by Jimmy Patrick

Created on: January 04, 2010   Last Updated: January 19, 2010

Edgar Martinez retired from baseball in 2004 after playing his entire 18-year career with the Mariners.  The requisite five years has passed, which now makes him eligible to be inducted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  He should get inducted based on his statistical performance, not because he was the best designated hitter to ever play.

This possible induction to the Hall is big news for Martinez fans, but it is also big news for baseball fans.  No player has ever gone into the hall of fame having done the bulk of their heavy hitting in the designated hitter position. 

Will Martinez induction set precedence for other designated hitters?  It will for certain, but it will not result in any mad rush to enshrine all the designated hitters that come knocking on Cooperstown’s door.  Martinez is not some baseball novelty.  He will get in to the Hall on his own merit as a baseball player.

The Hall of Fame voters love to look at statistics.  Milestones like 500 home runs, 300 wins or 3,000 hits always mark a player as a sure-fire inductee.  Martinez may not have those benchmarks to his credit, but he has more statistics than an actuary for All-State.

Martinez is the only designated hitter ever to win the batting title, hitting .356 in 1995.  He also won a batting title (.343) in 1992 as a third baseman.  He had a career batting average of .312.  He hit 309 home runs, 2,247 hits, and 1,261 RBI, but none of these statistics by themselves are good enough to get him in the Hall.  

When we take a look at the following list of players, however, we find something remarkable:  Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, Rogers Hornsby, Lou Gehrig, Manny Ramirez and Todd Helton.  The first six men on this list are not only Hall-of-Famers, but men who form the very foundation the Hall stands upon.  The final two men on that list will certainly make the Hall when their time comes. 

So what does Martinez have in common with these men?  They are the only men to have 300 home runs, 500 doubles, a career batting average higher than .300, a career on-base percentage higher than .400 (.418) and a career slugging percentage higher than .500 (.515).  There is no way anyone can overlook or dismiss these numbers. 

A lot of people will point to the fact that Martinez was a likable guy, a good man who would always sign autographs for the fans whenever and wherever they might

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