Hall of Fame 2010: Edgar Martinez

From now until the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2010 is announced, The Hall is going to be breaking down each candidate. Some write ups will be lengthy...some will be the opposite. Some will be brand new pieces...some will be re-hashes of previous pieces.

Earlier this off season, we saw Ken Griffey Junior ink a deal to return for another year in Seattle and all I could think about was a day from my youth...June 21, 1991.

You won’t find it in any history books. You won’t even find it over at Wikipedia because there is no significance to it whatsoever.

That being said, look it up at Baseball Reference and you’ll see that on June 21, 1991, Randy Johnson and his Mariners upended Chris Bosio and the Brew Crew 5-1.

Sure bet Hall of Famers Griffey and Johnson were joined by those currently enshrined…Robin Yount and Paul Molitor. Add Seattle’s starting shortstop Omar Vizquel to the mix and outside of an All-Star game, when was the last time you can say you saw five Hall of Famers on the field at the same time?

But did we see a sixth?

No, I’m not talking about Alvin Davis (even though I was huge on the former Rookie of the Year)…I’m talking about Seattle’s then starting third baseman Edgar Martinez.

Edgar Martinez a Hall of Famer? I can hear you scoffing now.

With Harold Baines not able to get more than six percent of the vote, how can “Papi” fair any better? Will Martinez be the guy that forces the writers to forget their perceived bias against full-time designated hitters?

Who knows? He’s getting a ton of support…but is it justified? Did Martinez do enough to garner consideration?

I’m on the fence.

I mean, unlike some of the other players that have been chronicled here at The Hall…Martinez doesn’t SMELL like a Hall of Famer to me. He has no “magic numbers”, but should we overlook that in the case of the Martinez? After all, this is the same dude that, in 2004, Major League Baseball named their yearly DH award after!

After a lengthy stay in the minors, Martinez proved that he was all hit and no field and that’s exactly why the Mariners cautiously took a chance on him.

Prior to the 1993 season, their optimism won out when Martinez tore his hamstring and never fully recovered. Sure, this hindered his ability to be an every day fielder…but not his ability to be a full-time hitter.

Two seasons later, he became the first (and to date, only) DH to win a batting title when he led the league with a .356 average.

But again, can a full-time DH find his way to Cooperstown? In the case of Martinez, I suggest you need to look at his qualifications first, then take into account the position he played.

At the forefront of his accomplishments is the fact that Martinez one of only seven players that have 300 home runs, 500 doubles, a career batting average above .300, a career on-base percentage above .400 and a career slugging percentage above .500.

And who are the other six? Hall of Famers Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, Rogers Hornsby and future Hall member Manny Ramirez. Not exactly a bad crowd to be affiliated with.

Martinez retired with a career batting average of .312, seven All-Star game appearances, five Silver Slugger awards and two batting titles. While he never brought home an MVP award, he finished third in 1995 and sixth in 2000.

It is easy to speculate that if Martinez was an every day player…he might have taken home the award in either one of those seasons. In 2000, he batted .324 with a career best 37 home runs and a league leading 145 RBI…and was 37 when he did it!

In what was the best span of his career (1995 to 2001), Martinez had a batting average of .329. More than half (1196) of his career hit total (2247) came during this time.

In 1995 and 1996 Martinez topped 50 doubles, making him only the fifth player to accomplished back-to-back seasons of 50 or more doubles. During the afore mentioned seven year stretch, he averaged 42 two baggers a season.

Apparently batting behind the likes of Griffey, Alex Rodriguez and Ichiro had their benefits too. From 1995 to 2001, Martinez averaged 110 RBI and six times in those seven years, Martinez topped 100 RBI.

The guy is Seattle’s all-time leader in a number of their major offensive categories. He’s in their top ten in a slew of others. It’s even said that Martinez “saved Seattle baseball” with a series-winning double versus the Yankees in the 1995 American League Division Series.

So does the face of Seattle baseball, full-time designated hitter or not, deserve a plaque in Cooperstown?

Again…I’m on the fence.

We’re talking about a guy who wasn’t an every day player until he was 27 and because of that (and the hamstring injury)…his peak was much later than some of his contemporaries. He hit none of the magical milestones, brought home none of the prominent hardware and since the Mariners didn’t have much post-season success…neither did he.

Edgar Martinez is a guy who will probably stick around on the ballot for the entire 15 years that he’s allowed. After that, I suspect, his fate will be in the hands of the Veteran’s Committee.

