Edgar Martinez narrowly misses Hall call
While a class of four got elected into the Hall of Fame on Wednesday, one of the best designated hitters to ever play will have to wait at least one more year to get his call, as Edgar Martinez missed election by 20 votes.
After the 410 votes were cast, Martinez was named on 297 ballots, according to the Baseball Writers Association of America. The required cutoff was 317 votes.
Thank you to all the fans out there that supported my #HOF candidacy. We are trending up, next year may be the year. Thank you @Mariners and the best fans in baseball
— Edgar Martinez (@11EdgarMartinez) January 24, 2018
The 18-year veteran, who spent his entire career with the Seattle Mariners, posted a .312/.418/.515 slash line with 309 home runs and 514 doubles over 2055 career games.
In Martinez's favor is the fact that he still gained voters. After receiving 58.6 percent of the vote last year, Martinez collected 70.4 percent from the BBWAA in his ninth year of eligibility.
"Getting 70.4 percent is a big improvement," Martinez told Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. "All I can think is that it's looking good for next year. It would have been great to get in his year, but it's looking good for next year."
Next year, elected or not, Martinez will be facing his final year on the ballot. Martinez will share a ballot in 2019 with first-timers Mariano Rivera, Roy Halladay, Andy Pettitte, and Todd Helton as well as star holdovers Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.