Edgar Martinez, one of the most hotly debated Hall of Fame candidates in recent years, made it to Cooperstown in 2019, earning 85.4% of the vote on his final BBWAA ballot. Primarily a designated hitter, he was a seven time all-star and two time batting champion. Shortly after his retirement, the Outstanding Designated Hitter Award, which he won five times, was renamed the Edgar Martinez Award. Despite all the accolades and awards he earned, I have some doubts about his Hall of Fame case. Let's look at them in detail.
Career long Seattle Mariner Edgar Martinez made his MLB debut in 1987, hitting .372 in 13 games. He was up and down for the next several years, finally securing the Mariners' third base job in 1990 at age 27. Martinez hit his stride in 1992, leading the AL in batting (.343) and doubles (46) en route to a Silver Slugger, the only one of his career at third base. However, his 1993 season was derailed due to injuries (.237 average in 42 games), and he only played 89 games in 1994. At this point in his career, it seemed like there would be almost no chance for him to make the Hall of Fame, except for one thing - the designated hitter.
Now I personally am no fan of the DH, a "position" likely introduced to artificially extend the careers of aging stars. It is unnatural (baseball was designed for each fielder to bat, which is the reason why there are nine guys in a lineup) and, quite simply, never should have existed. While this opinion falls far into the minority, especially among modern fans and Hall of Fame voters, there are two other things to consider when evaluating designated hitters: (1), not playing defense severely cuts into a player's value; and (2), it is very easy to focus on hitting without the responsibility of fielding a defensive position. To the second point, Martinez hit well as a third baseman (.302 / .391 / .459, 2.7 HR%), but he really took off as a DH (.314 / .428 / .532, 4.8 HR%). As a third baseman, he never would have made the Hall of Fame. Thanks to the designated hitter, and to the designated hitter only, Martinez is in the Hall of Fame today. Since the DH didn't even exist prior to 1973, and then only in the AL until 2022, Martinez's selection to the Hall is really an accident of place and time.
What about the other Hall of Famers who played a significant portion of their careers from the DH slot? What do I think about Paul Molitor, Harold Baines, Frank Thomas, Jim Thome, and David Ortiz for the Hall of Fame?
I have already written about Baines, one of the Hall's worst selections (https://thecooperstownadvocate.blogspot.com/2021/09/lucky-hall-of-famer-number-26-harold.html).
Molitor played 1,174 games at DH and 1,490 in the field, spread out over multiple key positions (including 792 at third base, 400 at second base, and 57 at shortstop). Unlike the others, Molitor was a fine defender at each position. Additionally, he played 976 of those 1,174 games at DH from his age-34 season onward, and his production was not extravagantly boosted (.299 / .361 / .437 before age 34; .316 / .380 / .462 afterward). In all, Molitor collected 3,319 hits and 1,782 runs scored. He's a Hall of Famer.
Thomas played 971 games at first base across his career and 1,310 as a DH. Although he was a below average defensive first baseman, he actually hit far better when playing defense than as a designated hitter (.337 / .453 / .625 at first base; .275 / .394 / .505 as DH). In all, Thomas hit 521 home runs. He's a Hall of Famer.
Thome played 1,106 games at first base, 492 at third base, and 818 as a DH across his career. Most of his starts at DH came in his age-35 season onward, and by then he'd already established himself as a likely future Hall of Famer. With 612 home runs and a .276 / .402 / .554 slash line, it's hard to say no to Thome.
Ortiz is a tough one. He played more games at DH than anyone else (2,027; as opposed to 273 games on defense), and was greatly aided by spending his entire career in Fenway Park. His basic batting numbers are there, and he passed the 500 homer milestone in his next to last season, but half of Ortiz's game was simply nonexistent. He almost never played defense, and when he did, he was awful. Given his postseason exploits, outstanding final season, and impact on baseball in Boston, I'm fine with him in Cooperstown, but he is not an ideal Hall of Famer.
Name %Def* AVG / OBP / SLG R H HR RBI SB
Paul Molitor .559 .306 / .369 / .448 1,782 3,319 234 1,307 504
Harold Baines .390 .289 / .356 / .465 1,299 2,866 384 1,628 34
Edgar Martinez .275 .312 / .418 / .515 1,219 2,247 309 1,261 49
Frank Thomas .430 .301 / .419 / .555 1,494 2,468 521 1,704 32
Jim Thome .650 .276 / .402 / .554 1,583 2,328 612 1,699 19
David Ortiz .111 .286 / .380 / .552 1,419 2,472 541 1,768 17
*percent of career plate appearances taken while playing a defensive position
My opinion: A designated hitter needs to be GREAT, or convince me that he could have been a Hall of Famer without relying on the DH, before he gets my vote for the Hall of Fame.
I think Edgar Martinez should be a Hall of Famer, and that he would have been a Hall of Famer without the DH. Given his incredibly valuable bat, (.312/.418/.515, 147 OPS+ ), in my opinion he provided enough offense value to make up for his lack of defense value. He was not a terrible third baseman, and he could have also played at first - and with his hitting, that would have been enough.
ReplyDeleteIf the Mariners had moved Edgar to first base instead of DH and he compiled the same statistics, I'd be fine with him in the Hall - but they didn't; they already had Tino Martinez at first. Edgar was a very good hitter as a third baseman, but didn't become a serious Hall of Fame candidate until he abandoned his glove.
DeleteWhether he deserves his plaque or not, he certainly owes a lot to the DH, and since the position didn't even exist until 1973, I guess that makes him a "lucky" Hall of Famer.