Red Sox: Comparing Hall of Fame cases for David Ortiz, Edgar Martinez
Edgar Martinez missed out on the Hall of Fame again this year, but that should be no indication of former Red Sox first baseman David Ortiz’s chances.
Yesterday, the Hall of Fame results were released, and while there were no former Boston Red Sox on the list, there were some indications of things to come. Four players got into the Hall: Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, Jim Thome, and Trevor Hoffman.
But one notable snub from the Hall of Fame is longtime designated hitter and third baseman, Edgar Martinez. Many believe that Martinez is the best designated hitter of all time, and an argument can be made for that. Martinez slashed .318/.418/.515 for his career, which is still a staggering slash line. He was so good, that they changed the name of the award for best designated hitter after him!
But somehow, Martinez fell about 5% short of the 75% goal to get into the Hall of Fame.
At the end of the day though, Martinez’s shortcomings should not be an indicator of David Ortiz’s chances to get in the Hall.
First off, I need to preface this by saying one thing: Ortiz and Martinez are two different players. Martinez was a very pure hitter. He hit for average at a high clip, but he was just an ok power hitter, totaling only 309 home runs for his career.
Ortiz on the other hand was an ok hitter for average, but a basher in the middle of the order. Ortiz finished his career with a slash line of .286/.380/.552. The power category was as much a part of his game as the hitting for average part was for Martinez.
But David Ortiz built up more individual accolades.
In All-Star appearances, Ortiz leads Martinez 10-7. Ortiz has seven Silver Slugger awards to Martinez’s five. Ortiz has also won a World Series MVP and has had many more postseason experiences than Martinez. But Martinez did have two batting titles to Big Papi’s zero.
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Many people in baseball clamor that postseason should not matter to individuals, but that was when the Big Papi legend was born. You cannot just take away the postseason from Ortiz. He has won three championships, which can do nothing but bolster his case.
You can also make an argument for Ortiz based on what he meant to baseball in the city of Boston. Ortiz has been, quite possibly, the most important player in Red Sox history in the last 30 years. He helped break a curse, he helped heal a city after a brutal terrorist attack, and he was so clutch.
Martinez was a phenomenal player in his own right, and will likely get in next year. It will be his final year on the ballot, and all he needs is to gain 5%, which is not that much.
But with all due respect to Martinez, Ortiz should get in on his first three years on the ballot. The voters might hold him out on his first year due to not playing the field, which is understandable. But the cases of these two players are not similar.
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David Ortiz will have his day in Cooperstown, and when he does, it will be well deserved.