:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/52660031/121172948.0.jpg)
We trusted you. “Make those silly BBWAA members realize how bad they are at voting” was the basic premise. You were supposed to induct all the right players into the Hall of Fame with the Let’s Go Tribe community vote. Well you inducted one: Edgar Martinez.
Now, I have no issue with Edgar getting in — he should have years ago. But just Edgar Martinez? The beloved Seattle Mariners DH is great, but I feel like he should have had some friends come along with him. In our community vote, only a couple were even close to the 75 percent required for induction.
Here are the final percentages, overall first then broken down by age group*:
| -- | Overall | Ages 13-19 | Ages 20-29 | Ages 30-39 | Ages 40-49 | Ages 50-59 | Ages 60-69 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -- | Overall | Ages 13-19 | Ages 20-29 | Ages 30-39 | Ages 40-49 | Ages 50-59 | Ages 60-69 |
| # of ballots | 192 | 10 | 57 | 57 | 14 | 9 | 7 |
| Danys Baez | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Jeff Bagwell | 72.9% | 60.0% | 82.5% | 75.4% | 64.3% | 88.9% | 42.9% |
| Barry Bonds | 66.1% | 40.0% | 77.2% | 66.7% | 42.9% | 66.7% | 71.4% |
| Pat Burrell | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Orlando Cabrera | 1.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Mike Cameron | 6.3% | 20.0% | 10.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 11.1% | 0.0% |
| Roger Clemens | 66.1% | 50.0% | 77.2% | 70.2% | 57.1% | 66.7% | 85.7% |
| JD Drew | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Vladimir Guerrero | 62.5% | 70.0% | 66.7% | 68.4% | 42.9% | 66.7% | 57.1% |
| Carlos Guillen | 3.1% | 10.0% | 3.5% | 1.8% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Trevor Hoffman | 46.4% | 70.0% | 57.9% | 47.4% | 57.1% | 33.3% | 42.9% |
| Jeff Kent | 15.1% | 30.0% | 7.0% | 21.1% | 35.7% | 11.1% | 28.6% |
| Derek Lee | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Julio Lugo | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Edgar Martinez | 76.6% | 90.0% | 86.0% | 75.4% | 64.3% | 55.6% | 71.4% |
| Fred McGriff | 18.2% | 10.0% | 15.8% | 19.3% | 14.3% | 22.2% | 28.6% |
| Melvin Mora | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Mike Mussina | 48.4% | 50.0% | 52.6% | 43.9% | 42.9% | 44.4% | 71.4% |
| Magglio Ordonez | 1.6% | 10.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Jorge Posada | 12.5% | 20.0% | 17.5% | 3.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 14.3% |
| Tim Raines | 65.1% | 70.0% | 61.4% | 71.9% | 78.6% | 77.8% | 85.7% |
| Manny Ramirez | 64.6% | 50.0% | 70.2% | 66.7% | 50.0% | 77.8% | 71.4% |
| Edgar Renteria | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Arthur Rhodes | 1.6% | 0.0% | 1.8% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Ivan Rodriguez | 68.2% | 60.0% | 73.7% | 75.4% | 50.0% | 55.6% | 85.7% |
| Aaron Rowand | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Freddy Sanchez | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Curt Schilling | 43.8% | 50.0% | 52.6% | 40.4% | 28.6% | 22.2% | 42.9% |
| Gary Sheffield | 18.8% | 20.0% | 26.3% | 19.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Lee Smith | 10.9% | 10.0% | 7.0% | 8.8% | 35.7% | 22.2% | 14.3% |
| Sammy Sosa | 21.4% | 20.0% | 24.6% | 17.5% | 14.3% | 33.3% | 28.6% |
| Jason Varitek | 5.2% | 0.0% | 5.3% | 3.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Javier Vasquez | 1.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Billy Wagner | 6.8% | 10.0% | 3.5% | 8.8% | 14.3% | 11.1% | 0.0% |
| Tim Wakefield | 8.9% | 10.0% | 5.3% | 7.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Larry Walker | 25.0% | 40.0% | 26.3% | 29.8% | 14.3% | 33.3% | 28.6% |
*age was not required on the ballot, and the ages are unverified.
First, let’s talk about how Edgar made it in. The fine folks over at Lookout Landing were nice enough to the ballot in one of their daily links, which was fine. The ballot was open to all baseball fans who stumbled upon it, not just Let’s Go Tribe community members. That may have skewed the results a bit, but it’s not like Seattle Mariners fans were only voting for Edgar — there were zero ballots with only Edgar on it. Besides, only 39 of the respondents claimed to be from from Washington or Oregon. Roughly one-fifth of the entries, but not enough to completely sabotage the vote.
My personal theory is that Edgar is enough of a no-brainer that a lot of people just threw him on their ballots because he made sense. Nothing controversial, not someone that most people thought was a lock, but enough people thought enough of his 18-year career to put him on the ballot. And let me re-iterate from earlier in this post: he absolutely deserves it.
Martinez finished his career with a .312/.418/.515 slash line and a walk rate (14.8%) higher than his strikeout rate (13.9%). The only knock against him is that he was a career designated hitter and thus no defensive value. But he still finished his career with 65.5 FanGraphs WAR, and an fWAR of 5.0 or more in half of his seasons. His peak was big, it was sustained, and it was Hall of Fame worthy.
If you couldn’t tell by the number of entries per age, our core demographic is somewhere between 20 and 39 years old. As a result, most of the interesting perspectives come between the 20-29 and 30-39 age groups. Namely Jeff Bagwell, who would have been in overwhelmingly among 20- to 29-year-olds with 82.5 percent of the vote, but he barely slipped in at 75.4 percent among 30- to 39-year-olds. Similarly, Barry Bonds squeaks by among 20-somethings, but just 66.7 percent of 30-year-olds voted him in.