One of the biggest travesties in the Hall of Fame voting is Edgar Martinez. What a great hitter he was. His stats are impeccable when it comes to being a hitter. The only reason that he is not in there is because he was primarily a DH. Maybe I am confused, but hasn't that been a position since 1973? Heck the DH has been around a lot longer than the one-inning closer. Let's not vote any of those guys in because it is not a position that has been around long enough.
The fact that his not playing the field is ridiculous. For Hall of Fame recognition, rarely is fielding equated into the formula. Martinez batted .312 for 18 seasons. If there wasn't a DH, does anyone think that his bat would have been left out because he wasn't a strong fielder? Seattle would have hid him in left field or 1st base as baseball has done for a long time. But since the DH was allowed in the AL, this wasn't necessary. Plus Martinez was clutch. If the game was on the line with a guy on base and he came to the plate, he ripped the ball into an open area of the field, consistently.
The question isn't is Edgar Martinez worthy of the Hall of Fame. He is. The question is, do we start to recognize DH's as full fledged position players or let's get rid of the DH. Because if you don't recognize something that has been around for 40 years as significant, then get rid of it.
Cy
|