Mariners Legend Edgar Martinez has Helped Seattle's Hitters to Stay Focused
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When you mention the greatest Mariners of all time, you have a list of some of the greatest stars in history. From Ken Griffey Jr. to Alex Rodriguez to Ichiro Suzuki, the organization has produced a veritable who's-who among the iconic names in the game. One of the names that's certainly on that list is Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez, who played his entire career as a third baseman and designated hitter for Seattle.
From 1987-2004, Martinez produced some amazing achievements. He was a seven-time All-Star and a five-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He finished his career with a lifetime .312 batting average, 309 home runs, and 1261 RBI. His number 11 has been retired by the franchise, and he was rightfully inducted into Cooperstown in 2019.
These days, Martinez serves as the senior director of hitting strategy for manager Dan Wilson, who trusts his former teammate unconditionally. He says that Martinez is often able to see things on the field that many others simply can't.
“Edgar was the first call I made,” Wilson said. “I don’t know of a guy who handles offense better. When you look at Edgar, he was a great hitter, but he also has the ability to explain it -- not just the physicalness, but also the mental approach. It’s all-inclusive.”
Martinez is Invaluable as a Coach
One of the players that Edgar Martinez has worked closely with is Seattle phenom Julio Rodriguez, who says that his Mariners mentor has helped not only him to step up his approach, but all of his teammates, as well.
“We have been able to establish a really good relationship, just talking about life, baseball,” Rodríguez said. “I think he just has so much to offer to young players like me -- and to everybody in the clubhouse.”
While he embraces studying video, and all the new technology that has turned hitting into somewhat of a science project, Martinez says at the end of the day, he wants hitters to rely on their instincts.
“Hitting can get very complicated when we have too many thoughts,” Martinez said. “We perform better when things are simple. The simplest you can do is just see the ball, hit the ball -- you know, what they told us when we were Little Leaguers.”
