11 Days of Edgar: The Batting Titles
Day 1: Seattle Icon
Day 2: Postseason Hero
Day 3: By the Numbers
Day 4: The Yankee Killer
Day 5: The Doubles
Day 6: Defining the DH Position
Day 7: One of the Game’s Greats
Day 8: Community All-Star
Edgar Martinez became the first Mariner to win an American League batting title in 1992 when he led the AL with a .343 batting average. Three seasons later, he became a two-time AL batting champion as he posted a league-leading .356 clip in 1995.
He is one of 10 right-handed batters to win multiple batting titles in the American League. When Edgar claimed his 2nd AL batting crown in 1995, he was the first right-handed batter with 2 batting titles in the AL since Luke Appling won his 2nd batting title for the Chicago White Sox in 1943.
Right-Handed Batters with Multiple AL Batting Titles
Nap Lajoie
Harry Heilmann
Al Simmons
Jimmie Foxx
Joe DiMaggio
Luke Appling
Edgar Martinez
Nomar Garciaparra
Miguel Cabrera*
Jose Altuve*
Hall of Famers in italics
* active players
1992
.343 AVG, 100 runs, 46 doubles, 18 home runs, 73 RBI, .404 OBP, .544 SLG
AL All-Star, AL Silver Slugger (3rd base)
Edgar became the first Mariner to lead the American League in a Triple Crown category (batting, home runs, RBI) in 1992 when his .343 batting average was tops in the AL.
At the time, Edgar’s .343 average was the highest by a right-handed American League batting champion since 1959 when Harvey Kuenn hit an AL-leading .353 for Detroit.
From August 12–31, he recorded his first of two career-best 17-game hitting streaks, batting .443 (31x70) with 15 runs, 12 doubles, 3 home runs and 16 RBI. (Edgar also hit safely in 17 consecutive games from April 22 — May 12, 1997.)
Edgar went hitless in more than 2 consecutive games just once in 1992 (April 11–15).
Despite missing the final 19 games of the season to undergo surgery to have a bone spur removed from his right shoulder, Edgar led the AL with 23 games of 3-plus hits.
He was named AL Player of the Month twice, claiming the award after batting a league-leading .388 in July and after batting safely in 17 straight games in August.
After going 3-for-4 on July 31 at the White Sox, Edgar raised his average to a league-leading .335 mark, ranking ahead of Minnesota’s Kirby Puckett (.329) and the Twins’ Shane Mack (.316). Edgar never trailed in the AL batting race for the rest of the season. Over his final 38 games until being sidelined by the bone spur in his shoulder, Edgar hit .372 with 16 doubles, 3 home runs and 22 RBI.
In addition to leading the AL in batting, Edgar tied for the league-lead in doubles (46) and ranked 2nd in slugging (.544), 4th in on-base percentage (.404), 5th in extra-base hits (67), 7th in hits (181) and tied-for-8th in runs (100). He earned his first of 7 All-Star Game appearances in 1992 as well as his first of 5 Silver Slugger awards.
1995
.356 AVG, 121 runs, 52 doubles, 29 HR, 113 RBI, .479 OBP, .628 SLG
AL All-Star, AL Silver Slugger (Designated Hitter)
Edgar claimed his 2nd AL batting crown in 1995, posting a league-best .356 average.
After battling injuries in 1993 and 1994, Edgar improved his average by 71 points from ’94 (.285) to ’95 (.356).
His .356 average was the highest by a right-handed batting AL batting champion since Joe DiMaggio hit an AL-best .381 in 1939 for the Yankees.
Edgar started each of the Mariners games in 1995, reaching base safely via a hit or a walk in 137-of-145 contests.
From May 23 — June 29, Edgar hit safely in 30-of-36 games, batting at a .401 clip while recording 13 doubles, 9 home runs and 38 RBI.
He was named AL Player of the Month for June after batting .402 with a Major League-leading 32 RBI.
In mid-August, Edgar began a 14-game hitting streak, his longest of the 1995 season. When the streak ended on August 26, Edgar was batting .370.
He went without a hit in back-to-back games just three times all season and never went hitless three games in a row in 1995.
Edgar finished 3rd in the AL Most Valuable Player award voting after leading the league in batting (.356), runs (121), doubles (52) and on-base percentage (.479) while ranking 2nd in hits (182), walks (116) and slugging (.628). He also ranked 4th in RBI (113) while belting a then-career-high 29 home runs.
Edgar’s regular season dominance was a precursor to his success in the postseason. In the 1995 American League Division Series vs. the Yankees, he hit .571 with 6 runs, 3 doubles, 2 home runs, 10 RBI, 6 walks, a .667 OBP and a 1.095 slugging mark. Edgar’s 12 hits in ’95 are a League Division Series record (tied with Ichiro Suzuki, 2001 vs. Cleveland) while his 18 times on base via a hit or walk is the outright leader in League Division Series history.
Edgar Martinez Weekend is set for August 11–13 when the Mariners host the Los Angeles Angels at Safeco Field. The weekend-long celebration begins with Bobblehead Night this Friday, August 11. Edgar joins Ken Griffey Jr. in becoming the 2nd player in franchise history to have his number retired in a pre-game ceremony on Edgar Martinez Number Retirement Night, Saturday, August 12. The festivities conclude with Edgar Martinez Replica Jersey Day this Sunday, August 13.
Tomorrow on 11 Days of Edgar — he is a common thread of the Seattle Mariners organization. One of nine individuals inducted into the Mariners Hall of Fame, Edgar spent 18 Major League seasons with Seattle, the longest career of any player in club history.
