Hate the DH? Don't think Ortiz belongs in the HOF? Bob Ryan and Edgar Martinez just shamed you...

[Rock Strongo]

DESIGNATING HIS VOTE: Bob Ryan takes stock of David Ortiz’s Hall of Fame candidacy, which will be a sort of referendum on the DH. Ryan offers his opinions on the matter as only he can.

Earth to cave dwellers: The DH has been a fact of American League life for 43 seasons. Deal with it! ... Big Papi. It has become a connotation in and of itself. You cannot write the history of baseball in the first decade and a half of the 21st century without mentioning David Ortiz prominently. I might even go so far as to say he entered that rare larger-than-life category among his peers.

Former Mariners DH standout Edgar Martinez told Scott Lauber that there is no doubt that Ortiz is a Hall of Famer.

In a conversation with Jimmy Toscano of CSNNE.com, Ortiz recalled the Mariners’ decision to sign him as a teenager out of the Dominican Republic in 1992. In a potential harbinger of his future as a DH, Ortiz notes that Seattle decided to sign him immediately after watching him hit – and without seeing him field or throw.

 

[Rock Strongo]

boom

Edgar Martinez backs David Ortiz for Hall of Fame | Boston Herald

 

[Rock Strongo]

Designated hitters don’t get much love from Hall of Fame voters, so they have to stand up for each other. In that spirit, Edgar Martinez needs to get something off his chest.

“No doubt,” the Seattle Mariners hitting coach said yesterday, “(David) Ortiz is definitely a Hall of Famer.”

The same words were spoken about Martinez late in his career. He was a .312 hitter with 309 home runs, a .418 on-base percentage, a .933 OPS, two batting titles and a pair of top-10 AL MVP finishes over 18 seasons spent entirely with the Mariners, yet he hasn’t come close to gaining a spot in Cooperstown for no earthly reason other than a bias against DHs by the voting body of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

In six years on the ballot, Martinez has never gotten more than 36.5 percent of the vote. With a three-quarter majority required for election and only four more years of consideration, time is running out, not that the 52-year-old is sweating it.

“When the results are out (every January), I look at it,” Martinez said. “But I’m not constantly looking at any of that, wondering what are my chances. It’s out of my hands.”

Someday, though, Ortiz might be in the same position.

Big Papi isn’t about to retire — in fact, his team option for next year became guaranteed with his 425th plate appearance of the season Aug. 7 in Detroit — but as he steams toward 500 career home runs, the subject of his Hall of Fame qualifications will come into clearer focus.

Incredibly, the Sox scored 45 runs in three games this weekend against Martinez’ Mariners without Ortiz (1-for-4 in yesterday’s 10-8 loss) going deep, leaving him stuck on No. 491. He’s still on pace to hit 34 homers, which would put him at exactly 500 at season’s end.

“It’s been amazing to watch Ortiz,” Martinez said. “He’s been one of the most feared hitters for a long time, and even at his age now, he’s still very consistent and very dangerous. Being a DH, it takes someone that works hard and is always prepared. He has all those qualities.”

The Mariners signed Ortiz out of his native Dominican Republic as a 17-year-old in 1992, the same year Martinez hit .343 and won his first batting title while playing in Ken Griffey Jr.’s considerable shadow. Two years later, they traded Ortiz to the Twins, who released him six years later even after he hit 20 homers in 2002.

Since then, Ortiz has gone above and beyond almost anything ever accomplished by another DH, including Martinez. He has more hits (1,987), homers (437) and RBI (1,411) than any hitter who has played the position. And make no mistake: DH has been an honest-to-goodness position for American League teams.

Martinez didn’t choose to be a DH. The Mariners put him there nearly full-time in 1993 as a way of keeping his bat in the lineup while allowing defensively superior Mike Blowers to play third base. It’s a luxury they could afford given the rules that have been in play in the AL since 1973.

“I don’t know if any of that bothers me,” Martinez said. “We were a better team with me being a DH. We had Mike Blowers. We were a better team that way.”

Just like the Red Sox have been a better team over the past 13 seasons with Ortiz as the DH and Kevin Millar, Kevin Youkilis, Adrian Gonzalez or Mike Napoli at first base.

The common denominator: Ortiz.

“He has the numbers, he has the (three) World Series,” Martinez said. “I don’t know what else you could want.”

Here’s the good news for Ortiz: Closers once had almost no chance of making the Hall of Fame either, with only Hoyt Wilhelm and Rollie Fingers getting elected before 2004. Then Dennis Eckersley made it, Bruce Sutter and Goose Gossage followed, paving the way for Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman in years to come.

And the anti-DH bias might be softening. Paul Molitor, a DH for 43.7 percent of the 2,683 games he started from 1978-98, was elected in 2004. Last year, Frank Thomas became the first player to serve as a DH in more than 50 percent of his games to be inducted to Cooperstown.

