Production vs. Efficiency.

Pretty good article which I think may have indirectly led me to change my mind regarding Edgar Martinez's HOF credentials, from nay to yea:

"What baffles me is the argument that Edgar Martinez isn't a Hall-of-Famer because he was a designated hitter. It's like not voting for Greg Maddux because he didn't rush for enough yardage. It's a total non sequitur -- it's an invented reason that makes no sense. A reprise of the facts from above:

The rules of baseball have, since 1973, required that every team in the American League fill a position known as 'the designated hitter'

Edgar Martinez was the best designated hitter in the history of the sport"

I think you obviously have to be more productive as a DH than as a gold glove shortstop.

I'm not sure how many people are disqualifying Martinez solely because of his position, but it's a clear handicap compared to players who made an impact in the field.


"There are 19 players who finished their careers with a batting average over .300, an on-base percentage over .400, and a slugging percentage over .500. Two of them played for the Rockies, pre-humidor. Two of them might never make the Hall of Fame because of scandal. Three of them will make the Hall of Fame unless they're caught up in a scandal. The rest are super-inner-circle-gold-star Hall-of-Famers. Jimmie Foxx. Mel Ott. Stan Musial. Those types."

Batting average and on-base percentage reflect a player's efficiency.

HOF entrants tend to amass stats over a long career.

I think that's the crux of the argument, rather than the pro-DH vs. anti-DH.


At first glance, I don't think Martinez's scoreboard stats are enough to put him in the HOF: .312, 309 HRs, 1,261 RBIs.

Runs scored: 1,219, which ranks him 160th all-time.

Willie Randolph had more runs scored.

160th on the list surrounds Martinez with good players, but not HOF types.


RBIs: 1,261, which ranks him 121st all-time. Some HOFers had fewer, lots of non-HOFers had more.

Harold Baines had 400 more RBIs.

Jeff Kent had 300 more RBIs and played the field.


But then I thought about it a little more. In terms of overall production, Martinez is a rare batter who gets a lot of walks and a lot or extra-base hits, who gets a lot of runs scored and a lot of RBIs.

Runs Created: 1,631, 58th all-time. (Problem is, I can't quite figure out the Bill Freakin' James definition of Runs Created.)

162-game averages: .312/.418/.515, 24 HRs, 41 doubles, 96 runs, 99 RBIs.


In any case, my observation is that Martinez probably belongs in the HOF, even though his production stats don't really make his induction a slam dunk.