Grip on Sports: Today’s the day we find out if Edgar Martinez is Hall of Fame worthy
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Today is a day for looking forward. And back. Today will either be really exciting or as disappointing as possible. In other words, your typical Wednesday. Read on.
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• Wednesdays didn’t get the nickname “Hump Day” for nothing. Sure, it’s the middle of the week. Half is done, half is to come. But, in sports, it’s also a day reserved for turning the page. Last weekend’s game are far enough away to forget, the upcoming contests close enough to be worth worrying about.
And then there is “The Announcement.”
Today is the day the baseball Hall of Fame welcomes its new class. Guys like Chipper Jones, Jim Thome and Vladimir Guerrero are just waiting for the call to confirm their place.
There is little in the way of drama for the trio.
Trevor Hoffman, whose career as a closer was spent in the anonymity of San Diego, might also be headed to Cooperstown. He was five votes short last year and is expected to finish above the 75 percent needed to get in.
Then there is Edgar.
Edgar Martinez, the M’s longtime designated hitter, the best at his position baseball ever produced, the guy the league named its award after, is on the brink.
Will he get in or will he fall agonizingly short, a vote or two from making the grade?
Recent projections have Edgar outside looking in, once again a victim of some voters’ lack of understanding of the game.
If you are into advanced analytics, Edgar’s credentials are unimpeachable. If you are into the eye-test, it was easy to see he was the as good a gap-to-gap hitter as the game ever produced.
But his role in helping the Mariners’ win at a rate the franchise never achieved before or after his career, designated hitter, is a ballot killer for some voters.
Sorry, I don’t get it. Especially if the same voter decides to cast a ballot for a closer. You know, the guy who tries to get the last out or two or three of a game.
If a designated hitter isn’t a “complete player,” then how are guys who can throw 10 pitches 50 times a season?
The answer is they are. The fill a role baseball has created. Just like designated hitters, or catchers, or starting pitchers. Each has a function on their team. Each has to perform well for their team to win.
And the best of those deserve to be in the Hall. That’s what it’s for, the best baseball players in the game at their positions.
If designated hitters are to be punished because they don’t get the wear-and-tear on their body other positions do, then how the heck are there any first basemen in the Hall? Really, if wear-and-tear matters, then only catchers should be allowed in. It’s the only position that really demands physical exertion (says the guy who caught for 30 years).
We will find out this afternoon if Edgar made the cut. The guess here is he won’t. He will fall three or four votes short.
And then it will be another year of waiting – next year will be his last on the ballot – for the Mariner who gave us our single greatest memory and was the lineup’s key piece throughout the stretch of baseball we savor more than any other.
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WSU: There was fanfare and celebration yesterday in Pullman as Patrick Chun was introduced as the Cougars’ newest athletic director. Theo Lawson was there and has this story on the introduction. … John Blanchette was also in the house and has a few thoughts on the task Chun was hired to fulfill. … Tyler Tjomsland blankets the event with these photographs. … … Our Thomas Clouse has more on Tyler Hilinski’s death. … The Seattle Times’ Stefanie Loh covered the Chun press conference from afar, as well as listening to Luke Falk’s comments from the Senior Bowl and passing along more news from the Pullman police department concerning Hilinski.
Elsewhere in the Pac-12, it seems like a good day to put together basketball power rankings and conference notebooks, so we pass them along. … Switching gears to football, how about if we look ahead to next season’s best players? … Arizona has already began the new-coach roster turnover. …Colorado welcomed back a player and welcomes in a new assistant coach. … Back to basketball, the Wildcats fired their assistant coach, Book Richardson, caught up in the FBI investigation. … USC is playing better, UCLA isn’t and Utah is playing selflessly. … Oregon State is a family affair. … Washington picked up a highly ranked recruit – that it already had.
Gonzaga: The West Coast Conference basketball schedule is split quite often these days, one game at home, another the same week on the road. Jim Meehan takes a look at the phenomenon. One other odd note: The Zags play Portland – if you want to walk down memory lane with the Pilots and Zags, here you go – and USF this week. They will be done with those two, and Santa Clara. And they still haven’t played either BYU or San Diego once. … Speaking of BYU, the Cougars are at conference-leading Saint Mary’s tomorrow night.
EWU: Around the Big Sky, Southern Utah is playing better because of one player with an appropriate last name. … Northern Arizona heads to Montana State. … Montana’s Bobby Hauck names a veteran as his defensive coordinator.
Chiefs: Spokane battled with Swift Current all night and came away with a 4-2 victory at the Arena. Kevin Dudley tells us how they did it.
Preps: It was a busy Tuesday night in the basketball ranks and we can pass along roundups from the GSL girls and boys. There is also a story on East Valley’s important Great Northern girls’ basketball win over Clarkston and roundups from around the area in boys and girls play.
Seahawks: Despite the poor season, Seattle now has as many Pro Bowl players as it’s ever had. With that type of talent, shouldn’t the head coach be held responsible for the failure to make the postseason?
Mariners: Yes, there are a whole bunch of stories about Edgar and the Hall in the Seattle-area media.
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• There will be either shouts of joy or wails of despair this afternoon around 3 p.m. You may not be able to tell the difference among your Mariner fan friends. Scratch that. You will. Just check social media for the reaction. Or not. Until later …