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Pretty much says it all, well put.
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1) I never got why fans "campaign" so hard for famous baseball players to get into the Hall of Fame. It's rather like watching the 40-year-old virgin campaign to get Justin Timberlake another babe. ...well, that didn't come out exactly right. But y'know.
1a) If it is part of helping the FAN enjoy baseball, fine.
1b) If there's one humble person who deserves to be exalted, it's Edgar.
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2) There was a stat on Dutton's Twitter feed: the idea of a .320/.420/.550 season. Five players in history did it for six years in a row: the three best players (Ruth, Teddy, Gehrig) and Rogers Hornsby (.424 AVG). Along with Edgar, who did it in a game evolved 50 years on.
Nowwww.... usually when you say "this group of people had 175+ strikeouts, 14+ wins, less than 8 wild pitches yada yada yada" you have cut off the line just barely under your candidate. So you wind up getting Joe Shlabotnik along with 16 players way, WAY better than he is. So Dr. D hates the general convention of "only 5 players did this."
But! In this specific case, that idea of "Plus-Plus-Plus HIT, WALKS, PWR Every Year" is exactly the stat to capture Edgar. Exactly.
You could say "the only slow righty to win two batting titles" or you could say "10 runs per 27 outs in his prime" or you could say "500 doubles and 300 homers" or you could say "132 on the 0-100 Hall of Fame Monitor" but nothing quite captured Edgar's dominance. Finally they have hit on just the right stat.
Thank you, Edgar.
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3) Larry Stone wrote a column that points out Edgar's remarkable rise in the BBWAA polling/primaries the last two years. "Something amazing is going on" and it's hard to figure just what it is; WAR has been a common stat for many years. If you, Gentle Reader, has any guesses as to why Edgar should suddenly get a HOF wind at his back, I'd be glad to hear it.
I'm not emotionally invested in Edgar's HOF membership and maybe that's why I can say his election is a no-brainer. The most devastating argument is that --- > you'd rather have Edgar on your team than that other guy. By "that other guy" we include Barry Larkin, or Andre Dawson, or Jim Rice, or Tony Gwynn. What we wouldn't give to have Edgar batting fourth on Opening Day.
If he'd been a Yankee or Red Sox, he'd have probably been first ballot. It would be nice to see him get in.
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4) Can you believe our luck that he is the hitting coach? Do you remember back when we wondered whether the M's might start scoring runs A.E. ?
Enjoy,
Jeff
Comments
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"If he'd been a Yankee or Red Sox, he'd have probably been first ballot."
To quote a phrase you use, "B'lee dat!" (I may not have quoted it exactly correct)
It is a fact of life that big city snob-bias, especially that of the New York-Boston-Mid-Atlantic area, deeply affects coverage and voting outcomes in all sports, pro and college. It doesn't make it any less annoying, or irritating, or infuriating, or mind-numbingly enraging for us West-Coasters, whose teams don't even show up on radar unless aforesaid snobs deem a particular player (Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Trout, etc.) worthy.
I don't get emotional about such biases. Really. (lowers eyes)
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6 seasons running at .320-.420-.550!! Holy Line Drive Batman. I had to look it up...and there it is: '95-'00.
Then in '01, at age 38, he slumped all the way to .306-.423-.543. Oh, the horror.
BTW: Frank Thomas came close to doing it in 7 straight seasons, from '91-'97. He missed by .002, .003 and .012 BA points in '91, '93, & '95. He's in, of course. But he had his great run just before the obvious juiced age.
