Bleacher Report - Baseball Hall of Fame

Edgar Martinez as Hero: Shining Moments on a Hall of Fame Résumé

Arne Christensen — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:08:55 -0500

From what I’ve seen, the case that Edgar Martinez’s fans have cumulatively assembled to argue for him as Hall of Famer almost exclusively mentions only his statistical accomplishments as a hitter, gauged by both the traditional metrics and the advanced, sabermetric kind.

But of course it is people, not assemblages of statistics, who stand as candidates for the Hall of Fame, and that seems to be part of Edgar’s problem.

As an unassuming, unquotable Latino who never reached the World Series and played far from any media hothouse, in the most remote big league city in the sport, Edgar’s a deep underdog in the charisma category of Hall of Fame qualifications.

(I think it’s obvious that personality and a résumé of myth-making material help any player make it to Cooperstown: See Dizzy Dean, Enos Slaughter, Bobby Grich, and Bob Johnson for four examples on both sides.)

Even in the Seattle area, he didn't attain the heights of fame (or notoriety) that Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson, Alex Rodriguez, Jay Buhner, and Ichiro did.

Mario Lanza, a friend who’s written a long story about being a Mariners fan in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, said:

"Even in Seattle people didn't really know who he was. I saw him in Crossroads Mall [in Bellevue] with his family, just sitting there eating dinner outside of the food court. Here he was, one of the greatest players in Mariners history, and people just walked by him like he was nobody special.

"He used to go there with his family, and I'd see him reading newspapers right outside the Daily Planet newsstand. I must have seen him five times there and nobody ever recognized him. Even in Seattle he was anonymous. How are the writers in Boston or New York supposed to feel any differently about him?"

Presented here are two post-1995 instances of Edgar's heroic actions on the field. They should help erase the idea of Edgar as a routinely productive hitter who, outside of 1995, didn't do much in the way of generating intense memories for fans.

These events didn't happen in October or get immortalized in the video vault, but as pure heroism they're certainly equal to Curt Schilling's bloody sock, Bucky Dent's homer in 1978, and Bo Jackson's various feats as a Royal.

In September 1997, Edgar had to get stitches twice within five days. The first time was on Sept. 8 in Kansas City, when the Royals' Chili Davis swung his bat in the sixth and it landed on Edgar’s head in the dugout for a five-stitch cut. Edgar stayed in the game and went 2-for-4 with two singles, getting his 100th RBI along the way.

A quote from Edgar: "I lost sight of it in the lights. I knew it was coming, and I ducked to the left. I must have ducked right into it. It was scary, lots worse than having a pitch come at your head."

Then, on Sept. 12, came the coup de grace: Playing Toronto at the Kingdome, Edgar slid into home and into catcher Charlie O'Brien's mask while trying to score in the sixth inning. He got eight more stitches on his chin.

Of course he stayed in the game again, and of course he hit the game-winning three-run homer in the eighth, breaking up a 3-3 tie. Edgar hit it off Roger Clemens, who was 21-5 at the time and on his way to the ’97 Cy Young and a 2.05 ERA. Clemens allowed just nine homers in all of 1997.

Edgar’s quote: "I never have been to a hockey game. But I've watched and seen the fights and the cuts. I guess you could say my week has been like a hockey game." Lou Piniella called Martinez "a tough kid, a professional. It was his night."

Over the seven games that began with getting five stitches on Sept. 8, Edgar hit .400, 10-for-25, with four walks and a .483 OBP.

Then, on July 29, 2000, Edgar was scheduled to be grand marshal of Seattle’s Seafair Torchlight Parade in the evening, but first there was a game to play. It ran late: 13 innings and five hours, four minutes long.

But Edgar had a parade to catch. So he hit a walk-off single for a 6-5 win over the Blue Jays, showered, dressed, didn’t say a word to the press—too busy—and went off to the day’s second job.

The Torchlight Parade’s theme: “Heroes of Our Hearts.”

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Edgar Martinez Deserves Hall of Fame Vote

Ryan Gamble — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 02:01:31 -0500

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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Bert Blyleven Makes Another Pitch at Cooperstown

Jeremiah Graves — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:54:26 -0500

Bert Blyleven belongs in the Hall of Fame.

In fact, he’s belonged in the Hall of Fame for 12 years.

Yet, for 12 years in a row, the Baseball Writers Association of American has erred by leaving him out in the cold when the voting results are announced.

Now in his 13th year of eligibility, Blyleven is down to his final three strikes.

