Final Card Friday: 2004 Edgar Martinez

After ten long years, there’s joy in Mudville…I mean Seattle. Edgar Martinez, the greatest designated hitter in history, has been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Personally, I’m very pleased with his selection and feel that Martinez deserves his place in Cooperstown.

The overriding reason it took ten years for Martinez to get into the Hall of Fame was that he spent the majority of his career as a DH. I’ve read and heard countless people say that he doesn’t deserve enshrinement because of his DH status. I say that’s ridiculous. Many Hall of Famers and Hall of Fame candidates have benefited from the DH. Paul Molitor, George Brett, Reggie Jackson, Eddie Murray, and Jim Thome all reached significant career milestones because of their time as DHs. I don’t think many baseball fans would argue those players’ stats are less impressive because of the time they spent as DHs. More and more, baseball has become a specialized sport, particularly for pitchers. Would someone argue that a pitcher should be in the Hall because they were a terrible hitter, or for that matter, never hit? I’d think not. If that’s your criteria, then NO closer should ever be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Designated Hitters are specilized players, just like relief pitchers and deserve their rightful sports in Cooperstown.

Edgar Martinez did spend 72% of his career as a DH. However, it wasn’t because he was a sub-par defensive player. As a matter of fact, he was an above average third baseman during his younger days. Basically, a series of injuries made it a logical for the Mariners to make Martinez primarily a DH. Before his DH days, Martinez did win one of his two batting titles and made an All-Star team. Simply, his bat was too valuable to lose to another injury.

Even when penalized because of his DH status, Martinez’s numbers still stack up well with other third basemen. Just being a DH is a -1.7 WAR per season. Even so, he’s 11th in career WAR among third basemen. Impressive. More impressive is the fact that for ALL players with at least 7,000 plate appearances, Martinez’s OPS+ ranks 30th all-time, basically tied with players like Mike Schmidt, Willie McCovey, Jim Thome, and Willie Stargell. Even without defensive, Martinez is a clear as day Hall of Famer.

Because he wasn’t a starter until his age 27 season, Martinez didn’t accumulate milestone statistics, like 3,000 hits or 400 home runs. However, from age 27 on, he produced on par, if not better, than players who reached those milestones. Nonetheless, Martinez was able to achieve some impressive statistics. He won two AL batting titles, led the AL in runs scored and runs batted in, led the AL in doubles twice, and led the AL in on-base percentage three times. Speaking of OBP, Edgar had a career .418 OBP, which ranks 13th all-time, to go with his .312 average. For his career, Martinez was on base 42% of the time. Tremendous.

Edgar Martinez’s final APBA card isn’t bad. Three zeroes and a seven is serviceable. However, I only project this card to produce a .242 average even though Edgar hit .263 during the season. If APBA had given this card an extra eight, it’d produce a .266 mark.

I’m sure this is the happiest week in Seattle since Edgar Martinez hit “The Double,” to beat the Yankees in the 1995 ALDS. It was a hit that saved baseball in Seattle as fellow Hall of Famer, Ken Griffey, Jr., scored from first on a double into the leftfield corner. Martinez’s election is no longer needed to save baseball in the Pacific Northwest. However, it’s vital to the legacy and tradition of baseball in a city that’s better known for Microsoft and Starbucks. The Detroit Tigers have Mr. Tiger in Al Kaline. The Chicago Cubs had Mr. Cub in Ernie Banks. Now, the Seattle Mariners have Mr. Mariner in Edgar Martinez. I’m happy for them.