Hall of Fame Vote: Edgar Martinez and Randy Johnson on the Spectrum

In a little less than an hour the 2015 Hall of Fame inductees will be announced for Major League Baseball.

This year has two former Mariners on the ballot. First is 52-year old designated hitter Edgar Martinez who played his entire career with the Seattle Mariners, in his 6th year of eligibility on the ballot. Second is 51-year old Randy Johnson, a flamethrowing left-handed pitcher who spent a decade in the Pacific Northwest. It is his first year on the ballot.

These two Mariners greats couldn’t be at further ends of the Hall of Fame voting spectrum. Both are honored in the Mariners Hall of Fame at Safeco Field, but their odds of making it to Cooperstown vary greatly.

As mentioned before, this is Edgar Martinez’s 6th year on the ballot, and in recent years the term of eligibility was reduced from 15 years to 10 years. In 2011, ‘Gar saw his hall vote reach a height of 36.5%, but since then the support for the DH has dwindled. Last seasons his number dropped to 25.2%, likely spelling the end to his Hall of Fame chances.

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• What If… The Mariners Didn’t Trade Michael Pineda?

It has been difficult for Edgar to crack the top-10 on people’s ballots because he played so few innings in the field. Though his bat transcended his lack of time in the field, many writers and voters can’t rectify the void. It will be interesting to see how the Hall reacts to David Ortiz‘s eventual eligibility, as he has more power than Edgar Martinez, but wins the Edgar Martinez Designated Hitter award every season.

Secondly for Edgar, recent ballots have been jam-packed with first-ballot talent. Take Pedro Martinez and former teammate Randy Johnson this season.

These two pitching greats dominated the game at the height of the Steroid Era, where ERA’s were up and batting averages and home runs skyrocketed. In his 22-year career, Randy Johnson amassed 303 wins, a perfect game in 2004, and the second most strikeouts in MLB history (behind only Nolan Ryan).

Randy Johnson will get at least 75% of the votes. More than likely he will get more than 90% of the votes.

The Unit and ‘Gar changed the game in Safeco and beyond. Unfortunately for Mariners fans and die-hard DH defenders, it seems only one of them will ever grace the halls of Cooperstown.