Blyleven’s inability to get inducted has never been a case of talent.

For Bert Blyleven, the numbers have always been there, however, the votes have not.

In a 22-year career that spanned five teams and both leagues, “The Flying Dutchman” put up some very impressive numbers.

Those impressive numbers include 287 career wins, which is good enough for 27th on the all-time list. Almost every eligible player ahead of Blyleven on the wins list is enshrined in Cooperstown.

In fact, plenty of pitchers with less wins that Blyleven have be inducted. Some notable examples include: Jim Palmer, Juan Marichal, Whitey Ford, Don Drysdale, and Catfish Hunter, among others.

Wins aren’t the only statistic where Blyleven’s numbers are Hall-worthy.

Blyleven’s 3,701 career strikeouts rank him fifth all-time, he’s 11th in games started with 685, he’s ninth all-time with 60 shutouts, and he’s 13th on the all-time innings pitched list with 4,970.

Blyleven’s career 3.31 earned run average tops current Hall of Famers Phil Niekro, Fergie Jenkins, Robin Roberts, and Dennis Eckersley.

Clearly the numbers are there, so what’s the issue?

It seems that voters haven’t yet made a big push to get Blyleven in because of his lack of the so-called “benchmarks” for entry into the Hall of Fame.

Blyleven never won a Cy Young Award, he didn’t reach the 300-win plateau, he was only an All-Star twice in 22 years, he won 20 games in a season just once, and he only led the league in one of the key pitching categories once, in 1985 when he paced the American League with 206 strikeouts.

Despite his lack of a standout season or any of the archaic benchmarks, one needs only look so far as his overall body of work in comparison to his modern-day counterparts to see that he belongs.

How many starters will ever reach 287 career wins?

How many starters will ever strike out more than 3,000 batters again, let alone reach his lofty mark?

How many starters—in the age of pitch counts, specialty relievers, and the six-inning quality start—will ever come close to pitching 242 complete games or 60 shutouts?

Blyleven’s already rock-solid numbers, although unchanged since he retired following the 1992 season, figure to grow more impressive as the era of the workhorse pitcher fades farther into the past.

Blyleven was a pitcher cut from a different cloth.

He wanted to start and finish a game on the mound with the ball in his hand. Too many pitchers now are content to earn the quality start and hit the showers.

Take for instance Blyleven’s 242 complete games and 60 shutouts.

Randy Johnson is the active leader in complete games pitched with 100. The modern-era workhorse, Roy Halladay has just 49.

Johnson is also the active leader in shutouts with 37, followed by Tom Glavine with 25.

No one is going to catch Blyleven any time soon, meaning that his lofty, Hall of Fame-worthy rankings will remain intact long passed the end of his 15th year of eligibility.

Arguments can be made that Blyleven’s numbers are a product of his lengthy career, that he lost too many games, or that he never had one standout season to hang his hat on.

All of those arguments could be valid, but all are easily disputed by simple facts.

Blyleven’s career spanned just as many years as Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Randy Johnson, and Roger Clemens. All of whom are considered to be first-ballot Hall of Famers.

No one would ever claim that their successes were a result of pitching for two decades, as opposed to raw talent.

All four of the aforementioned pitchers also had the good fortune to pitch for winning, playoff-caliber teams for most of their careers.

Blyleven pitched in two World Series, in 1979 with Pittsburgh and in 1987 with Minnesota. He only played in the postseason one other time, in the 1970 ALCS with the Twins.

Most of his career was spent toiling for mediocre clubs that hovered at or below the .500 mark, no doubt that impacted his won-loss record in a big way.

Finally, the lack of a standout season is a moot point. How many pitchers have won a Cy Young Award or 20 games only to fade into oblivion?

A pitcher’s Hall-worthiness shouldn’t hinge on whether or not he had one stellar year somewhere along a 22-year journey that saw him finish among the game’s elite in numerous categories.

Blyleven didn’t need to win an award or have a standout year to show that he belongs in the Hall of Fame.

The numbers, as they always have been, are there.

Now it’s time for the BBWAA writers to finish what Blyleven, and his infamous curveball, started and vote him into the Hall of Fame.

The voters, despite not yet making the right decision, have been moving in the right direction.

After receiving just 17.5 percent of the vote in 1998, his first year of eligibility, his totals have grown nearly every year.

Last year he finished with 338 total votes for 62.7 percent, still shy of the 75 percent required for induction to the Hall of Fame.

