Happy Birthday to Edgar Martinez. Over the span of 18 years, Martinez has only played for the Seattle Mariners. Martinez is not only arguably the greatest player in Mariners franchise history but he’s also regarded as arguably the greatest Designated Hitter ever to play. During his career, whether the team was struggling, the occasional injury, or aging, the one common denominator was when Martinez played, he could hit.

Career Statistics/Accolades (1987-2004):

.312 BA 2,247 HITS 309 HR 1,261 RBI .418 OBP 1,219 RUNS

  • 7x All-Star
  • 5x Silver Slugger
  • 2x Batting Champion
  • 2004 Roberto Clemente Award Winner

As a Hitter

Martinez was an all-around hitter that anyone would want in the middle of their lineups at any time. Martinez batted .300 or higher ten times, winning two batting titles in 1992 and 1995. On average, Martinez homered 25 plus times a year, driving in 100 or more RBIs six times. Also, Martinez was patient at the plate he drew more Walks (1,283) in his career than he struck out (1,202). As a result, his OBP was .400 or higher eleven times, leading the league thrice in 1995, 1998, and 1999. For a Right Handed slugger, he hit for a healthy amount of Doubles leading the league twice, while hitting (514) over his career. 

As a Defender

I’m sorry, but Martinez, as a fielder, was never meant to be. Initially he came up as a Third Baseman, where he didn’t do so well. Over the span of 4,605.1 Innings and 564 games, Martinez was a .946 Fielder. At times, the Mariners tried Martinez at First Base but only played 28 games there. 

Best Years

I would say up until 2003, during his age 40 season, Martinez was still amongst the game’s best hitters. The guy was always a great hitter. I would definitely say that Martinez had at least eight seasons of being one of the top hitters in the game. Martinez and the Mariners had their best season in 1995, when Martinez finished 3rd in the AL MVP voting, when he had career highs in AVG (.356), OBP (.479), and in RUNS (121). 

1992:  .343 BA 181 HITS 18 HR 73 RBI .405 OBP 100 RUNS (150 Games)

1995:  .356 BA 182 HITS 29 HR 113 RBI .479 OBP 121 RUNS (145 Games)

1996: .327 BA 163 HITS 26 HR 103 RBI .464 OBP 121 RUNS (139 Games)

1997: .330 BA 179 HITS 28 HR 108 RBI .456 OBP 104 RUNS (155 Games)

1998: .322 BA 179 HITS 29 HR 102 RBI .429 OBP  86 RUNS (154 Games)

1999: .337 BA 169 HITS 24 HR 86 RBI  .447 OBP  86 RUNS (142 Games)

2000: .324 BA 180 HITS 37 HR 145 RBI .423 OBP 100 RUNS (153 Games)

2001: .306 BA 144 HITS 23 HR 116 RBI .423 OBP 80 RUNS (132 Games)

Legacy

It took until his last year of eligibility to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Him being a career DH, and not being a fielder didn’t help him when it came to the Hall of Fame voting or even in the MVP voting despite having years in which his offensive numbers were undoubtedly representative. To me, a DH has to be OVERWHELMINGLY great offensively to make up for not playing a defensive position to get into the Hall of Fame. In the case of Martinez and David Ortiz, they both qualify as Hall of Famers despite being DHs. Both Martinez and Ortiz took home the Silver Slugger Award at the age of 40, which should show how unbelievably great they were as hitters. It’s certainly a toss-up between those two as the greatest DH of all time. In 2017, the Seattle Mariners retired his #11 jersey, along with Ken Griffey Jr. They are the only ones to have their numbers retired by the Mariners.

References:

  1. Edgar Martinez via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Mart%C3%ADnez
  2. Edgar Martinez Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/martied01.shtml