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Edgar Martinez

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Image:Edgar-martinez.JPG
Edgar Martinez warming up.

Edgar Martinez (born January 2, 1963 in New York, New York) is a longtime Major League Baseball player who retired at the end of the 2004 season. He spent his entire major-league career with the Seattle Mariners, in the American League West division. Martinez is considered by some to be the greatest designated hitter (DH) in history. Edgar Martinez, Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, Rogers Hornsby, and Lou Gehrig are the only players in history with 300 home runs, 500 doubles, a career batting average higher than .300, and a career on-base percentage higher than .400. When he would bat, Large sections of the stands would shout "ED!", followed by a different section shouting, "GARRRR!"

Contents

[edit] Career

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In 1982, the Seattle Mariners signed Martinez to a minor league contract. Martinez worked his way through the Mariners minor league system, making stops at Chattanooga and Calgary. Martinez made his major league debut in 1987, and finally became a fixture in the Mariners lineup in 1990. He started out as a third baseman and won an American League batting title in 1992. After a series of injuries forced him to miss parts of the 1993 and 1994 seasons Martinez became a full-time DH in 1995. To date, he is the only DH ever to have won a batting title (in 1995 with a .356 average).

His eighteen seasons with the Mariners netted him seven All-Star nominations, along with two batting titles and five Silver Slugger awards. He finished first or second in on-base percentage (OBP) in 6 different years, and top 5 in OBP in 10 different years. Over the seven year span of 1995-2001 he was probably the best and most consistent right-handed hitter in the game. During this time he hit .329 with a .445 on-base percentage and a .574 slugging percentage for an OPS of 1.019.

He is most remembered for his performance in the 1995 American League Division Series against the New York Yankees in which he hit .571 and was on base 18 times in 5 games. In game 4 of that series, he hit a three run homer, then a grand slam home run that gave the Mariners a 10-6 lead en route to an 11-8 victory. The win knotted the best-of-five series at two games apiece and forced game 5. Down 5-4 in the 11th inning of that decisive game, Martinez hit a two-run double (called "The Double" by Mariners fans) off Jack McDowell, winning the game for the Mariners, 6-5. Image:Edgar1000.jpg Baseball lore says that Edgar Martinez "saved Seattle baseball" with that double. While his series-winning hit did help build the groundswell that the Washington State Legislature eventually had to respond to (by enacting legislation to fund Safeco Field), it was one of many moments in a "miracle run" by the Mariners in September and October 1995 that changed public sentiment towards the team and towards public financing of a baseball-only stadium as a partial replacement for the Kingdome.

The Mariners have not issued Martinez' #11 jersey since he retired. Under Mariners' team policy, he will not be eligible to have his jersey formally retired until 2010 (when he is eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame for the first time, see below). However, it is highly unlikely that any Mariner will ever wear that number again.

[edit] Possible Induction in the Hall of Fame

Some baseball critics have speculated that having spent two thirds of his career as a designated hitter could limit his chances for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame[citation needed]. The recent induction of Paul Molitor, however, seems to discredit this argument. Martinez was not given regular playing time in the major leagues until 1990 (when he was 27), despite hitting extremely well in the minors. Therefore, he has not amassed the totals for hits (fewer than 2,300) and home runs (309, 100th all time) that many associate with a Hall of Fame slugger. But Martinez was more of a gap hitter as evidenced by his 514 career doubles (35th all time). And because of his incredible plate discipline, he is ranked 69th all time in number of times on base (3619). Compared to the 162 Hall of Fame hitters, Martinez's on-base percentage (.418) would rank him 13th, and his .933 OPS would rank him 17th. He has the sixth highest OPS for a right-handed hitter ever, behind Foxx, Greenberg, Hornsby, McGwire and DiMaggio. "Edgar Martinez is a professional, quiet, humble giant", Dusty Baker said. "He's one of best right-handed hitters ever seen... I told Lou that when he took the job, `Wait until you see him.' Edgar doesn't showboat. He's old school." Since 1946 only two Hall of Famers have finished with an on-base percentage better than Martinez's .418: Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle. Martinez will be eligible for Hall of Fame induction for the first time in 2010.

