Hall of Fame Debate: Edgar Martinez

This is a good debate full of caveats to explore and analyze. Martinez broke into the league a little late, not playing his first full season until age 27. He did prove to have some longevity by playing 18 years into his early forties. Somewhat of a rarity these days, Martinez played his entire career with the one team, the Mariners. Before we begin, here are some selected career stats for Edgar Martinez.

2055 G, 7213 AB, 1219 R, 2247 H, 514 2B, 309 HR, 1261 RBI, .312/.418/.515

Mc - There's no question that for a handful of years, Edgar Martinez was a very feared hitter in the American League. He was also very consistent, proving to be a doubles machine and displaying homerun power and strong run production capabilities. There are a couple of facets to Edgar Martinez's career that make his Hall of Fame argument hard to make.

All-Time Mariners Team

The Seattle Mariners came into the American League in 1977 as an expansion team along with the Blue Jays. In their 33 year history, they have made the playoffs 4 times, all of which spanned the years of 1995 - 2001. They have yet to make a World Series appearance in their history. Despite their lack of major success, there are a few sure fire Hall of Fame players on their all time list.

C - Dan Wilson
1B - Alvin Davis
2B - Harold Reynolds
SS - Alex Rodriguez
3B - Adrian Beltre
OF - Ichiro Suzuki
OF - Ken Griffey Jr.
OF - Jay Buhner
DH - Edgar Martinez
SP - Jamie Moyer
SP - Randy Johnson
CL - Kazuhiro Sasaki