Tonight Edgar Martinez will be inducted into the Mariner's Hall of Fame, after the two year required absence. To go along with the street outside Safeco that was named after him when he retired.
Edgar has got to be one of my favorite Mariners of all time. Not only was he a kick-ass baseball player who could hit the ball really, really hard. So hard that, in his final years, he was so slow Ichiro could have rounded the bases in the time it took Edgar to reach first, yet he was still worthy of being the designated hitter. But he also had a cudliness AND a sense of humor about him, that made you just fall in love with him and want to take him home with you.
The best are the commercials that featured Edgar, perhaps one of the worst actors of all time.
You can see all of his Mariners' commercials here. My favorites are "Between at Bats," "Edgar and the Rookies," and "Clapper." They all capture his personality so perfeclty.
And then there are the Eagle Hardware commercials. In which it is proven that Edgar's talents like exclusively in baseball, and not at all in acting. But are still a nice blast from the past.
Edgar also had one of the best chants of any baseball player ever. He didn't even need music, just his name. When all of Safeco Field is chanting "Ed-garrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, Ed-garrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, Ed-garrrrrrrrrrrrrr" it just resonates to the roots of your soul.
Congratulations 'Gar. I won't be at the festivities tonight, but we'll hold a special little ceremony here at the House of Swank.
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