Top 5 Hall Of Fame: Edgar Martinez

Next Sunday, the Hall of Fame will induct 6 new members into its hallowed halls. In honor of this event, I'm going to do a daily series this week showing off my 5 favorite cards in my collection for each player.

Today, I celebrate arguably the greatest Designated Hitter of all-time, Edgar Martinez (Only David Ortiz can really challenge that, and that's basically a counting stats vs rate stats argument.) Martinez was the definition of a professional hitter, and one of only a handful of players to finish with a batting average over .300, an on-base percentage over .400, and a slugging percentage over .500 - insane! Once again, I present these in chronological order:

1988 Fleer #378 Edgar Martinez (RC)

Edgar's Fleer rookie card is not anything spectacular, but it's simple and the photograph works well with the border. It took Edgar a couple years to really get consistent  playing time, even getting sent back down to the minors for a bit in 1989. He didn't really play a full season until he was 32 - talk about your late bloomers!

1991 Donruss #16 Edgar Martinez (DK)

I've always loved the Diamond Kings subset Donruss would put out, and this is another great Perez-Steele work of art.

1994 Ultra #422 Edgar Martinez

Edgar wasn't necessarily a slouch as a third baseman. His move off the diamond came after a couple of unfortunate injuries. For some reason, I keep focusing on that doughnut-shaped shadow his glove makes on this card. Mmmmm.....doughnuts....

1997 Upper Deck #179 Edgar Martinez

Teal is an underrated color, and I've always liked how Seattle uses it in their uniforms. This card stands out to me because of 6 nearly perfect parallel lines on the bottom half, starting with the teal dugout lining. It's like a baseball card parfait!

2012 Topps - Golden Momemnets 

#GM-11 Edgar Martinez

Of course, Edgar's signature moment is "The Double". It was a beautiful clutch hit that took down every one's favorite nemesis, the Yankees.

Congrats Edgar! Welcome to the Hall of Fame!