MLB Top 5: Seattle Mariners First and Third Basemen and DHs

By Kevin Rakas

This is the second article in a series that looks at the five best players at each position for the Seattle Mariners. In this installment are first and third basemen and designated hitters.

While the Seattle Mariners have yet to win their first pennant, the team boasts several star players, especially at the corner infield spots. First base features plenty of timely hitters and slick fielders, including a popular star nicknamed “Mr. Mariner.” Third base is led by a pair of productive sluggers, including a recent Hall of Famer who is a little touchy about his hair. Finally, the top designated hitter is an all-time franchise great and one of the two greatest players at the position.

The best First and Third Basemen and Designated Hitters in Seattle Mariners History

First Basemen

Honorable Mentions – Dan Meyer was an Ohio native who was drafted by the Tigers in 1972 and spent three seasons in Detroit, moving from left field to first base. He was selected by the Mariners in the expansion draft and spent the next five seasons in Seattle (1977-81). He enjoyed a career year in his first seasons, batting .273 and setting personal bests with 75 runs, 159 hits, 22 home runs, 90 RBIs (including the first in team history) and 257 total bases. Meyer alternated between third base and left field in his final three years with the Mariners, posting a .278-20-74 stat line while playing the “hot corner” in 1979. He was traded to Oakland two years later, finishing his time in Seattle with a .265 average, 267 runs, 618 hits, 19 triples (tied for eighth in franchise history), 64 homers, 313 RBIs and 946 total bases in 655 games. Meyer played his last four years with the Athletics. Following his 1985 release, he ran a restaurant, worked for AT&T and became a private hitting coach in California.

Pete O’Brien had the unenviable task of following “Mr. Mariner” when he was the first free agent signed by the team’s new ownership in 1990. He had been a productive player throughout his seven-year run in Texas, producing three straight years with at least 20 home runs and 150 hits. O’Brien’s numbers dropped slightly during a season in Cleveland and continued the trend with Seattle. His best season was 1991, when the hit 17 home runs, drove in 88 runs and won a fielding title, but he lost playing time to other young stars on these lists and was released in 1993.

Like O’Brien, Paul Sorrento came to the Mariners after playing with the Indians. The former Florida State star was drafted by California and played in the World Series with Cleveland in 1995 (beating Seattle in the ALCS before losing to Florida). He joined the Mariners the following year and set career highs with a .289 average, 136 hits, 32 doubles and 93 RBIs to go with 23 home runs. Sorrento was a key piece of a playoff team in 1997, hitting a personal-best 31 homers and driving in 80 runs for Seattle. He added two runs and three hits, including a home run in four postseason contests, but the Mariners fell to the Orioles in the Division Series. Sorrento signed with the expansion Devil Rays in 1998 and played his final two seasons in Tampa. After one more minor league season, he retired and did not surface in the baseball world for more than a decade. Sorrento began his coaching career working for the Angels as a minor league hitting coach and coordinator before joining the big-league club as an assistant hitting coach. He was named to the team’s player development staff in 2023.

Richie Sexson was an Oregon native who began his career in Cleveland and had his best years in Milwaukee before joining Seattle. He drove in more than 100 runs and earned two All-Star selections with the Brewers, including his career year in 2003, when he hit 45 home runs and drove in 124 runs. Sexson was traded to the Diamondbacks the following year but missed most of the campaign with a shoulder injury suffered on a check swing. He signed with the Mariners and showed he was fully healthy, hitting 39 homers, driving in 121 runs and setting a career high with 99 runs scored while also leading the American League with 167 strikeouts and topping all first basemen in assists. Sexson continued his stellar play the following season with a .264-34-107 stat line and a personal-best 40 doubles. After that, his batting average and production dropped rapidly, and he was released during the 2008 season. The slugger finishing his four-year run in Seattle (2005-08) with 249 runs, 474 hits, 105 doubles, 105 home runs and 321 RBIs in 509 games, and his .474 slugging percentage ranks eighth in franchise. Sexson finished the year with the Yankees and since has been a high school coach in his home state and was a manager of the Windy City ThunderBolts in the independent Frontier League in 2023.

