Edgar Martinez in the Hall of Fame?

A decent argument could be made about Edgar Martinez, who spent his entire 18-year career playing for the Seattle Mariners, and whether he deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame. You can say that he didn't play enough in the field to be considered, even though he was the best player to play his position.

But too bad his position happened to be designated hitter, huh? My problem with people who say he's not worthy of that spot in the hall, is that they just assume that he couldn't field. To remind those who don't know, he started his career playing third base for the same team he's been with up until now, but his legs weren't strong enough to continue playing field positions. You can consider him a designated hitter all you want, where he played 1,412 games, but he also played 563 at third. Not too bad of a comparison when you look at it, is it? You have to remember, when a manager assigns you to a position for the game, that's where you play. It just so happens that Edgar Martinez was instructed to sit on the bench while his team was on the field; don't hold that against him.

Career Statistics (18 seasons): .312/.418/.515, 309 HR, 1202/1283 (0.937/1) K/BB
Translated Career Statistics (18 seasons): .320/.430/.552, .328 EqA

Baseball Prospectus: Edgar Martinez Stat Profile
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/martied01.shtml

Putting the stats aside for a moment, Martinez wasn't only a great player that meant the world to the Seattle Mariner organization, he was known league-wide as a class act. Martinez did things for the community some players will never get the chance to do, and that's something to acknowledge. On the second-to-last game of last season, Martinez was recognized by the Mariners, by having a street named in his honor, his name added to the Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame, and Bud Selig officially named the designated hitter award in his name.

For me, the bottom line is that Martinez was the best at his position, despite what it happened to be. Given the opportunity, Martinez will be a great candidate for MLB's Hall of Fame.

Thank you for reading.

Steven Hanson

If you have any questions, comments, concerns or suggestions, specific to this article, please do not hesitate to email Steven Hanson at bravest2@yahoo.com

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions, please do not hesitate to email me at frnkbndy@yahoo.com.