Blyleven’s slow march toward the 70 percent mark is important as well, because every player who has reached 70 percent of the vote has subsequently been elected to the Hall of Fame.

Even more encouraging is that since 1980, only four players have received over 60 percent of the vote and not ended up in Cooperstown.

All signs point toward Blyleven’s eventual induction.

With no sure-fire first-ballot Hall of Famers on the ticket this year and a whole slew of holdovers, this could finally be the year that Blyleven gets his due.

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Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, Larry Walker, and the Hall of Fame

Antwan Fields — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:44:59 -0500

Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, and Larry Walker. Three players, one amazing double-play combo, one excellent hitter.

Larry Walker was constantly disrespected by sportswriters and assorted idiots because he played the prime of his career in Colorado, along with Dante Bichette, who was a bit of a jerk; Vinny Castilla, who wasn't really all that good until he got to Colorado; and Andres Galarraga, who needed only Coors Field to jump start his career and produce runs, and probably would be a more viable candidate for the Hall of fame were he not attacked by cancer. Todd Helton would come along later and fight his own battle to be recognized as a legit potential great.

Walker had a career line of .313-383-1,311. And of course I bring that up because people will point to that and say 1) those are not hall-of-fame numbers and 2) those are inflated by playing at Coors Field.

So when I bring up Mel Ott and the fact that he played at the Polo Grounds, where it was 258 feet to right field, and the fact that none of his homers, obviously, were to center field, there's a giant outcry: You can't compare Larry Walker to Mel Ott!

Why not? The argument is virtually the same. Ott never had to prove it anywhere but at the Polo Grounds, and he hit 323 of his 511 there. Not to mention Ott played in an offense-oriented era, as did Walker, and this made the exploits of Dizzy Dean all the more remarkable. But more on that some other time.

But if you're going to penalize Walker for playing in the most power-laden era in the history of baseball, steroids or no steroids (which there's no evidence Walker ever did), then you sure as hell have to penalize Ott for playing at the Polo Grounds, Duke Snider for playing at Ebbets Field, etc, etc.

Speaking of Ebbets Field, I think it is absolutely a crime that Gil Hodges is not in the Hall of Fame. Of all the people currently not in Cooperstown, instead of wasting all your energy and ink on Pete Rose and listening to Joe Morgan tell you how good Dave Concepcion is, how about Gil Hodges? If his exploits as a player aren't good enough—and they should be by any real standard, given by someone who doesn't have a severe case of cranial-rectal disease— then how about his performance as a manager?

Now, maybe people are saying Walker never won a ring. True. But, uh, there's this guy that comes up for eligibilty in a few years, a well-known steroid monstrosity who probably will get voted into the Hall of Fame and who got hosed by his manager at the time, a certain Dr. Salvador, the same idiot who believes that OBP is no good unless you can run. Regardless, he still never won a thing. So that argument doesn't work.

Also, Walker was a good player in Montreal, in one of the ugliest "domed" stadiums I've ever seen in my life and hope to never see again. Larry Walker should get into the Hall of Fame. He has the numbers, but...

He won't get voted in. I guarantee it. And that puts things in the hands of the Veterans Committee.

Ah, yes, the Veterans Committee. The same VC headed by...Joe Morgan. Have you figured out that I hate Joe Morgan yet? No? Well, you should have by now.

Here's the thing: in an old Dilbert strip when Dilbert was still good, Ratbert asks Dogbert for advice on how to be successful. Dogbert gives Ratbert ridiculous advice, and then, in a thought bubble, says, "beware the advice of successful people; they do not seek company."

That's what the VC is like. After yet another year of not selecting anyone for the Hall of Fame, it's getting really tiresome.

So let's revise the rules for the last time. Force the VC to select people. A minimum of two per season. Stop with this garbage about not electing people. Because there's plenty of people who deserve to be there, and quite a few who are in who don't belong there.

Now, Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance got into the Hall of Fame because of Franklin Pierce Adams. So why not do the same thing for a highly deserving double-play combo, one who hit 244 career homers, drove in 1,084 runs, won three Gold Gloves in what was basically the Frank White invitational, and made five ASGs; and the other, who was one of the 20 best shortstops ever, and these two were together nearly 20 YEARS. They won a World Series, so that takes care of that.

Personally, I think that these two guys should go in together. Who cares where they played? Detroit wasn't exactly a giant pit—well, not when they played—and where you played shouldn't really count against you; just how. Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker belong in the Hall of Fame. Right next to each other. The way it should be.

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