5. Ty France – The 2015 Padres draft pick made his debut four years with San Diego before being traded to Seattle during the COVID-shortened 2020 season. While France played three infield positions, first base became his home, and he settled in nicely with Seattle, hitting .291 with 18 home runs and 73 RBIs and setting career highs with 85 runs and 166 hits in his first season. The following year, he earned his only All-Star selection to date after posting personal bests with 20 homers and 83 RBIs. France continued his solid play in 2023, driving in 58 runs, tying a career high with 32 doubles and leading the league in times hit by a pitch (34) for the second time in three years. He set the franchise record in that category in June 2024 but was traded to the Reds the following month. The 2023 fielding champion finished his time in Seattle with a .266 average, 267 runs, 557 hits, 110 doubles, 60 home runs, 258 RBIs and 853 total bases in 561 games, and he is the active leader in fielding percentage among first basemen.

4. Bruce Bochte – The Pasadena native was drafted by the Angels in the second round in 1972 and made his debut two years later. Bochte was productive in California and Cleveland but improved with more playing time once he signed with Seattle in 1978. After a year in the outfield, he moved to first base and earned the only All-Star selection of his 12-year career (driving in a run for the American League in his home stadium) after setting career highs with a .316 average, 81 runs, 175 hits, 38 doubles, 16 home runs and 100 RBIs. Bochte had two more solid seasons, including one in left field, but got burned out and retired for a year in 1983. He returned and played his final three years in Oakland, finishing his five-year run in Seattle (ranked eighth in franchise history in on-base percentage (.370) and ninth in average (.290) to go with 298 runs, 697 hits, 134 doubles, 58 homers, 329 RBIs and 1,031 total bases in 681 games. After his final season in 1986, he moved away from baseball and has focused on cosmology and environmental conservation.

3. Tino Martinez – He was born in Tampa and was a three-time All-American when he was drafted by the Mariners in the first round in 1988. After playing behind O’Brien his first two years, Martinez took over as a starter in 1992 and blossomed under another Tampa native in manager Lou Piniella. He had three straight solid seasons before exploding in 2005 with a .293 average, 31 home runs, 111 RBIs and 92 runs to earn his first All-Star selection and lead Seattle to its first postseason appearance. In the one-game playoff, he drove in a run and scored two against the Angels, then amassed five runs, 12 hits, one home run and five RBIs in 11 games against the Yankees and Indians. Martinez turned the old “if you can’t beat them, join them” saying on its head, when he was traded to New York after the season. He finished his six-year tenure with the Mariners (1990-95) with a .265 average, 251 runs, 502 hits, 106 doubles, 88 homers, 312 RBIs and 884 total bases in 543 games, and he is tied for tenth in franchise history with a .466 slugging percentage.

“Bamtino” got over the hump with the Yankees, winning four World Series titles in five years. He had his best season in 1997, when he was named an All-Star for the second and final time, won the Home Run Derby, earned a silver slugger and finished as the MVP runner-up (behind former teammate Ken Griffey Jr.) after setting career highs with a .296 average, 44 home runs, 141 RBIs and 176 hits. Martinez stayed with New York through 2001, then spent two years in St. Louis and one with Tampa Bay before returning for a final season with the Yankees in 2005, retiring with 339 home runs in 16 years. He worked for the team as an instructor and broadcaster, then had a much-maligned tenure as hitting coach with the Marlins in 2013. Lately, Martinez has worked as a real estate agent in the Tampa area and was an assistant coach for a team in the Cape Cod Baseball League.

2. John Olerud – The Seattle native was playing for Washington State when he collapsed while running indoors on campus. X-rays revealed a brain aneurysm which required surgery that removed part of his skull and led to Olerud wearing a helmet in the field throughout his career. He was drafted by the Blue Jays in 1989 and made the team in Toronto without ever playing in the minor leagues. Olerud spent eight seasons with the Blue Jays, starting on back-to-back championship teams and finishing third in the MVP voting in 1993 after winning a batting title with a .363 average, leading the league with 54 doubles and setting career highs with 109 runs, 200 hits, 24 home runs and 107 runs batted in. He was traded to the Mets after the 1997 season and was part of the “Best Defensive Infield in Major League History” that reached the NLCS in 1999.

