48 JULY 2019 • BASEBALLAMERICA.COM
HOF CLASS OF 2019
Edgar
MartinezVeteran BA contributor Tracy
Ringolsby spilled more ink about
Mariners prospect Edgar Martinez in
the mid-to-late 1980s than anybody
not employed as a scout.
Ringolsby ranked Martinez among
Seattle’s Top 10 Prospects three times,
beginning with his 1985 report in
which he ranked as the system’s No. 7
prospect on the heels of a strong cam-
paign as a 21-year-old in the Midwest
League. Martinez had matured physi-
cally after a soft pro debut in 1983.
“The 300-foot fly ball outs suddenly
went 350 feet, and the ground balls
in the hole went through the hole,”
Ringolsby wrote.
The Mariners signed a 19-year-
old Martinez out of Puerto Rico in
December 1982, back when it was not
subject to the draft. He wouldn’t reach
Triple-A for good until 1987.
Martinez did nothing but hit in the
Pacific Coast League in full seasons
there in 1987 and 1988. He entered the
1989 season ranked as the Mariners’
No. 3 prospect.
“He has a composite .342 average
the last two years, achieved by driving
the ball to all fields,” Ringolsby wrote.
“Martinez doesn’t give pitchers any
breaks.”
The Mariners finally turned over
third base to Martinez in 1990—when
he was 27—and he hit the ground
running.
Martinez was one of the most
accomplished hitters of the 1990s. For
the decade he ranked third to Tony
Gwynn and Mike Piazza with a .322
average and third to Frank Thomas
and Barry Bonds with a .430 on-base
percentage.
—Matt EddyHOF
FOCUSDespite a
strong Triple-A
track record,
Edgar Martinez
didn’t receive
an everyday big
league job until
he was 27. He
still managed
to build a Hall
of Fame career,
gaining entry
on his 10th
and final year
on the writers’
ballot.The next year, Rivera converted 44 of 51 save chances
and posted a 2.11 ERA.
Was it really always one pitch that Rivera relied on?
There were spring trainings when Rivera said he was
going to work on a changeup, and Eiland recalls Rivera
playing around with a two-seamer. Yet, the native of
Panama and the son of a fisherman kept it simple.“His control of (his cutter) was precise. Down and away,
up and in,” Eiland said. “You would talk to hitters and
they would say, ‘We know it is coming, but we don’t know
what part of the strike zone. And then there was so much
late movement and it kept coming in against lefthanders.”
Britton and Eiland are joined by many others who
believe Rivera was a one-of-a-kind phenomenon.
“I don’t think we will see anyone like him again,”
Eiland said.
And it is possible that we have seen the first and last
player elected unanimously to the Hall of Fame. Rivera’s
longtime teammate and “Core Four” member Jeter is
on the ballot for the first time next year and a lock to be
elected in the Hall of Fame class of 2020.
That is in the future. Now, Rivera’s signature pitch is
steering Sabathia toward what the veteran lefty hopes is
a second World Series ring.
Rivera’s No. 42 is retired, but his signature pitch is
alive and well. nCONTINUED FROM PAGE 46“THE POISE HE HAD OUT THERE ON THE MOUND.
NOTHING WAS REALLY FAZING HIM.”
—Yankees reliever Dellin Betances on RiveraMariano
RiveraThe Yankees signed Mariano Rivera
as a 20-year-old out of Panama in
February 1990, and his talent was
obvious at an early stage. He ranked as
New York’s No. 9 prospect heading into
the 1993 season despite having had an
injury-abbreviated 1992 season.
“Rivera has increased the velocity
on his fastball from 87 to 94 mph since
signing, and has excellent command
of three pitches,” founding editor Allan
Simpson wrote in Rivera’s first appear-
ance in the pages of BA.
Rivera’s future came into sharper
focus in 1996, when the Yankees first
considered turning over the closer’s
role to the 26-year-old. Yankees cor-
respondent Jeff Bradley even invoked
the name of a Hall of Fame closer when
writing about Rivera that January.
“As a reliever, Rivera wouldn’t have
to worry about hitters seeing him a
second time,” Bradley wrote. “He also
could exploit his brilliant control in
relief, as Dennis Eckersley does. Like
Eckersley, Rivera is an athletic, two-
pitch pitcher who fields his position
well and holds runners close.”
Time would prove the aptness of
that comparison.
—Matt EddyHOF
FOCUSThe most remarkable aspect of
Rivera’s remarkable career is that he
owes most of his success to his
mastery of one pitch: the cut
fastball. “You would talk to hitters
and they would say, ‘We know it is
coming, but we don’t know what
part of the strike zone,’ ” said former
pitching coach Dave Eiland.2000 SPX/DIAMOND IMAGES; STEPHEN DUNN. ICONS: HALLIDAY BY JOHN LEYBA/THE DENVER POST. MARTINEZ, RIVERA AND MUSSINA BY ALEX TRAUTWIG/MLB PHOTOS. ALL VIA GETTY IMAGES