[edit] Recognitions

  • 1990 Finished 6th in the batting title and 3rd in on-base percentage.
  • 1991 Finished 5th in on-base percentage, 10th in Walks, 7th in Times on Base and 4th in Hit By Pitch.
  • 1992 Won the American League batting title. Led the League in Doubles, Finished 5th in On-base percentage, 2nd in Slugging Percentage, 3rd in OPS, 8th in Runs, 7th in Hits, 8th in Total Bases, 2nd in Runs Created and 5th in Extra-Base Hits.
  • 1992 Awarded the American League (AL) Silver Slugger at 3B
  • 1995 Won the American League batting title. Led the League in On-base percentage, OPS, Games, Runs, Doubles, Runs Created and Times on Base, 3rd in Slugging Percentage, 2nd in Hits, 3rd in Total Bases, 4th in RBI, 2nd in Walks, 2nd in Extra-Base Hits and 2nd in Intentional Walks.
  • 1995 Awarded the AL Silver Slugger at DH.
  • 1996 Finished 8th in Batting Average, 2nd in On-base percentage, 9th in Slugging Percentage, 4th in OPS, 8th in Runs, 2nd in Doubles, 2nd in Walks, 8th in Runs Created, 7th in Extra-Base Hits, 4th in Times on Base and 6th in Intentional Walks in American League.
  • 1997 Awarded the AL Silver Slugger at DH. Led in Times on Base, Finished 2nd in Batting Average, 2nd in On-base percentage, 8th in Slugging Percentage, 4th in OPS, 9th in Hits, 10th in Total Bases, 2nd in Walks, 3rd in Runs Created, 7th in Bit By Pitch, 7th in Intentional Walks and 4th in Grounding into Double Plays.
  • 1998 Led the AL in On-base percentage and Times on Base, 7th in Batting Average, 6th in OPS, 10th in Total Bases, 3rd in Doubles, 3rd in Walks, 6th in Runs Created and 9th in Extra-Base Hits.
  • 1999 Led the AL in On-base percentage, 4th in Batting Average, 4th in OPS and 7th in Walks, .
  • 2000 Led the AL in RBI, 6th in On-base percentage, 10th in Slugging Percentage, 8th in OPS, 10th in Home Runs, 9th in Runs Created and 7th in Times on Base.
  • 2001 Awarded the AL Silver Slugger at DH and finished 2nd in On-base percentage, 8th in Slugging Percentage, 5th in OPS, 6th in Doubles, 9th in RBI, 8th in Walks, 6th in Sacrifice Flies, .
  • 2003 Awarded the AL Silver Slugger at DH and finished 4th in On-base percentage and 7th in Walks.
  • In October 2004, S. Atlantic Street between 1st and 4th Avenues S., just south of Safeco Field, was renamed Edgar Martinez Drive S. in his honor.
  • In 2005, he was named the third baseman on Major League Baseball's Latino Legends Team.
  • The MLB award given annually for the best designated hitter is named the Edgar Martinez Award.

[edit] Personal life

[edit] Banking

Martinez is one of the founders of Plaza Bank, founded in 2005 as Washington's first "Hispanic" bank. As of December 2005, the bank is seeking the necessary approvals to do business. [1]

[edit] Landmarks

  • October 4, 1990: In his first full year, Martinez finished 6th in batting average and 3rd in on-base percentage in the American League
  • October 4, 1992: As a third baseman, Martinez wins his first American League batting title with a .343 average and finishes second with a .544 slugging percentage
  • October 2, 1995: Martinez wins his second American League batting title with a .356 average and led the AL with a .479 on-base percentage and finished third with a .628 slugging percentage
  • October 7, 2001: Martinez hits over .300 for the 10th time in his career helping lead the Mariners to an American League best ever 116 regular season wins
  • August 9, 2004: Martinez announced that he would retire from baseball at the end of the season
  • September 17, 2004: He got his 1,000th career run batted in as a designated hitter --a record for RBI at the position
  • October 2, 2004: Officially retired at a huge ceremony in Safeco Field, attended by then-Governor of Washington Gary Locke, Seattle mayor Greg Nickels, and Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig.
  • October 26, 2004: Martinez presented with the 2004 Roberto Clemente award, as "the player who best combines outstanding baseball skills with devoted work in the community"
  • Seattle Mariners All-Time Leader in On-base percentage (.418), Games (2,055), At Bats (7,213), Runs (1,219), Hits (2,247), Total Bases (3,718), Doubles (514), RBI (1,261), Walks (1,283), Singles (1,409), Runs Created (1,559), Extra-Base Hits (838), Times on Base (3,619), Hit By Pitch (89), Sacrifice Flies (77) and Grounding into Double Plays (190).
  • Holds Seattle Mariners single season records for On-base percentage (.479 in 1995), OPS (1.107 in 1995) and Walks (123 in 1996).
  • Ranks 89th on Major League Baseball All-Time Batting Average List, 21st in All-Time On-base percentage, 63rd in All-Time Slugging Percentage, 38th in All-Time OPS, 100th in All-Time Total Bases, 35th in All-Time Doubles, 100th in All-Time Home Runs, 36th in All-Time Walks, 59th in All-Time Runs Created, 69th in All-Time Extra-Base Hits, 69th in All-Time Times on Base, 85th in Hit By Pitch, 85th in Sacrifice Flies, 81st in Intentional Walks and 94th in Grounding into Double Plays.

[edit] Regular season stats

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG TB SH SF IBB HBP
2055721312192247514153091261493012831202.312.418.5153718107711389

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Preceded by:
Kirby Puckett 		American League Player of the Month
July & August, 1992 		Succeeded by:
Frank Thomas
Preceded by:
Julio Franco 		American League Batting Champion
1992 		Succeeded by:
John Olerud
Preceded by:
Manny Ramirez 		American League Player of the Month
June, 1995 		Succeeded by:
Garret Anderson
Preceded by:
Paul O'Neill 		American League Batting Champion
1995 		Succeeded by:
Alex Rodriguez
Preceded by:
Jermaine Dye 		American League Player of the Month
May, 2000 		Succeeded by:
Albert Belle
Preceded by:
Alfonso Soriano 		American League Player of the Month
May, 2003 		Succeeded by:
Jason Giambi
Major League Baseball | MLB Latino Legends Team

Iván Rodríguez | Albert Pujols | Rod Carew | Edgar Martinez | Alex Rodriguez | Roberto Clemente | Manny Ramírez
Vladimir Guerrero | Pedro Martínez | Juan Marichal | Fernando Valenzuela | Mariano Rivera

ja:エドガー・マルティネス
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