Olerud joined his hometown Mariners the following year, smacking 45 doubles (sixth-most in team history), driving in 103 runs and winning the first of three gold gloves. He earned his second All-Star selection in 2001, posting a .302-21-95 stat line and helping Seattle tie the major league record with 116 victories. Olerud had two more solid seasons with the Mariners, but his stats were declining. He batted just .245 in 78 games in 2005 before he was released, finishing his five-year run in Seattle (2000-05) with a .285 average, 353 runs, 709 hits, 164 doubles, 72 home runs, 405 RBIs and 1,093 total bases in 702 games. Olerud ranked third in franchise history in on-base percentage (.388) and fourth in walks (418), won two fielding titles and led American League first basemen in assists three times. He was solid after signing with the Yankees but suffered a torn ligament in his foot during the playoffs. Olerud spent his final season with the Red Sox, playing his first three minor league games on a rehab assignment. The 1993 Hutch Award winner was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007 and the award for best two-way player in college baseball is named after him. However, he received just four votes for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011 (Tino Martinez received six) and dropped off the ballot.

1. Alvin Davis – The Southern California native was the son of an Air Force sergeant during World War II and a player on a women’s travelling baseball team. Davis played at Arizona State and was drafted by the Mariners in 1982. Two years later, he joined the big-league club out of spring training, making the All-Star team and winning the Rookie of the Year Award (edging out teammate Mark Langston) after batting .284 with 80 runs, 161 hits, 27 home runs and a career-high 116 RBIs. Two more solid seasons followed, then he had arguably his best season in 1987. After dealing with an eye issue with a new type of contact lens, Davis batted .295 with 100 RBIs and set career highs with 86 runs, 171 hits and 29 homers for a team that won 77 games, the most in franchise history to that point.

While the Mariners struggled with performance and dealt with low payroll and the potential sale of the team Davis was such a fan favorite that he was given the nickname “Mr. Mariner.” He put together three more solid seasons, including 1989, when he scored 84 runs and posted career-best totals with a .305 average, 101 walks and a .424 on-base percentage. When O’Brien joined Seattle, Davis moved to the designated hitter spot for his final two seasons in the Pacific Northwest. He signed with the Angeles in 1992, finishing his eight-year Mariners career (1984-91) as the team leader in many offensive categories. Davis now ranks fourth in franchise history in walks (672), fifth in RBIs (667) and on-base percentage (.381), sixth in hits (1,163) and total bases (1,875) and seventh in games (1,166), runs (563), doubles (212) and home runs (160) to go with a .281 average. He was released in midseason and played the other half of the campaign in Japan with the Osaka Kinetsu Buffaloes. Davis was a high school coach, served as a financial counselor an elder in his church and a special assistant for player development with Seattle. He was the first inductee into the Mariners Hall of Fame in 1997.

Third Basemen

Honorable Mentions –Michigan native Bill Stein was known for his versatility during a 14-year career spent with four teams. He was drafted by the Cardinals and had two brief callups with St. Louis. Stein played three seasons with the White Sox, getting his first taste of starting when he was Chicago’s second baseman in 1976. The Mariners selected him with their third pick in the expansion draft, and he had a career season for the first-year team, batting .259 and posting personal bests with 53 runs, 144 hits, 26 doubles, 13 home runs and 67 RBIs. The rest of his seasons with Seattle were injury-plagued, and he finished his four-year run (1977-80) with a .259 average, 138 runs, 364 hits, 29 homers and 158 RBIs in 420 games. Stein became a solid pinch hitter with the Rangers, batting .285 over his final five seasons. The 1977 putouts leader coached a high school team in Florida, the was a minor league manager with the Mets and Giants and ended his career with an independent team in Texas.

Mike Blowers was originally drafted by the Expos in 1986 and was traded to the Yankees three years later. He played 76 games in three seasons with New York and was traded to Seattle, where he was a part of two memorable Mariners teams. Blowers batted .280 with 14 home runs in 1993, when Seattle posted its second winning season. Two years later, he set career highs with 23 homers and 96 RBIs for the first Mariners playoff team, then totaled seven hits and hit another home run in 11 postseason games. Blowers spent six seasons in Seattle in three stints (1992-95, ’97 and ’99), playing with the Dodgers and Athletics in between. He batted .270 with 182 runs, 366 hits, 55 home runs, and 231 RBIs in 464 games with the Mariners. Blowers has been a television analyst for the team for the past 16 seasons.

Russ Davis was another former Yankee who had his best years in Seattle. The Alabama native was drafted by New York in 1988 but eventually got squeezed out of a roster spot by veteran players and was traded to Seattle in the deal for Tino Martinez. Davis missed most of 1996 with a broken leg but rebounded to hit at least 20 home runs in each of the next three seasons. The best of those campaigns was 1998, when he posted hit exactly 20 and set career highs with 68 runs, 130 hits and 82 RBIs (although he also led the American League with 34 errors). Davis signed with the Giants in 2000 and spent his final two years as a reserve. He finished his four-year run in Seattle (1996-99) with 204 runs, 389 hits, 66 homers and 222 RBIs in 435 games.

