The Mariners superstars may come and go, Amazon.com stock may rise and fall (and fall and fall), even Boeing may back up the U - Haul to the citly limits, but Edgar remains vital a part of Seattle as the Pike Place Market. He played his first game here two years before Junior arrived and by now Edgar and the Mariners are so synonymous, Judge Thomas Penfied Jackson couldnt break them up. No that anyone would want to. "He's been overshadowed by Griffey, Arod and Randy," (former) catcher Tom Lampkin said, "but when you look at the numbers he's pu up in the last 10 - 15 years, he's as good as any hitter in baseball. He is our security blanket. As long as we can look over and see him there, we feel like we have a good chance to win." From the dreary days of Lefebvre Belivers to the sell out nights of Sodo Mojo, watching Edgar Martinez swing the bat has been like watching Edgar Degas paint ballerinas. Consistant?! Winter cloud over Seattle isnt as consitant as Edgar, whos batted .300 nince times, including the past six seasons (this would be his seventh). Productive? He's driven in more people than an Angalina Jolie filmfest on HBO, averagins 110 RBI's a season since 1995. Dependable? The only pace yo could find a better clutch hitter is in a Strat - O - Matic game with rigged dice. And popular?! Years after the death of grunge, No. 11 jerseys remain the cities favourite fashion statement. Even this year with Ichiro mania, there is no other Mariner as beloved as Edgar. That was abundently clear in August with Edgar homered for his 1,000 career RBI and the sellout crowd responded with loud, long and loving standing ovation that produced lumps in fans' throats the size of a batting doughnut. "It was nice to get that," Edgar said. "I go back and reflect on when I started playing, all those hard times I worked through. All those minor league years, the fact is I never thought it would be a fine career for me. In my mind, I was just and average. So being able to get a goal like that and achieve it, makes me even happier. I thought I had a cance to do well but I never thought I'd be given the chance to play every day. " Ah, yes fans may shake their heads like the Ichiro bobblehead doll at the memory, but nearly 2,000 hits ago crack Mariners management was unconvinced that Edgar could hit at the major league level. Despite Edgar batting .329 at AAA Calgary in 1987. Seattle still looked to Jimmy Presley and Darnell Coles as the third basemen of the future. It wasnt until Edgar hit .345 that they brought him up for good at the age of 27. Three seasons later he held the American League in batting with a .343 average. He won the title again with a .356 mark in 1995, the same year he rallied the Mariners in the playoffs with a frand slam and secen RBI's in Game 4 against New York and won Game 5 with a double that scored Junior. He kept right on hitting. As of publivation, no righthanded hitter sice Joe Dimaggio had a higher career average than Edgar's .319 (minimum 5,000 at bats) And bear in mind, that average is without the benefit of infield singals and the fact that Edgar moves slower than the line at the DMV so whatever hit he gets, he earns. That he can hit at all is a staggering problem. He has an eye condition that needs constant correction because one eye has a tendacy to stray and he occasionally loses pitches in his field of vision especially early in the season. He does a series of eye excersises several times a day to correct his vision. "I've played with this since I was a kid, " Edgar says "I never even knew it was a problem until the doctors told me. I thought everyone had it". Few approach the game more intensly that Edgar, who normally takes two or three estra rounds of BP before a game and keeps a scale in his locker to make sure that the manufacturers didnt slip him a bat that is a quarter of an ounce to heavy. "Every once and inch makes a difference, " (retired) outfielder Jay Buhner says "Edgar knows his swing inside and out. He is a perfectionist, and he is a workaholic and when you put those 2 things together, you get the most consistant hitter ever." Not many people realize this but consider : He's never been on the cover of Sports Illusrated. Arods been on it, Randy, Buhner, Bret Boone and Ichiro like a month into his career and of course Junior has been on it more times than Micheal Jordan and Christe Brikley combined, Heck even Jay Buhners son Chase even made the cover. |