Hall of Fame 2010: Barry Larkin

From now until the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2010 is announced, The Hall is going to be breaking down each candidate. Some write ups will be lengthy...some will be the opposite. Some will be brand new pieces...some will be re-hashes of previous pieces.

If you peruse the list of shortstops that grace the halls of Cooperstown, you won't find that many household names. You'll find even fewer modern day greats.

Sure, Cal Ripken Jr. is in there...as is Robin Yount, but they played a good number of games away from short. One of the most colorful (and recognizable) cats in the Hall is Ozzie Smith, but outside of a great glove, flashy smile and a gazillion All-Star Game appearances...his case could be debated.

Which leads me to Barry Larkin.

Ask anyone just north of Covington, Kentucky (and yes, that's a random shout out) and they'd say Larkin is every bit worthy of Cooperstown enshrinement. Ask anyone else and they'd be left scratching their heads.

Me?

I say "yes"...but that comes with a "but".

Larkin needs to get in before guys like Omar Vizquel, A-Rod, Derek Jeter and the like start banging on Cooperstown's doors. If not, Larkin's stat line of a .295 batting average, 2340 hits, 198 homers and a .975 fielding percentage starts looking paltry.

He also has that one MVP award, a Championship ring (he hit .353 in the 1990 World Series), was a member of the 1984 Olympic Team and even though the sheep at Baseball Think Factory don't think it matters...12 All-Star Game selections.

Getting back to the "Wizard of Oz"...you can compare his offensive stats to Larkin and they are comparable if not worse.

Smith's average was thirty points lower (.262 versus .295) but he managed 120 more hits. He also played in 400 more games than Larkin...getting close to 1400 more at bats. There really isn't an offensive stat (outside of stolen bases) where Smith outshines Larkin.

But as the argument goes...Larkin was an offensive presence, Smith made his money on defense. 2010 Hall of Fame inductee Whitey Herzog once said that "if (Smith) saved two runs a game on defense...that was just as valuable to the team as a player who drove in two runs a game on offense."

So what about fielding? Larkin carried a .975 fielding percentage, whereas Smith had a .978. Smith made it look effortless and easy, but as Larkin's three Gold Gloves will tell you...he was no slouch.

For kicks, I went to Baseball Reference to see where some other notables rank compared to Larkin. Omar Vizquel rating was 104 (they say a rating of 100 means you are a shoe-in)...Larkin came in at 118.

I guess I'm not alone with my endorsement.

Hall of Fame 2010: Ray Lankford

From now until the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2010 is announced, The Hall is going to be breaking down each candidate. Some write ups will be lengthy...some will be the opposite. Some will be brand new pieces...some will be re-hashes of previous pieces.

You know, there used to be a time when I routinely confused Ray Lankford with Brian Jordan and Bernard Gilkey. But...I had a system as to how I could tell them apart.

In 1993, I met Gilkey at the Quincy Mall in Quincy, Illinois. Jordan, a two-sport star, was a former cornerback for the Atlanta Falcons.

And Lankford...well, he was the other one.

All kidding aside, Lankford had a pretty formidable career compiling five seasons of 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases with the Cardinals. No other player in St. Louis franchise history was able to accomplish the feat more than once.

At the time of his retirement, Lankford was third all-time (he is now fifth) on the Cardinals home run list and when the doors closed at Busch Stadium a couple of years ago...he held the distinction of having hit the most balls out of its storied yard.

A good player...most certainly.

A great Cardinal...absolutely.

A Hall of Famer...sorry, Ray.

Hall of Fame 2010: Eric Karros

From now until the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2010 is announced, The Hall is going to be breaking down each candidate. Some write ups will be lengthy...some will be the opposite. Some will be brand new pieces...some will be re-hashes of previous pieces.

Look at the “Pat Hentgen” post a couple of days ago, but swap out “1996 American League Cy Young Award” with “1992 National League Rookie of the Year”.

In short…same result.

In all seriousness, the former first baseman Karros is/was basically the poor man's Mark Grace on and off the field. Sure, Karros topped 30 home runs and 100 RBI five different times over his thirteen year career (all but two were with the Dodgers), but outside of that...he didn't accomplish much.

Last year, Grace charmed 22 voters (4.1%) into thinking he was Hall of Fame material. Unfortunately for Karros, this year...he'll get less.

Twitter Tuesday...December 22, 2009

Normally, I look over my Twitter lists throughout the weekend and then, by Monday night...have an assemblance of what to write about for Twitter Tuesday.