5. Eugenio Suarez – The Venezuelan-born slugger signed with the Tigers in 2008 and made his debut in Detroit six years later. Suarez became a star after being traded to the Reds the following season, topping the 20-homer mark five times in seven years. He was an All-Star in 2018 after posting a .283-34-104 stat line and had even better numbers the following year, batting .271 with 103 RBIs and setting career highs with 87 runs, 156 hits and 49 home runs. Suarez saw his average plummet over the next two seasons and was traded to the Mariners. His average rebounded a bit, and his power was there (53 home runs in his two years with Seattle), but he set the team’s single season strikeout record twice, first with 196 in 2022 and then 214 the following year. Suarez continued his trend of big power and big strikeouts following a trade to the Diamondbacks in 2024.

4. Edgar Martinez – He was born in New York City but spent most of his childhood with his grandparents in Puerto Rico, watching the great Roberto Clemente play and learning baseball alongside his cousin, future Padres outfielder Carmelo Martinez. Edgar signed with the Mariners at age 20 and made his debut four years later at third base. He took over as the starter at third base in 1990 and batted .300 or better in the next three years. Martinez had his best year at the position in 1992, earning his first All-Star selection and silver slugger, winning the batting title with a .343 average and totaling 100 runs, 181 hits, 18 home runs, 73 RBIs, a career-high 14 stolen bases and a league-leading 46 doubles. He tore a muscle above his left knee in an exhibition game the following year, costing him about three-quarters of the season. A wrist injury after being hit by a pitch in the first game of the 1994 campaign added to his time on the disabled list and was the catalyst for a career-altering position change. Martinez played eight seasons at third base (1987-94), batting .303 with 362 runs, 686 hits, 152 doubles, 62 homers, 268 RBIs and 1,042 total bases in 652 games. Those numbers would make for a solid career, but the best was yet to come (see below).

3. Jim Presley – The fourth-round pick in 1979 converted from shortstop to third base during his five years in the minor leagues. Presley posted a .275-28-84 stat line in 1985, but he had his best season the following year. He started the year off splendidly, hitting a game-tying two-run home run against the Angels in the ninth inning and smashing a game-winning grand slam in the following frame, becoming the first player since 1920 to hit a game-tying homer in the ninth and a game-winner in extra innings on Opening Day. Presley ended up earning his lone All-Star selection in 1986, finishing with a .265 average and 27 home runs while setting career highs with 83 runs, 163 hits and 107 RBIs. He continued his productive hitting in 1987, topping 20 homers and 80 RBIs for a third straight season before his numbers began to tail off. The Mariners traded Presley to the Braves in 1990, finishing his six seasons in Seattle (1984-89) with a .250 average, 351 runs, 736 hits, 147 doubles, 115 home runs, 418 RBIs and 713 strikeouts (eighth in franchise history) in 799 games. He spent one season each with Atlanta and San Diego, then worked as a manager for an independent team in Montana and as a hitting coach for the Diamondbacks, Marlins, Orioles and Rangers.

2. Adrian Beltre – A native of the Dominican Republic, he signed with the Dodgers at age 15 in 1995 (he presented documents that listed him as a year older, a fact that brought a $50,000 fine to the team once it came to light). Beltre improved each season with Los Angeles, including 2000, when he suffered a ruptured appendix that required a recovery time of several months. Despite being snubbed for the All-Star team, he had arguably his best season in 2004, finishing second to Barry Bonds in the MVP voting after setting career highs with a .334 average, 104 runs, 200 hits, 48 home runs (which also led the National League) and 121 RBIs. Beltre turned his performance into a five-year free agent deal with the Mariners, then came back to earth, with his average dropping well below .300 despite him hitting at least 25 home runs in three straight years.

Nicknamed “El Koja” (given to him by his uncle, which was a shortened Spanish version of Kojak, a baldheaded television detective from the 1970s), Beltre combined solid but unspectacular hitting and stellar fielding for a Seattle team that did not come close to making the playoffs. In five seasons with the Mariners (2005-09), he batted .266 with 372 runs, 751 hits, 172 doubles, 103 home runs, 396 RBIs and 1,248 total bases in 715 games to go with two gold gloves. His final season in Seattle was a painful one, with Beltre having surgery to remove a bone spur from his non-throwing shoulder in late June and rupturing a testicle after taking a ground ball to the groin in mid-August. Despite the injuries, he became a clubhouse leader and began to show others how much he enjoyed the game.

