Edgar Martinez, arguably one of the game's greatest designated hitter, has announced that he will retire at the end of this season, his 18th. Edgar is the last member of the "Lefebvre's beliebvres" club that began the turnaround of a team that was once the laughingstock of baseball into one that is well respected.
For the purists, 'Gar was actually a decent third baseman, and could have remained so had the DH option not been around. But the way he hits can only draw comparisons to some of the game's great pure hitters -- Pete Rose, Tony Gwynn...although Edgar hit with more power than either of the two.
Edgar is also a bit of an anomaly, having spent his entire 18 years as a Seattle Mariner and seeing a club that, when he arrived, had not manufactured a single winning season, turn into an AL West perennial (ok, so this year they ain't doing so hot!). Edgar hit well to all fields, and was for several years the number 5 hitter in a lineup that featured Ken Griffey Junior (when he was still good) at number 3, and Jay Buhner (whose power numbers were among the most underrated in the league).
Consider that, when Edgar arrived on the scene:
--Most people had not even HEARD of the Internet
--The Berlin Wall still stood
--Green Bay Packer QB and future football hall of famer Brett Favre had not thrown a single college pass
--recent NFL HOF inductee Barry Sanders was still two years shy of joining the NFL
--the "grunge revolution" had not yet begun
--Howard Jones was still cool (if I have to explain this one, you ain't 80's...lol)
--Anthony Edwards still had hair (see "Top Gun" [1986] for proof)
--The Olsen twins were known only to their mommy and daddy
a mighty long time, and a mighty fine career
signing off,
Gideon MacLeish