I'm inclined towards number 2, but with your caveat:

So I think the rule of thumb should be that if you are going to put a DH in the Hall of Fame, he should be a truly great hitter.

It's tough, but I think that he should have better raw numbers, he's only got 300 homeruns, which after the 90's (especially in the Kingdome) is small potatoes, 1200 RBI, 2,200 hits. He had a string of six great seasons, but there're plenty of hitters who put together five or six great seasons, but not superb careers. I think he's on the edge, and shouldn't be inducted. One of the hallmarks should be whether he was the best player on his team. And he wasn't.

I think he's a great hitter, but he really doesn't have the whole package that a Hall of Famer should have, especially being a hitter only. I'll probably be ripped to shreds by others, but I stick by it. He didn't play a lot in the field, and he wasn't great for a long period of time.

DH isn't a position, it's a lack of a position. There's never a question as to whether somebody can make the transition to being a DH. If an NL club plays in an AL park, the Mike Piazza type who gets to be a DH has essentially a semi-day off. Even if he were a lousy fielder, he wouldn't have been so well rested.

Anyway, I don't think he should be in the HOF even if we were to count DH as a position. Furthermore, he compares poorly to Frank Thomas in a lot of ways... I did a little comparison a while ago I'll rerun here:

Edgar, career through 2003, followed by Frank Thomas through 2003:
BA/OBP/SLG/OPS
EM: .315/.423/.525/.948
FT: .310/.428/.568/.996
AB/H/2B/HR/RBI/BB
EM: 6727/2119/491/297/1198/1225
FT: 6611/2048/428/418/1390/1386
Games in the field: EM: 591 FT: 967
Games at DH: EM: 1290 FT: 867

# of times led league/# of times in top 10:
MVP: EM: 0/2 FT: 2/8
BA: EM: 2/7 FT: 1/7
OBP: EM: 3/11 FT: 4/8
SLG: EM: 0/6 FT: 1/9
OPS: EM: 1/8 FT: 4/9
H: EM: 0/3 FT: 0/5
2B: EM: 2/5 FT: 1/3
HR: EM: 0/1 FT: 0/8
RBI: EM: 1/3 FT: 0/8
BB: EM: 0/8 FT: 4/11

Thomas walks more, slugs a lot more home runs, and played in the field for more years before becoming a permanent DH.

Martinez has had a great career, but there are a lot of guys with great careers who don't deserve to be in the HOF. HOF is the greatest of the great, and Martinez isn't there.

Adam

As great as Edgar's career has been, I have to pile on with Adam and Chris. Especially if you take into account that the bulk of Edgar's best seasons were played in the bandbox also known as the Kingdome, his raw figures just don't stack up. Imagine if he'd played a serviceable 1st base or left field his entire career...he just wouldn't make it.

Honestly, I think that DH's as a rule shouldn't be excluded from the hall, but rather that their lack of defensive position should simply require even greater contribution with the bat. The fact that no player has yet to meet the qualifications shouldn't make it any easier on Edgar.

He's the greatest DH ever. He's what a DH should be. If there is a DH in the Hall of Fame, Edgar should be the one.

If a DH goes into the Hall, it should be Frank Thomas and not Edgar. I can't understand why this would not be so, unless you are talking with a Mariners fan. :) Frank Thomas has been one of the greatest pure hitters in the last decade.

Yeah. I'm not even convinced Thomas belongs in the Hall., but he's got a much better case than Martinez.

Well, here's you Mariners fan input. Edgar is in. If relief pitchers can be in, than a DH can be too. At most, a reliever pitches 100 innings. Say he's great, so he's got a WHIP around 1.15 for his career. That's 415 batters faced per season, approximately. If a hitter had 415 plate appearances, he wouldn't even qualify for the batting title. A full-time DH is involved in a greater part of the season's outcome than any reliever. Molitor's already in, Thomas will be, and Edgar should too. Just ask any of your favorite team's pitchers.

No. A relief pitcher at least performs a specialized task. DHes are characterized only by the fact that they _don't_ do something all the other guys do. Most people, then, think that the bar should be raised for a DH to get in on his batting stats. Some will say that it shouldn't matter; I disagree but okay. But nobody can argue that the standard should be _lower_ for a DH than it is for a first baseman or an outfielder. But just look at his stats--- they simply do not measure up, even if he did play in the field. Not in the various percentage stats, not in the cumulative stats, and not especially not in appearances on year-end leaderboards, since he's played in an era of increased offense.

Here's the Baseball Reference rundown on his career:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/martied01.shtml

Take a look at the similar players to him, careerwise, agewise, etc. Lots of good players in there. Very few HOFers. Where are you going to set the bar for the Hall of Fame? If you say he's reached that standard, than you're going to have to double or triple the membership of the Hall. Edgar Martinez is a very good player with a very good career, a team leader, and an all-around great guy. But he does not match up to Hall of Fame statistics.

Who carers if he was a DH...2200 hits ain't going to get him in...or even close. Molitor got in as a DH the last third of his career, but he had 1000 more hits than Edgar will. The HOF is for the best, not good, solid players.

Agreed that he doesn't belong, not because he's a DH but because his career is worth remembering as being just short of a hall of fame career.

He doesn't pass the test of having the numbers, nor being considered "dominant" at any particular time. Great player, but not HOF great.

As I just posted on another web site, Edgar's lack of home runs is a result of his unselfish play. He was the epitome of the unselfish player. He could have swung for the fences everytime he came up to bat. That would have allowed him to average 5, 10, even 15 more HRs per season. However, he chose to do whatever it took to advance his team mates and drive in runs. That means popping sac. flies, or spraying well placed grounders to drive in runs. Remember, he led the AL in RBIs the year that the Mariners won 116 games. What better illustration could there be of the correctness of his team first approach? Don't deny him his place in the Hall just because of some set of numbers. MLB just determined that his career achievements warrented naming the annual DH award the Edgar Martinez award. If the powers that be in MLB have seen fit to forever recognize his achievements, then how can anyone argue against his greatness?