Immediate disclaimer: I’m an Edgar Martinez fan. I’m a sucker for the guy. I know he was “only” a designated hitter and that he didn’t contribute as much as others did. I don’t care. The dude belongs in the baseball Hall of Fame. But I do think there should be some new rules about getting into the hall, considering who’s not there right now and should be.

The Edgar watch is officially on after baseball writers tagged Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice as the 2009 inductees into the Hall. In 2010, Martinez is up for election.

I could list a ton of stats here that would give most folks pause in considering the man who is the Mariners’ all-time career leader in 10 incredibly relevant statistics — a .418 on-base percentage; 1,219 runs; 1,631 runs created; 2,247 hits; 3,718 total bases; 514 doubles; 1,283 walks; 838 extra base hits; 77 sacrifice flies and (may favorite) 1,261 RBIs — he’s more than just a bunch of numbers.

He saved baseball in Seattle. His steady hitting and clubhouse demeanor made up for Ken Griffey’s swing-for-the-fences or else batting style, Buhner’s strikeouts, Dan Wilson’s magic disappearing act in the playoffs and the rotating door The M’s had in left field … and third base … and second base … and the bullpen … and the starting rotation behind Randy Johnson …

The 1995 season saved Seattle baseball, and Edgar’s role in that, coupled with outstanding numbers, should be enough.

Fact is, he was one of the best hitters of his generation and not tainted by talk of steroid use. While that may seem like illogical reasoning (we should elect him because he didn’t cheat?), we have to look at those sacred baseball numbers in a new way.

Mark McGwire hit 70 home runs in one year, 65 in the next and 583 overall, putting him eighth overall. In the same era (McGwire, 1986-2001, Martinez 1987-2004), he hit 274 more home runs than Martinez did.

Yet, McGwire gets 21.9-percent of the writers’ votes, thanks to his rumored “involvement” with banned substances.

Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa, both top-10 home run hitters, aren’t far behind.

We have to throw out all those gaudy numbers and look again at what should be the essence of a Hall of Fame inductee.

I propose that the Hall in Cooperstown be open to — and writers elect — players who contributed to the game, for better or worse.

To have an impact on the game, most players need to be great for more than a year. Some are obvious (Mays, Mantle, Ruth, Aaron) and some not as much (Boggs, Gary Carter, Arky Vaughan).

One writer put it this way: Can someone write the story of the game of baseball without this player? If so, how great was he? And if not, why isn’t he in the hall?

Can we write about baseball without Pete Rose? McGwire? Shoeless Joe Jackson? Not in a million years.

But the Hall of Fame is, or should be, all about famous ballplayers, cheaters included. Do we kick out Hall member Ty Cobb for spiking players and getting them injured with his slides into second base? Gaylord Perry for his spitballs? Ban Johnson for excluding black players from entering the American League? Future member George Steinbrenner for his role in the late 1980s collusion scandal?

I don’t think so. Relegate them to a “cheaters” section if you must, but put ‘em in. That includes Rose, Shoeless Joe, Big Mac and others.

Edgar shouldn’t have any of this trouble. His big “problem”: he didn’t play an every day position.

First off, designated hitters do play nearly every day. Martinez traditionally played 130-150 games — at least 132 games in a dozen seasons. Injuries forced him out of four more seasons, yet he still won five silver slugger awards, seven all-star nominations, won the 2004 Roberto Clemente award (rewarding a top player who gives back to his community), twice won batting championships and led the league in on-base percentage three times.

There are a number of pitchers who are resting comfortably in Cooperstown. Consider Rich “Goose” Gossage. Fantastic pitcher. Wonderful pitcher. Should be in the Hall and, in 2008, he rightfully got his calling. Goose pitched in 1,002 games, and in those, he pitched 1,809 and one-third innings. In other words, he worked 1.8 innings per game, or put another way, he faced 5.4 batters per game.

Martinez, on the other hand, played in 2,055 games. If we counted them all as simply from plate appearances, he had 8,672 of those, or 4.2 at-bats per game.

Gossage worked more per game and was rewarded with a Hall ticket. But notice that Martinez played in twice as many games and, frankly, performed almost as well. Gossage was named to nine all-star teams and was effective (all-star caliber) for 11 seasons, Martinez for 12-plus seasons.

And while Gossage was great for those last two innings, Martinez could make an impact in the first inning or the last.

Oh, and Martinez did play a little in the field — to the tune of 591 games at third and first base. That’s more games in the field than Hall of Famers Juan Marichal or Sandy Koufax played in.

As for Rice’s recent selection, we can take a look here:

Stat                Martinez      Rice
Games             2055         2089
At-bats            7213         8225
Bat avg.          .312          .298
OBP                .418          .352
Slg. Pct.          .515          .502
Hits                2247         2452
Doubles           514           373
Home Runs     309           382
RBI                1261        1451
Runs              1219        1249
Walks             1283         670
Stolen bases       49          58
All-star awards    7        8
Silver Slug          5        2
    awards
MVP awards        0        1

Rice was an adequate outfielder and should get recognition for that in this comparison. Martinez was an average third baseman (.946 fielding percentage at third in 563 games) and didn’t play in the field much beyond the 1994 season.

Yes, Rice did play in a different era, an era of less offense and more base-to-base play. But I would argue Martinez holds his own well against someone baseball voters said should be in the hall. In 400 less plate appearances Martinez has a better batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, more doubles and more walks. He has three more silver slugger awards and just one less all-star nod.

Beyond that, consider that Martinez helped lead the Mariners to the playoffs four times.

They hadn’t been to the playoffs before him and haven’t been back since.

Here’s to hoping this Mariner makes it to the hall.

Reach Michael Dashiell at miked@sequimgazette.com.