From a voter's point of view, Edgar's dominance dovetails perfectly with the McGwire-Sosa Chemically Fueled years: From '96-'99, for example, McGwire hit 52-58-70-65 homers. Sosa went 66-63-50-64 in the four years beginning in '98. Bonds? From '90-'00, he only dropped below a .406 OBP once (.389 in '99). Then THE year ('01)happened and his OBP was .515-.582-.529-.609 from '01-'03. In '04 he was INTENTIONALLY walked in 20% of his PA's. Barry Bonds was a lock for the HoF (3 MVP's, 8 GG's, OBP above .400, nearly 500 HR's) before he stained the game even more than the other guys. From ages 36-39, he OPS'ed nearly 1.200. Over the same age years, Willie Mays never topped '897 (although he did get to '907 at 40). I know about better conditioning and science and stuff....but c'mon.
Edgar played in the wrong era along with the wrong guys, mostly. That's why voters have been slow to come around. But memories fade and the seeming "cleanliness" of Edgar is beginning to help his numbers. And if David Ortiz is going to get voted in in 5 years, how can Edgar not be in already? Thus his rise in the polls.
BTW, it's interesting that Biggio, who was a dominant player in only 4 years ('94-'95, '97-'98) gets in....but he wore a glove and seemed clean, too. He was .281-.363-.433 for his career with 5 GG's. Never finished above 4th in the MVP voting. To tell you the truth, he's a reach. Teammate Bagwell was much the better hitter (.297-.408-.540 CAREER) and remains out, still tainted. His incredible '94, .368-.451-.750 is right at the start of The Wonder-Roid Years. But the HoF winds seem to be swinging around to Bagwell's back.
As they should, the HoF voters love dominant pitchers from that era. Maddux, Smoltz, Johnson, Glavine, Pedro were in in a heartbeat. Mussina and Pettite have got votes. Everybody except the obvious cheat, Clemens. I can't remember any insinuation that the other guys shot up. Am I wrong? Pedro? That is a list that rivals the HoF'ers from the mid-60's to mid-80's: Seaver, Gibson, Carlton, Ryan, Sutton, Palmer, Perry, Niekro, Marichal, Jenkins, Hunter. Even if you start with Seaver, Gibson and Palmer, you could argue that the Maddux Five were better than any five from the other list.
Edgar's day is coming. Even SI is jumping on board: http://www.si.com/mlb/2016/12/06/jaws-2017-hall-of-fame-ballot-edgar-mar...
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A fan keeps track of voting that has been made public here:
https://twitter.com/NotMrTibbs
Edgar was down below 65% after 80 ballots but now after 150, is gradually gaining momentum and is 71% (he was 43% last year). The threshold is 75% so if not this year, you have to imagine he'll get there in one of his two remaining years.
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Answer: agree 100% with Moe: writers KNOW they're going to vote Ortiz in...so how can they keep using the DH bias to keep Edgar out?
Question: if Edgar had played a sub-standard 3B or LF all those years, do you think he'd be in already?
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And digest the mountain of statistics he piled up over his MLB career and compare him to his peers, in his era, outside his era and against current and future HOFers, whomever they may be, Edgar qualifies for induction ... imho. Next question?
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I pray everyday he remains with the organization for a long time. His rapport and ability to communicate with MLB hitters (and non-hitters I presume) is legendary. No one that works with him has anything but praise, the latest being Trumbo crediting him with getting " all-fields" hitting advice, and it worked! No ego, just a class human being.
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"I never got why fans "campaign" so hard ....". Having lunch one day several years ago at a dive bar in Ballard. Guy at the bar shouts out-loud, to no one in particular, "Edgar ain't gettin' in the HOF", apparently commenting on the ESPN story showing on the TV. Of course I can't allow his statement to go unchallenged. Huge argument ensues, never saw the dude again. I learned that day that people take his induction personal ... I do.
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Who'da known?
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Doc. You ask why a fan should care so much about needless plaudits as the HOF when the game already recognizes how great Martinez was. I care...and the reason I care is that the driving force in my life, generally, is justice. The reasons people have given for not voting for Edgar Martinez are variously ignorant, unjust and infuriating. His exclusion at the expense of mediocrity like Jim Rice is monumentally unjust. I care because he defined the 90s mariners and it offends my sense of justice that the game has refused to recognize that officially.