Seattle Mariners: Edgar Martinez May Never Get into the Hall of Fame

Edgar Martinez is one of the greatest players ever to suit up for the Seattle Mariners. Sadly, he may never be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

In 2013, there will be exactly zero players added to the Hall.

On paper, this class included a slew of no-brainer selections, such as Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.

However, the steroid era is apparently being addressed in a very harsh way.

The paper, and more specifically, the statistics do not seem to mean much to the voters. 

Craig Biggio is being heavily discussed, simply because he has 3,000 hits and is arguably regarded as a non-steroid user. Biggio may eventually get in, as he received 68.2 percent of the vote. Perhaps he will get to 75 percent in 2014.

Where is Edgar Martinez?

Not at 68.2 percent.

Has he gotten in all the confusing criteria now being loosely applied to the "steroid era?"

As tweeted by Greg Johns of ESPN, Martinez received 35.9 percent of the vote. 

"

Edgar Martinez 10th in Hall of Fame voting at 35.9 percent. Details on the blog. gregjohns.mlblogs.com

— Greg Johns (@GregJohnsMLB) January 9, 2013"

Over the last few years, the percentage has been:

2013: 35.9

2012: 36.5

2011: 32.9

2010: 36.2

You don’t have to be a math major to realize something. These numbers do not represent a positive trend. In fact, the numbers are really not a trend or all.

In a word, these numbers are flat.

Seattle fans are obviously going to be disappointed, because they know how devastating Martinez was at the plate during his career.

The stories of his preparation are legendary, and Edgar will forever be known for hitting “the double” in the magical 1995 season.

Still, something would have to drastically change in order for these voting numbers to increase.

Unfortunately, Edgar cannot study harder for this test next year. He cannot add hits to his career total, and if anything the writers may become more forgetful about his impact on the game.

More than any other professional league, baseball is about the numbers. Statistics are not the only factor that gets a player into the Hall of Fame, but it is certainly a major element of the process.

Fans obviously get tired of hearing about Edgar’s shortcomings. As noted by CBS Seattle, certainly writers have suggested that Martinez was too “one-dimensional.”

In other words, the fact that he was a designated hitter throughout his career hurt his chances of making an impact on the overall game.

This is an understandable argument, but it is hardly compelling.

The Hall is not exactly filled with players that were all well-rounded.

Granted, Edgar’s career stats (via Baseball-Reference.com) do reveal why other writers might not be persuaded to vote for him.

Edgar’s 2,247 hits are most likely a problem for some voters. Those voters do not care that Martinez lost time due to injury, or that management did not recognize his talent early enough to give him a shot at racking up more hits.

You wish that the writers would focus on his two batting titles, his .312 career average, his 514 doubles and his career .933 OPS (tied for 33rd all time).

Impressive stats, to be sure. Hall-worthy? Yes.

To his credit, Martinez seems to have a realistic sense about his chances. As reported by The Seattle Times, Edgar stated that in regards to getting in, “It's just not going to be any time soon.”

Seattle fans may be left to remember Edgar’s accomplishments, and treat Edgar Martinez Day as Seattle’s version of the Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Perhaps Edgar will experience a groundswell of support in the next few years.

As much as I would like to see that happen, I do not have high hopes.

Frankly, I don’t think Edgar does either.

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