Today is the day…finally, the day that all baseball fans in the Pacific Northwest were confident would happen. Maybe a bit fearful it wouldn’t, but today is the day. The day that one of, if not the greatest, right-handed hitter in Major League Baseball history became a Hall of Famer. Edgar Martinez defined the designated hitter position, helped save baseball in Seattle, was an elite hitter with the sweetest of swings and now, he is a HALL OF FAMER!
How sweet is that! A player I grew up watching so closely, for his amazing work ethic, his clutch hitting and for becoming an icon for the Seattle Mariner organization...is now a Hall of Famer. Yes, Alvin Davis is forever Mr. Mariner (and one amazing man) and Ken Griffey Jr. is simply the best, but Edger Martinez is the ICONIC Mariner. His MLB career spanned 18 seasons, and 8,674 plate appearances from his debut in 1987 to his final game in 2004, ALL with the Mariners. When you go to Safeco Field (T-Mobile Park), you often have to get there by driving on Edgar Martinez Way...that says it all.
But the story goes so much deeper than that…and I am proud, happy and so grateful to have been along for part of the ride in making #EdgarHOF a reality. Like so many others in Seattle and around MLB, I was fortunate to be part of a campaign to help turn ideas into a reality, and to use the power of information and social media to turn heads, raise awareness and ultimately, shine a bright light on one of the most amazing hitter in baseball history.
Edgar Martinez made his professional baseball debut in Bellingham, Washington, of all places my current home, in 1983 with the Bellingham Mariners (not so sure he liked hitting at Joe Martin Stadium). It took the right-handed hitter, then a third baseman by trade, five seasons in the minor leagues to make his debut with the Mariners. But in reality, it took seven seasons for him to break through and record his first 100-game season in the Majors. In that 1990 season, Edgar batted .302 (147-for-487) with 27 doubles, 2 triples, 11 home runs and 49 RBI. It was the first of 11 seasons where he hit over .300 and the true start of what was a seven-time All-Star, two-time batting champ, five-time silver slugger and ultimately, a Hall of Fame career.
Like a fine wine or a good cellared beer, things over time tend to get better and appreciated more. Edgar’s career, just like the man and the community member that he is, aged perfectly. Just like his path to the Majors that meandered through minor league stops in Bellingham, Wausau, Calgary, Chattanooga and Jacksonville, Edgar’s path to Cooperstown took time, took a few turns and ultimately ended just the way it should. Like The Double, a defining moment in Northwest sports history, or his countless extra-base hits to the gap at the Kingdome that I witnessed in person, Edgar was clutch when it counted.
I could pour over all of his career stats and accomplishments, but that would take forever. Which leads me to the next piece of the story…my story and how I am so proud today that Edgar Martinez is a Hall of Famer and will be in Cooperstown, New York this summer. When you are part of a MLB PR staff, you are part of something special. Now that I look back at my 10-year career in MLB, which included nine seasons at the Mariners, I am so proud of the so many projects we worked on, with the #EdgarHOF project at the top of that list.
The Start of a Campaign:
I don’t remember the exact date or specifics, but in my third (of what became nine great seasons with the Mariners) season as an assistant in the Mariners Baseball Information Office, my supervisor Tim Hevly (a Fishel Award winner for PR excellence) tasked our crew to make a document stating Edgar’s case for the Hall of Fame. It was just after the 2009 season and Edgar would be appearing on the HOF ballot for the first time. Tim had a lengthy file of facts, figures and stats on Edgar that we turned into a 6-7 page document stating Edgar’s case. Myself, Kelly Munro, Fernando Alcala, Tim, Rebecca Hale and Mariners PR and history guru Randy Adamack collaborated and dug up info on Edgar’s career. We poured through Baseball-Reference.com looking for rare Edgar facts, had meetings on what more we could do to help promote Edgar, unearthed interesting tidbits using STATS PASS and dug up info from old articles. It was fascinating to research this information, finding out how Edgar’s career numbers stacked up against so many great players. We would get emails from Randy at random hours with the subject “For the Edgar Files”…they were quotes from players, tidbits on his career and soon, we were all dedicated to one thing…helping get Edgar Martinez into the Hall of Fame.
Here is a look at the first document we put together on Edgar, which we emailed out to an extensive list of who we considered to be HOF voters (some of which didn’t appreciate to be honest). We turned a simple Microsoft Word document with stats and charts, something we thought would shed light on several amazing facts that voters may have overlooked, into a brochure with photos of Edgar and his career. This was the start of a 10-year campaign that we eventually branded as #EdgarHOF…
We handed this document out at the Winter Meetings each year, posted it on our blog and shared via social media. I am proud of this document, that eventually morphed into this version, which was the last one I worked on prior to my final season in 2015 with the Mariners. There was a lot of collaboration on this project, lots of figures that were emailed to each other where we would share messages that included “great Edgar stat” or “did you see this on Edgar” and “Edgar on list with several HOF players” so we should include it. Below is the final version I worked on prior to becoming the Director of Athletic Communications at Western Washington University...and eventually with some great graphic designers, morphed into this amazing document put together by the Mariners leading up to the 2019 voting.
A Hall of Famer
Ultimately, Edgar’s hitting and his amazing baseball career made him a Hall of Famer, but along the way, so many great people at the Mariners and in the media, both Seattle and around the world, helped spread the word. I could go on and on about this…the great social media campaign that Nathan Rauschenberg started in 2011 or 2012 when the hashtag #EdgarHOF was created, the amazing videos that Ben Mertens and his crew produced year-after-year chronicling Edgar’s career (can’t imagine how many hours were spent digging up old video), the great graphic design by Carl Morton and Katie Abram and of course, there is the best marketing staff in baseball with Kevin Martinez, Gregg Greene, Mandy Lincoln, Camden Finney and many others that helped spread the word with their brilliant marketing minds.
And today, in his final year of eligibility (out of 10), Edgar has climbed the hill where he belongs…in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In 2010 Edgar received 36.2% of the Hall of Fame vote…in 2014 he dipped to 25.2%...and then 43.4% in 2016, 58.6% in 2017 and 70.4% in 2018. And today, Edgar received 85.4% of the vote, well over the 75.0% threshold to become one of the elite to be enshrined in Cooperstown.
I was lucky to get to know Edgar a bit in my time with the Mariners, mostly in what turned out to be my final four months with the team when he was named the hitting coach midway through the 2015 season. Over those next few months I got to see Edgar in the batting cage mentor young hitters, see him pour over hitting charts on long plane rides and, most of all, I got to see what an amazing gentleman he is.
So, today is the day, January 22, 2019, where Edgar Martinez officially became a Hall of Famer. I was confident this day would finally happen, but today is the day and I couldn’t be happier for Edgar, his family and the Seattle Mariners!
#EdgarHOF for life!
And you know what else is awesome, that these two guys will be hanging out in Cooperstown forever. The Mariners will put on another great party in New York July 19-22 this summer!