This week, the holidays, vacation time and family got in the way. So to the eight of you that are regulars...all apologies.

HOWEVER, if you've been following the 2010 Hall of Fame breakdown (and if you have...thanks), you'll find THIS interesting. I mean...you all were smart enough to get the sarcasm, right? Right?!?

Holidays can stop the Chatter and the Buzz, but nothing, I mean NOTHING can stop...The Wisdom of Tommy Lasorda. Clearly, it is this picture alone that makes this week's submission worthwhile. Frankly, there is no need to re-post the tweet.

Enjoy!

With sleep deprevation and time working against me, it was actually easier than I thought to come up with someone to follow this week. The sad part...it had more to do with mustaches than them being from Babes Love Baseball.

As a supporter of the 'stache (remember Mustache May, gang)...I find it refreshing to find a group of lasses that apparently have embraced it as well. Nice work, ladies!

Have someone you think everyone should follow? Perhaps you yourself have read some interesting tweets in the past week…drop me a line or leave a comment below. See you next Tuesday!

Hall of Fame 2010: Mike Jackson

From now until the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2010 is announced, The Hall is going to be breaking down each candidate. Some write ups will be lengthy...some will be the opposite. Some will be brand new pieces...some will be re-hashes of previous pieces.

Wow, it seems like just yesterday we lost the "King of Pop" and today...his namesake, Mike Jackson is awaiting Cooperstown's call.

Now that the obligatory Michael Jackson reference is out of the way, we can continue.

Jackson is 12th all-time (among pitchers) in games played with 1005…three more than Hall of Famer Goose Gossage. Pretty impressive until you realize that numbers 1 through 11 consist of such notables as Dan Plesac and two other “Mikes”…Mike Stanton and Mike Timlin.

Here are some more fun facts about the journeyman righty...thanks Wikipedia!

Jackson's best year in the majors was in 1998 with the Indians, saving 40 games with a 1.55 ERA! He is tied with Paul Assenmacher for most games pitched in the 1990s (644) and according to The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers, Jackson's slider was rated in the Top 20 of all-time.

All that aside, something tells me that Cooperstown isn’t ready for the journeyman closer/set up man yet.

Now beat it! ZING!

Hall of Fame 2010: Pat Hentgen

From now until the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2010 is announced, The Hall is going to be breaking down each candidate. Some write ups will be lengthy...some will be the opposite. Some will be brand new pieces...some will be re-hashes of previous pieces.

In 1996, Hentgen took home the American League Cy Young Award. This January, he’ll have celebrated his lone year on the Hall of Fame ballot.

So here's the thing with Pat Hentgen...he was instrumental in helping lead the Blue Jays to the World Series in 1993 and he's got more Cy Young Awards (one) and more All-Star Game appearances (three versus two) than Bert Blyleven. However, one will garner little to no attention on this year's ballot.

The reason...one has become (for some reason) the darling of the writers and the other is named "Pat Hentgen".

I wish I had more to say.

Hall of Fame 2010: Andres Galarraga

From now until the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2010 is announced, The Hall is going to be breaking down each candidate. Some write ups will be lengthy...some will be the opposite. Some will be brand new pieces...some will be re-hashes of previous pieces.

You can go both ways with the “Big Cat”.

Take away the “Coors Factor” and Galarraga is the poor man’s Will Clark. Take into account that he did play in Colorado during the prime of his career and he’s borderline Willie Stargell-like.

Galarraga's peak from 1993 to 2000 (he was out all of 1999 while battling lymphoma) was spectacular. Those seven seasons accounted for more than half (200) of his home runs and 800 RBI.

His five years with the Rockies (Galarraga was an original "Blake Street Bomber") has proven to be one of the most productive stretches in team history and it’s hard to ignore 399 home runs, 1425 RBI and a career .288 batting average.

Wait, the writers do routinely…and, again, they call him “Harold Baines”.

The problem with Galarraga is easy...he put up his numbers at the wrong time. It's hard to be overwhelmed with his stats when you have guys like Frank Thomas, Jeff Bagwell or even Fred McGriff playing the same position at the same time.

And I hate to go back to it, but people will always look at "Big Cat" and think of his stats being inflated by the thin Denver air. But put all that aside, you've got an insanely popular guy who had six top ten MVP finishes, five All-Star Game appearances and two Gold Gloves.

However...he's no Hall of Famer.