Seattle Mariners legend Edgar Martinez came up just short Wednesday of making it into the 2018 class of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, leaving him with one year of eligibility to be elected to Cooperstown.
Martinez could not surpass the 75 percent threshold required to be elected, receiving 70.4 percent of the vote -- 20 votes short of what he needed.
“I didn’t think this year it was going to happen, especially looking at the (online) tracker for the last week or so,'' said Martinez, who was thankful for the team and fan support. "I didn’t have high expectations. I was fine with it.’’
Because he was a designated hitter for most of his career and did not play the field, it has caused some voters to conclude he is not worthy of the Hall of Fame. But his vote totals have steadily increased in the past two years.
Martinez will only be on the ballot one more time in 2019.
Vladimir Guerrero, Chipper Jones, Jim Thome, and Trevor Hoffman were elected and will be inducted July 29.
Martinez would have joined Ken Griffey Jr. as the only two players to spend most of all of their careers in Seattle to be elected to the Hall of Fame. Both players have their numbers retired by the Mariners.
Edgar Martinez Hall of Fame voting history
2010: 36.2 percent
2011: 32.9 percent
2012: 36.5 percent
2013: 35.9 percent
2014: 25.2 percent
2015: 27.0 percent
2016: 43.4 percent
2017: 58.6 percent
2018: 70.4 percent
USA TODAY's Jorge L. Ortiz contributed to this report.
