rogers Hornsby, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Ted Williams). In addition to his 2,247 hits and 309 homers, Martinez finished with 514 doubles, 1,283 walks, the .312 average and .418 on-base percentage. n Martinez’s on-base-plus-slugging percentage of .933 ranks 32nd all-time, and the only players ahead of him who are eligible for the Hall of Fame, but not inducted, are McGwire and O’Doul. Martinez ranks eighth on that list among right-handed hitters, and all seven ahead of him are in the Hall of Fame. Martinez had an OPS above 1.000 in five seasons and above .900 nine times. n As a designated hitter, Martinez was unmatched in everything except home runs. He had the highest DH average at .314 (Paul Molitor is next at .308), most RBI at 1,003 (leading Harold Baines’ 978), highest on-base percentage at .428 (Frank Thomas, .394), highest OPS at .959 (David Ortiz, .936) and most doubles at 370 (Hal McRae, 357). Martinez’s 243 DH home runs are third (behind Ortiz’s 274 and Thomas’ 269). If there’s ever a time for the DH position to get legitimate consideration by Hall of Fame voters, this is it. n Since the 1940s, Martinez is among six players to bat at least .320 in at least six straight seasons. The others are Hall of Famers Stan Musial, Wade Boggs, Rod Carew and Tony Gwynn, plus Todd Helton. n And, in the all-important “Yeah, but how did he fare against the Yankees?” category, Martinez did everything within his power to deal with the East Coast bias. He batted .317 with .423 on-base and .542 slugging percentages, plus a .965 OPS against the Yankees. The only team he hit better in his career was the Indians, with a .347 average. There’s more. Martinez owned future Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera, batting .625 with .700 on-base and 1.188 slugging percentages, and a 1.888 OPS in 20 career plate appearances. Robbie Alomar, also on this year’s ballot, was one of the few others to handle Rivera, yet his numbers pale compared with Martinez’s — a .455 average, .500 on-base percentage, .727 slugging percentage and 1.227 OPS. Will all that be enough to convince voters that Martinez is Hall of Fame-worthy? Probably not, this time at least. It takes 75 percent of the vote to be elected, but the key for Martinez is to get at least five percent in order to remain on the ballot for the following year. That shouldn’t be a problem, but it’ll be interesting to see how much support he has this time around. I suspect the supposed “East Coast bias” won’t hurt him as much as the 3,000-hit/500-homer/DH argument. However, with closers now getting their due, DH could be the next specialist to be considered as legitimate in the Hall of Fame vote. Maybe, just maybe, more voters will look beyond the traditional measuring sticks and see that in so many ways, Martinez stands alongside the best who’ve ever played. He’s got my vote. Read Mariners news and opinions from Kirby Arnold on his blog at www.heraldnet.com/marinersblog |
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