Martinez set to join Boricua legends in Cooperstown

By Alexandar Aguilera

Edgar Martinez is going to be a part of a very exclusive club within the already exclusive Baseball Hall of Fame.

Martinez will become just the fifth Puerto Rican to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, which welcomed its first class in 1936.

“I know that people from Puerto Rico, they’re proud of their athletes and their accomplishments,” he said. “It’s a great honor to represent Puerto Rico.”

Martinez, who was born in New York to Puerto Rican parents, moved to the island when he was two to live with his grandmother. He will join fellow Boricuas Roberto Clemente, Orlando Cepeda, Roberto Alomar, and Iván Rodríguez in the Hall of Fame.

The road and wait to the Hall of Fame was a long one for him.Unlike his fellow classmate Mariano Rivera, who was the first player to be unanimously voted in by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, Martinez was voted in his 10th and final year of eligibility on the writers’ ballot.

Fans will remember the former Seattle Mariners great as arguably the best designated hitter the game has ever seen. He was a seven-time All-Star, five-time Silver Slugger Award winner, and a two-time American League batting champion.

While fans may remember his legacy as a baseball player, Boricuas will remember more.

“I wish they can see my example of where I grew up, where I came from and what I’ve been able to achieve,” he said. “And give motivation to young people to pursue their dreams.”

“And believe they can achieve greater things. As a legacy I don’t know. I have never thought about it.”

Martinez has cemented a legacy not only for Puerto Ricans to be proud of, but for all Latinos. Growing up in Dorado, he spoke only Spanish. After overcoming a language barrier that many Latino players face in baseball, he will give his induction speech in English this Sunday in Cooperstown, N.Y.

“It’s been incredible how time goes by and I’m going to be inducted in the Hall of Fame and I’m giving the speech in English,” he said. “If you asked me that 30 years ago that’s not going to happen.”

Martinez’s legacy is bigger than baseball and bigger than the Hall of Fame. Similarly to his fellow Hall of Fame countrymen, Martinez has set an example for Puerto Ricans to follow. Some of that can be seen with today’s Puerto Rican stars.

Martinez has taken notice.

“It’s great to see now there are players from Puerto Rico doing really well,” Martinez said. “They are like superstars.”

Martinez may be joined in the Hall of Fame by more Puerto Ricans in the future with the talent that is on display now. Players like Javier Báez, Francisco Lindor, and José Berríos are just a few names that show that Puerto Rico is in no shortage of stars.

He may not have been a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but Martinez will now forever be cemented as one of the greatest Puerto Ricans to ever play the game of baseball.

Actually, as a Hall of Famer he joins the other four Puerto Ricans among the immortals in baseball history.

Featured Image: Stephen Dunn / Getty Images Sport