Edgar Martinez has made the final list of eligibility for the 2010 MLB Hall of Fame, and it’s a deserving achievement.
Martinez is deserving to be in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and when the voters sit down to decide if he should have their vote, they should make the correct decision and induct him.
During the 1990s, Martinez was one of the two most feared right-handed hitters in the game, and it’s debatable that he could have been considered the best. Frank Thomas is the other player that put up superstar numbers from the right side of the plate, and he too deserves his spot in the baseball HOF.
During the decade of the 1990s, Martinez averaged a .322 average and .420 on-base percentage every year. His on-base percentage consistently ranked near the top of baseball, and in 1995, 1998, and 1999, he led the American League in on-base percentage.
In 1995 Martinez hit for .356 with a .479 on-base percentage and a combined OPS of 1.107 that led the American League. It was an amazing season for Martinez, who also led the league in runs and doubles for the year. The MVP that year went to Mo Vaughn instead, but Edgar finished a very strong third.
During his career, Martinez posted 2,247 hits, 514 doubles, a career batting average of .312, and an on-base percentage of .418. That is extremely impressive. Martinez was an All-Star seven times during his career and a five-time Silver Slugger winner.
When he retired, Major League Baseball named the DH award after him. Now the best DH in baseball is given the Edgar Martinez Award each season. When Martinez retired, he left the game as one of the most successful hitters in Seattle Mariners history.
There are a few things that might cause people to not vote for Edgar, and the first one that is brought up the most is that he was a DH. Well, why can't a DH make the Hall of Fame if a closer can? Don't closers pitch one inning of a game, roughly three times a week? The DH may not play the field, but they are in the games all week long and playing all the innings.
Edgar also came into the majors late, and that caused his career statistics to take a hit. The Mariners had a third baseman when Edgar was coming up through the minors, and he wasn't allowed to start games until he was 27, cutting some key years from his statistics overall.
What Martinez meant to the Seattle Mariners and what he meant to the game of baseball is immeasurable, but what can be measured is his place in the baseball Hall of Fame.
Regardless of whether he played the field or not, Martinez was one of the best hitters in baseball when he was active. He wracked up seven consecutive seasons where he was walked 90 or more times, and teams were always pitching around him. In 1995 he was intentionally walked 19 times, and during his career he was put on base intentionally a total of 113 times.
One of the greatest right-handed hitters I saw play in person, Edgar Martinez deserves to be in the baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot.
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