Beltre joined the Red Sox in 2010 and led the league with 49 doubles, then spent the final eight seasons of his storied career with the Rangers, topping 160 hits five times and 30 home runs four times while driving in at least 100 runs on three occasions. He smashed a double against the Orioles in late July 2017 for his 3,000th hit, and his total of 3,166 is the most by any player who spent his full career as a third baseman. White with Texas, Beltre also got to bat in the postseason, hitting three home runs against Tampa Bay in the 2011 Division Series and two more against St. Louis in the World Series, which the Cardinals won in seven games. He retired after the 2018 season, ending his 21-year career with 1,524 runs, 636 doubles, 477 home runs and 1,707 RBIs. No matter what the accolade, whether four All-Star selections, five gold and two platinum gloves or four silver sluggers, Beltre may be best known for his aversion to people touching his head, which has generated many attempts to do so through the years. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2024 and later served as the manager of the American League team in the MLB All-Star Futures Game.

1. Kyle Seager – The North Carolina native was the oldest of three brothers who were all drafted into the major leagues (Corey was a first-round pick of the Dodgers in 2012 and has had a stellar 10-year career that included a title with the Rangers in 2023, while Justin was drafted by the Mariners in 2013 and played five minor league seasons). Kyle was taken by Seattle in the third round in 2009 and joined the big-league club two years later. The following year, he began a run of eight straight seasons and nine out of 10 in which he hit at least 20 home runs (the only time he failed to reach the mark was during the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign).

Seager posted a .268-25-96 stat line in 2014, helping him earn the only All-Star selection and gold glove of his 11-year career (2011-21) while also led to him signing a seven-year, $100 million extension with the Mariners. His best season came in 2015, when he hit 30 home runs, drove in 99 runs and set career highs with a .278 average, 89 runs and 166 hits. Seager had a stellar game in early June, going 3-for-5 with two runs and five RBIs to help Seattle come back from a 12-2 deficit to defeat San Diego, 16-13. Although he continued to produce, his average dropped, and he suffered a hand injury that cost him nearly two months in 2019.

While he hit a career-low .212 in 2021, Seager set personal bests with 35 home runs and 101 RBIs and led the league in both assists and double plays by a third baseman. He retired after the season to spend more time with his family. Seager batted .251 in his career and ranks third in franchise history in doubles (309) and strikeouts (1,120), fourth in games (1,480), hits (1,395), home runs (242), RBIs (807) and total bases (2,458) and fifth in runs (705) and walks (533). Seager never appeared in the postseason with the Mariners, as the team missed the playoffs by three games or fewer on four occasions during his tenure. The 2014 fielding champion led American League third basemen in assists five times, double plays four times and putouts twice.

Designated Hitters

3. Ken Phelps – He was one of those players in which you pretty much knew his at-bat would end in one of three ways: home run, strikeout or walk. The Seattle native was a Royals draft pick who was traded to the Expos before joining his hometown team in 1983. He started as a first baseman but moved to designated hitter after Davis came into the fold the following year. Although he was part of a platoon in which he mostly faced right-handed pitchers, “Digger” found his niche at the A. L.-only position, hitting at least 20 home runs four times, the first three as a full-time member of the Mariners and the final time when he split between two teams.

Phelps was traded to the Yankees during the 1988 season for outfielder Jay Buhner (more on him in another article), finishing his six-year career in Seattle (1983-88) ranked second in on-base percentage (.392) and fourth in slugging percentage (.521) to go with 254 runs, 349 hits, 105 home runs and 255 RBIs in 529 games. He won a championship with the Athletics and hit the final homer of his career the following year, spoiling a perfect game attempt by Mariners starter Brian Holman with two outs in the ninth inning of an April game. Phelps has been a radio color commentator for the Diamondbacks and has worked for Arizona Public Services, working on programs that have had a positive impact on children.

2. Nelson Cruz –He played four eight teams during a 19-year major league career and was a feared power hitting at most of those stops. The native of the Dominican Republic was originally signed by the Mets but was traded to the Brewers after the 2004 season. Cruz was sent to the Rangers after one year and started showing the production he became known for while in the Lone Star State. He bashed 20 or more home runs five times with Texas, earned two All-Star selections and was the MVP of the 2011 ALCS after hitting six home runs and driving in 13 runs against the Tigers. However, Cruz ended his time in Texas with a scandal. In 2013, he was suspended 50 games for receiving performance-enhancing drugs from the Biogenesis clinic.