The way Martinez sees it, Ortiz might be the Eckersley of his generation, the DH who bangs down the Hall’s doors for all others to follow, which would be too bad if only because Martinez has the credentials to be that player.

“He’s been the best at that position, and he’s not done yet,” Martinez said. “His swing is a great swing. As long as you have your eyes and can see the ball and you work at it and have a good swing, he can play a few more years. He’s helping all the other DHs out there get the attention.”

 

[moxie]

I feel zero shame in admitting...
I HATE THE DH and I did not read your post. I only read part of the title and I assume you're crying about something to do with the Patriots.

Happy Monday!

 

[Rock Strongo]

I feel zero shame in admitting...
I HATE THE DH and I did not read your post. I only read part of the title and I assume you're crying about something to do with the Patriots.

Happy Monday!

and they say girls are uselss in sports unless theyre pretty...

 

[williewilliejuan]

Does he expect the voters to ignore the fact that Ortiz was (and probably still is) an enormous juicer?

 

[moxie]

and they say girls are uselss in sports unless theyre pretty...

So many words in weird, random order!! I'm just here for the likes.

oh! And the rainbows!! I love the rainbows!

 

[Rock Strongo]

Does he expect the voters to ignore the fact that Ortiz was (and probably still is) an enormous juicer?

as soon as you get that MLB sanctioned failed test im sure people will notice.

 

[williewilliejuan]

as soon as you get that MLB sanctioned failed test im sure people will notice.

Just like Barry Bonds?

 

[Rock Strongo]

Just like Barry Bonds?

yup

and clemens


tho ortiz's head didnt grow 4 hat sizes and he never looked like black lou ferrigno after starting out like jimmy walker. other than that, spot on.

 

[DirtDirtDirt]

All comes down to how voters view steroid users

Mike Piazza never failed a test, was never on a list, etc....Possibly the best offensive catcher in history, and he isn't in because voters think he is "suspect"

 

[Rock Strongo]

All comes down to how voters view steroid users

Mike Piazza never failed a test, was never on a list, etc....Possibly the best offensive catcher in history, and he isn't in because voters think he is "suspect"

yeah well his minor league teammates had a lot to say about him lol

the hall just needs to accept this is the era we had. put bonds in, dont make him the HR champ. im cool with that. you can asterisk that with a *steroid era.

 

[Win TWINS!!!]

Does he expect the voters to ignore the fact that Ortiz was (and probably still is) an enormous juicer?

Clearly, he started using after the Twins dumped him.

 

[DirtDirtDirt]

yeah well his minor league teammates had a lot to say about him lol

the hall just needs to accept this is the era we had. put bonds in, dont make him the HR champ. im cool with that. you can asterisk that with a *steroid era.

The way ive always seen it

Take each individual case and treat it separately........

If Im voting ? I do think Bonds/Clemens and Arod are HOF players, even without the Roids.......They were just really greedy players that needed to be superhuman, great wasn't good enough

Than guys like McGwire/Sosa/probably Papi, sorry, are NOT HOF'ers without the juice.........

Instead of painting everyone with the same brush, use your own judgment

 

[Rock Strongo]

The way ive always seen it

Take each individual case and treat it separately........

If Im voting ? I do think Bonds/Clemens and Arod are HOF players, even without the Roids.......They were just really greedy players that needed to be superhuman, great wasn't good enough

Than guys like McGwire/Sosa/probably Papi, sorry, are NOT HOF'ers without the juice.........

Instead of painting everyone with the same brush, use your own judgment

i never doubted you'd add ortiz

macs a .263 hitter, his career high in hits is 161 his rookie year. he also had only 7 100 RBI years, less than half his career.

sosa, he was just a good power hitter even on the juice til he hit 29 and pow, there goes 66 HR's. funny thing with him...2408 hits, 2306 K's.

 

[DirtDirtDirt]

i never doubted you'd add ortiz

macs a .263 hitter, his career high in hits is 161 his rookie year. he also had only 7 100 RBI years, less than half his career.

sosa, he was just a good power hitter even on the juice til he hit 29 and pow, there goes 66 HR's. funny thing with him...2408 hits, 2306 K's.

If I didn't know Papi was a user, he's a HOFer for me, the guy has a postseason resume like ive never seen..........but we have had this conversation...This was a guy that couldn't beat out Ron Coomer for a job, and than assembled a HOF career overnight

 

[The Q]

I don't know how you can ignore an entire basically 20 year part of baseball history.

The HOF is a historical museum. That means you display the good and the bad parts.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

I say steroids for all.

 

[DragonfromTO]

Does Bob vote for Edgar every year?

 

[Rock Strongo]

Does Bob vote for Edgar every ywar?

i believe he does.