Edgar Marinez is a Puerto Rican Hall of Fame baseball player who spent his entire 17-year career with the Seattle Mariners. Martinez is known as one of the best hitters of all time and would return to the Mariners organization as the team's hitting coach from 2015-2018. Martinez is a 7x All-Star, 5x Silver Slugger, Roberto Clemente Award winner, and had his number 11 retired by the Mariners. Born in New York, Martinez grew up in Puerto Rico with his grandparents and began playing professionally in Puerto Rico in 1980 before signing with the Mariners in 1982. Early on, he was known for his stellar defense at Third Base before injuries forced him to move to Designated Hitter. Martinez wouldn’t make the All-Star game until he was 29 years old but would go on to make it six more times in his 30s.
Edgar also battled strabismus throughout his career, a condition that made his right eye lose depth perception. He combatted this by performing hour-long eye exercises every day throughout his career. Martinez would go on to retire in 2004 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019 after huge amounts of support piled in from fans and former players, recognizing him as one of the greatest hitters of all time. Martinez also started the Edgar Martínez Endowment for Muscular Dystrophy Research and has spent much of his retirement focusing on charity.