After a year with the Orioles in which he led the league with 40 home runs, Cruz signed with the Mariners in 2015. He earned three All-Star selections in four seasons in Seattle (2015-18), amassing at least 35 home runs and 95 RBIs each year, posting three straight campaigns with 90 runs and 160 hits, won two silver sluggers, hitting a career-high 44 home runs in 2015 and leading the league with a personal-best 119 RBIs two years later. During that season, Cruz also hit his 300th career homer in 2017 and won the Edgar Martinez Award for best designated hitter. He took home the honor two years later as a member of the Twins and won the Roberto Clemente Award in 2021. Following stints with the Rays, Nationals and Padres, Cruz retired after signing a one-day contract with the Mariners, finishing with 464 home runs and 1,325 RBIs. The four-time World Baseball Classic participant world with Major League Baseball as a special advisor for baseball operations in Latin America and coached the American League team (with Beltre) at the 2024 MLB All-Star Futures Game.

1. Edgar Martinez – He was a solid third baseman until a pair of injuries (a torn muscle in his leg in 1993 and a wrist injury after being hit by a pitch the following year) put his effectiveness as a player in jeopardy. Some players would try to stick it out at the “hot corner,” put together a few more solid seasons until their production declines and their careers quietly come to an end. Martinez chose to become a full-time designated hitter in 1995, putting up his best season in the process. He earned his second All-Star selection and silver slugger, won his second batting title with a .356 average (third in team history), led the league and set a team record in on-base percentage (.479) for the first of three times in his career, topped the A. L. with 121 runs and 52 doubles, set a career high with 182 hits, blasted 29 home runs and amassed 113 RBIs. Despite playing just seven games in the field, Martinez finished third in the MVP voting (the best finish in his career) and won his first of five Outstanding Designated Hitter Awards in seven years.

Martinez continued his hot streak in the playoffs, torching the Yankees for six runs, 12 hits, three doubles, two homers and 10 RBIs in a five-game victory in the Division Series (most notably, he drove in seven runs in Game 4 and hit a winning two-run double in the deciding game), then went ice cold in the ALCS, batting .087 (2-for-23) against the Indians. The following year, the designated hitter set a franchise record with 123 walks, and he reached the century mark in that category four times in his career. Over the next decade, he was named an All-Star six times and earned four silver sluggers. Statistically, Martinez was at the top of his game, hitting at least 20 home runs eight times, batting .300 or better and amassing at least 30 doubles in seven straight seasons, posting 160 or more hits and at least 100 RBIs six times each and scoring at least 100 runs on four occasions. In 2000, he overcame an eye disorder to bat .324 with 100 runs, 180 hits and set career highs with 37 home runs and a league-best 145 RBIs (which is the third-best total in team history). Martinez had solid performances against the White Sox and Yankees in the playoffs, but again, the Mariners fell in the ALCS. Seattle tied a major league record with 116 wins in 2001, and Martinez played a big part, posting a .306-23-116 stat line. For the fourth time in his career, he hit two home runs in a playoff season (both against the Indians in the Division Series), but the promising campaign ended with a disappointing loss to New York once again.

Martinez missed nearly half of the following year with a ruptured hamstring, but he rebounded in 2003 to hit 24 homers and drive in 98 runs. His production fell off the next season, and he retired after winning the Roberto Clemente Award, given to a player for both stellar play and community service and named after the player who inspired him to pick up the game all those years before. He was such a beloved presence in the game for fans, fellow players, coaches and the press that the award given to the league’s best designated hitter was renamed in his honor after his final game. Martinez finished his 18-year career (1987-2004) as the all-time franchise leader in games (2,055), runs (1,219), doubles (514), RBIs (1,261), total bases (3,718), on-base percentage (.418) and walks (1,283). He ranks second in batting average (.312), hits (2,247) home runs (309) and strikeouts (1,202) and fifth in slugging percentage (.515). He added 16 runs, 34 huts, seven doubles, eight homers and 24 RBIs in 34 postseason contests. Following his retirement, he ran a merchandising agency and had been involved with more than a dozen charities, especially those working with children. Martinez has been with the Mariners as a hitting coach and advisor since 2015 and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his tenth and final year on the writer’s ballot in 2019.

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