Today, the incomparable Lee Sinins posted several lists showing the recently-announced-his-retirement Edgar Martinez's place in baseball history.
Don't get too caught up in the actual statistics; look at the list of names. Then answer the question: is the Hall of Fame becoming too picky? And this isn't just about Edgar, it's also about a certain hurt player ... a Big Hurt player.
Martinez ranks 12th in career OBA compared to the league average, for players with at least 7,500 plate appearances since 1900. Here's the list:
OBA DIFF PLAYER LEAGUE
1 Ted Williams .134 .482 .348
2 Babe Ruth .118 .474 .356
3 Barry Bonds .103 .439 .336
4 Ty Cobb .093 .433 .340
5 Rogers Hornsby .091 .434 .342
6 Frank Thomas .089 .429 .339
7 Mickey Mantle .087 .421 .333
8 Lou Gehrig .086 .447 .361
9 Tris Speaker .084 .428 .344
10 Eddie Collins .082 .424 .342
11 Wade Boggs .082 .415 .333
12 Edgar Martinez .081 .420 .338
13 Stan Musial .079 .417 .338
14 Mel Ott .071 .414 .343
15 Jimmie Foxx .070 .428 .358
He's also 12th on the American League's list of leaders in Runs Created Above Average (RCAA). Here's that list:
1 Babe Ruth 1795
2 Ted Williams 1475
3 Ty Cobb 1369
4 Lou Gehrig 1247
5 Mickey Mantle 1099
6 Tris Speaker 1053
7 Jimmie Foxx 996
8 Frank Thomas 796
9 Eddie Collins 747
10 Joe DiMaggio 708
11 Rickey Henderson 706
12 Edgar Martinez 651
13 Harry Heilmann 624
14 Nap Lajoie 617
15 George Brett 593
This is NOT meant to be a "debate the worthiness of certain statistics for judging a player's greatness," prompt, though I suppose that will inevitably play a role.
The point here is -- look at those lists of names. Every single name on those lists is already in the Hall of Fame or in the case of Rickey Henderson, is a mortal lock to get there. Except two.
Edgar Martinez is one. The other, surprisingly enough, is Frank Thomas -- a player about whom scuttle has turned from "a first ballot guy for sure" into "maybe not ..." Could be the attitude; could be the lack of winning; could be a few weak years that coincided exactly with the McGwireSosaFest.
Or it could be that Thomas has done a fair amount of time at designated hitter. As, of course, has Martinez. And believe it or not, this is NOT meant to re-hash the old "do DH's belong in the Hall of Fame?" argument, though again, I suppose that will inevitably play a role.
Big Frank probably will get in. Edgar almost certainly won't, leaving Lee's lists as an enormous game of "One of These Things is Not Like the Others."
The Hall of Fame ... too picky? Discuss.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20040810114352999