Edgar Martinez posted ridiculous numbers against this year’s other Hall of Fame inductees
Mariano Rivera is the first player to enter the Hall of Fame with 100 percent of the votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Babe Ruth didn’t get that kind of support. Neither did Ken Griffey Jr., who had three writers not vote for him.
That’s why fellow 2019 Hall of Fame inductee Edgar Martinez was asked about the former Yankees closer … because he had seemingly no problems facing Rivera during his 18-year career with the Seattle Mariners.
Martinez batted .579/.652/1.053 against the best closer in baseball history over 19 career at-bats. The other 19 Hall of Famers who hit against Rivera combined to bat .236 against him.
“It always felt like a tough at-bat,” Martinez said in a conference call with local reporters on Tuesday. “I know Mariano, he sticks with his strengths. And one key for me was I didn’t try to do too much against him. It seemed like when I tried to do too much, even when he was ahead in the count I would fail.”
He didn’t fail often.
Actually, Martinez didn’t struggle much against any of the 2019 Hall of Fame inductees – Rivera, former Blue Jays and Phillies starter Roy Halladay and former Orioles and Yankees starter Mike Mussina.
Martinez hit .444/.474/.722 in 19 career at-bats against Halladay. Against Mussina he hit .307/.337/.627.
That seems only fitting that Martinez raked against the pitchers of this class, and it affirms that he belongs in Cooperstown, even after he had to wait 10 years on the writers’ ballot.
Martinez’s Hall of Fame credentials were so frequently tossed aside in the nine years leading up to Tuesday’s announcement. He wasn’t famous enough, not elite enough, was almost purely a designated hitter.
Advanced metrics told a different story. So did Rivera, who was asked in 2013 by the New York Daily News about the toughest hitter he ever faced.
“The toughest – and thank God he retired – Edgar Martinez,” Rivera said. “Oh my God. I think every pitcher will say that because this man was tough. Great man, though – respected the game, did what he had to do for his team. That’s what you appreciate about players, when a player comes and does what is right for the game of baseball, for his team and teammates.”
Martinez and Rivera each spent the duration of their careers with one team, which makes 54 such players now in the Hall of Fame.
But Martinez was asked if he ever wondered if playing in Seattle cost him in his national recognition, and maybe why he never received the kind of reverence most have for former Red Sox DH David Ortiz.
“You know, I don’t think of it that way,” Martinez said. “I think I just accepted the process a while back. I tried to concentrate on the positive side and think that just to be mentioned alongside some of these player and be elected, it’s a great honor. It helped me to just stay with that mentality.”
This story was originally published January 22, 2019 at 6:25 PM.
