Seattle Mariners

Baseball HOF Rejects All; Edgar Support Drops

By Steve Rudman5 Comments6 Mins Read
No Hall of Fame for former Mariners DH Edgar Martinez this year as his percentage of the vote dropped slightly. / Sportspress Northwest file

Despite another persuasive argument mounted by the Seattle Mariners on behalf of their former designated hitter, Edgar Martinez, the Baseball Writers Association of America largely rejected the statistical case the club presented, once again barring the Seattle icon from the portals of Cooperstown. In fact, the BWAA did not elect a single player, notably denying Hall entry to Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa.

Since 1965, the only other years the writers didn’t elect a candidate were when Yogi Berra topped the 1971 vote by appearing on 67 percent of the ballots cast and when Phil Niekro headed the 1996 ballot at 68 percent. Both were chosen the following years when they achieved the 75 percent necessary for election.

After all the allegations of use of performance-enhancing drugs, Bonds received 36.2 percent of the vote, Clemens 37.6 and Sosa 12.5. Craig Biggio, 20th on the career list with 3,060 hits, topped the 37 candidates with 68.2 percent of the 569 ballots, 39 shy of the 75 percent needed. Among other first-year eligibles, Mike Piazza received 57.8 percent and Curt Schilling 38.8. Jack Morris led holdovers with 67.7 percent.

Martinez’s support took a slight drop. Despite an avalanche of data provided by the Mariners, Martinez received 35.9 percent after getting 36.5 percent last year. Three years ago, in his first time on the ballot, Martinez received 195 votes, or 32.6 percent Two years ago, Martinez watched his support sag to 191 votes, or 32.9 percent.

The Mariners argued that Martinez produced more hits (2,247) than Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt (2,234), Willie Stargell (2,232), Joe Sewell (2,226), Joe DiMaggio (2,214) and Bill Terry (2,193), to name just a few. Also:

The Mariners easily could have augmented the drum beat by adding that Martinez, at his best, clearly played at a Hall of Fame level during his peak seasons from 1995 to 2003 (ages 32 to 40), during which he batted .321 with a .438 on-base percentage, a .558 slugging percentage and a .996 OPS (not many in that period of time were better).

Martinez’s HOF candidacy is, and always will, be compromised by two negatives that most voters haven’t been able to get past.

For all Edgar’s positive numbers and where they rank, Martinez failed to produce any one of the traditional big ones: 3,000 hits or 500 home runs. Critics also decry that Martinez spent his nine-year peak almost exclusively as a designated hitter. BWAA members have a long history of dismissing DHs when measuring them against men who play the field. But among DHs, Edgar has the highest career batting average (.314 to Hall of Famer Paul Molitor’s .308) on-base percentage and OPS (OBP + SLG) of any player as a designated hitter (minimum: 1000 games).

Less important, but significant in terms of HOF voting, is that Martinez, despite wearing a major league uniform for 18 seasons, technically only qualified for the batting title in 12 of those years.

Injuries hampered Martinez early in his career, and the relatively late start, at age 27, meant that his .312 lifetime batting average translated into just 2,247 hits and 309 home runs, far below traditional HOF standards we mentioned.

As to Edgar’s almost-exclusive role as a DH, I’d argue that every American League team has had to fill that position every day for nearly four decades, and no one filled it better than Martinez; and that if “role” players are so easily dismissed, then it’s inconsistent to elect five relief pitchers to the Hall of Fame whiling simultaneously shunning DHs. It’s equally absurd for BWAA voters to overlook peak value for DHs while weighing it heavily for relievers.

As to the fact that Martinez only qualified for the batting title 12 times in 18 years, I would point out that it is unfair to downgrade a player because he suffered injuries, or hold against him the fact the Mariners did not see fit to promote him full time to the majors until age 30 was lurking.

The reasonable thing is to ignore such factors and judge a player by what he accomplished as a peak performer.

Based on what we glean from any number of recent HOF elections, including those of Bert Blyleven, Andre Dawson, Jim Rice, and Goose Gossage, it can take years for a less-than-slam dunk-candidate to reach Cooperstown.

Blyleven, who made the HOF two years ago on his 14th try, first appeared on the HOF ballot in 1998, receiving 17.5 percent of the vote. The next year, that figure sagged to 14.1 percent. Blyleven didn’t even get half the votes necessary for induction until 2006, his ninth year of eligibility. Slowly, over the next four years, as BWAA voters delved more deeply into the context of Blyleven’s career, they became convinced of Blyleven’s legitimacy.

This is what it is going to take for Martinez to make the Hall of Fame: A greater awareness and appreciation for the level at which he played, at least for a decade.

 

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5 Comments

  2. dinglenuts on

    I thoroughly dislike the DH; I think it removes a key strategic component from the game. Personally, I’d like to see it go away.

    That said, if baseball is going to have the DH, the baseball establishment needs to respect it just as it does any other position. This establishment includes the Baseball Writers Association. Edgar’s career and numbers as a hitter support his inclusion. His legacy shouldn’t be negatively impacted simply because he played in the American League.

  3. Matt712 on

    At the end of the day, a HOF vote is an opinion, not an aggregate. So another component going against Edgar is the simple lack of media exposure, being a career Seattle Mariner. If he were a Yankee, I bet he’d be in the HOF by now.