Last year : received 32.9% of the vote
The late, great Red Smith referred to the Designated Hitter as "that loathsome ploy". I agree with this, but the DH ploy has survived in the American League for almost forty years now, and in all likelihood, will soon spread to the National League shortly after realignment. In an attempt to prepare for my beloved Senior Circuit abandoning one of the fundamental foundations of baseball, that being a game of nine innings featuring nine players, I keep the sentiments of Ted Williams close in mind:
"Baseball should adopt the football specialist. A guy who would do nothing but hit. I hate it when I see a pitcher up there with the bases loaded, some half-athlete who swings like an old maid, rear end flying, can't run a step, gets about one hit a year. Why not have a specialist who could bat two times a game for weak hitters like that? Then great hitters like Mantle and Mays could stick around longer...when their legs are gone."
I don't really agree with this, but I can see the point. Although it is important to keep in mind that it was made by a guy who loved to hit and never cared much for the field. I mention all this because the only thing keeping Edgar Martinez out of the Hall of Fame is the fact that he spent nearly 75% of his career as a DH. His prime years offensively place him in the upper echelon of the Hall of Fame: from 1990-2001, he posted a batting average of .321 and an on-base percentage of .429, both awe-inspiring numbers. In 1995, the year Mo Vaughn inexplicably won the AL MVP, Martinez had a line of .356/.479/.628. It is one of the greatest offensive seasons in AL history. To cap off that tremendous season, he knocked the clinching double in the ALDS vs. the Yankees that saved Seattle baseball.
Martinez didn't often play in the field, and when he did, he was a below average third baseman. But there are many terrible fielders in the Hall of Fame, several of whom were not nearly as effective at the plate. If the DH gimmick had expired as all gimmicks should, Martinez would have been a poor fielder but great hitter, and would likely have already been enshrined in Cooperstown. But there is a DH*, and as stated above, it will likely pervade all of baseball soon. Martinez isn't simply the best DH of all-time, he is one of the best hitters of all time. And he deserves a plaque alongside the best of baseball company.
*Martinez is being kept out of the HoF by writers who frown on the DH, even though these are likely the same writers who have grown apathetic toward the DH's role in baseball and will show minimal outrage when it is instituted in the National League. Realignment and constant inter-league play will bring the DH discussion to the forefront, and in all likelihood, the DH will win for financial, and I suppose pragmatic reasons. The only potential positive effect of Edgar Martinez continually missing the Hall, would be the added negative emphasis placed on the career DH. If players see that being a DH will exclude them from the Hall regardless of their greatness, perhaps they will complain to their union rep, and perhaps the DH will lose some of its supporters. And perhaps it may one day go away. I doubt it, but either way, Edgar Martinez should be in the Hall of Fame.*
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