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How this year’s Hall debate became all about Edgar Martinez

Though Mariano Rivera and Roy Halladay are the top candidates, Martinez is a popular topic.
 
Edgar Martinez is in his final year of eligibility to elected to the Hall of Fame. (Associated Press)
Edgar Martinez is in his final year of eligibility to elected to the Hall of Fame. (Associated Press)
Published Jan. 21, 2019

There’s something different about my Hall of Fame ballot this year, and for those who follow this annual confessional it will stand out — the X next to Edgar Martinez’s name.

Why, you ask, after nine years of ignoring Martinez’s case, and sometimes arguing against him primarily because he was a DH, did I change and give the longtime Mariners star my vote?

Surely it wasn’t sentimentality, just because he was in his last year of eligibility, right? Moi? Come on.

Nor, I’d like to say, a matter of simply capitulating to the arguments presented abundantly, and sometimes excessively, by his backers. Information is always good; it doesn’t have to be applied. Still, my wife accused me, as only spouses can, of giving up my stand and “giving in."

Times baseball writer Marc Topkin's Hall of Fame ballot.

I’d rather explain it as a matter of informed opinion shifting.

And there were three lines of thinking that led to this decision.

* One started with last January’s playful tweet by former Rays OF Steven Souza Jr., putting me “on probation” from interviews for not voting for his childhood hero.

I’d obviously been well aware of Martinez’s case, of his career .312 average., his seven seasons hitting above .320, his eight years with an OPS+ (park adjusted) greater than 150, and so on.

And of the broad support for Martinez.

But there was something about Souza’s plea, and some other impassioned voices, that pushed me to this year to take a deeper, more open-minded, look, as it was Martinez’s last chance. Much as I did with Tim Raines a couple years ago. I’d like to think that’s a good thing.

* A second came from a colleague, one who has voted for Martinez.

As we discussed my stance against enshrining DHs while endorsing closers, he asked a simple question, if I was planning to vote for David Ortiz when he’s eligible in 2022. I said I likely was, Ortiz skirting my admittedly squiggly line regarding PEDs speculation and use.

Then, the fellow voter said, it might be a good time to come off the anti-DH wall. Plus, that door has been opened. First, Paul Molitor got in having played more than 1,100 games at DH. Then Frank Thomas, the first to play the majority of his games (1,310 of 2,322) with “part-time” duty. Also, worth noting, MLB’s annual award for the best DH isn’t named after Martinez for no reason.

* The third prong came in December from the Hall’s own Today’s Game era committee.

While I usually avoid these “If A, then B” type of arguments for enshrinement because they can be so easily manipulated, the committee’s somewhat shocking decision to vote in Harold Baines left me facing a simple truth: If Baines will be in the Hall of Fame, how can Martinez not be?

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To me, Baines was a very good player, his most impressive credentials accrued in the counting stats: 2,866 hits; 1,628 RBIs; 4,604 total bases, all in part a product of playing 22 seasons. While Martinez, who got a late start and played only 18, doesn’t measure up to those totals (2,247; 1,261; 3,718), he has a much higher average, .312 to .289; OPS, .933-.820; and offensive WAR, 66.9-40.7.

And he was a much more impactful and, a key word in Hall consideration, dominant player.

RELATED: How Fred McGriff’s chances are soon to get better

The annual vote by the members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America illuminated the great divide: Baines never got more than 6.1 percent of the vote and dropped off the ballot after five years; Martinez has risen steadily to 70.4 percent last year (20 votes shy) and seems to have momentum, with this year’s results to be announced Tuesday, to get to the needed 75 percent threshold.

Mariano Rivera, despite the specialization of being a closer, is a lock to be elected, potentially the first unanimously. Pitcher Roy Halladay, who died in a November 2017 plane crash, seems likely to be voted in as well, any maybe Mike Mussina.

I voted all three of them, plus my usual holdovers: Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens (on the oft-discussed premise that despite all the speculation they never failed a drug test); Fred McGriff and Gary Sheffield, the Tampa twosome who deserve more votes; Billy Wagner and, after another closer look, a new name for me, Larry Walker.

As I’ve often said, voting for the Hall is an honor and a privilege. Being open-minded and thorough in doing so is only right.

Even if I did cave in, Sue.

Marc Topkin can be reached at mtopkin@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Rays.

How other Times writers voted

John Romano’s ballot

Barry Bonds

Roger Clemens

Roy Halladay

Edgar Martinez

Fred McGriff

Mike Mussina

Manny Ramirez

Mariano Rivera

Curt Schilling

Larry Walker

Martin Fennelly’s ballot

Roy Halladay

Todd Helton

Edgar Martinez

Fred McGriff

Mike Mussina

Mariano Rivera

Curt Schilling

Larry Walker