Edgar Martinez won the award for best designated hitter in baseball so many times that they named the award after him. He has a lifetime .312 batting average, .993 OPS and .515 slugging percentage. If you are not a fan of baseball you should know that those numbers are amazing. My wife is not the biggest baseball fan, but when Edgar was playing she thought he was ridiculously handsome as well. This was great for me because I could get her to watch games. This was not so great for me because I look nothing like a curly haired Puerto Rican.
Edgar came into the league in 1982 as a third baseman for the Mariners. Wearing number 11 his entire career, Mr. Martinez hitting ability quickly began to surface as his greatest asset. He became a full time DH. In other words, he hit for a living.
In 1973 the American League introduced the position of designated hitter into professional baseball. The idea is that the pitcher does not have to hit and an extra player on the team can contribute offensively. The cool thing about the position is that is doesn't dismiss the bottom of the batting order during a rally. For example, if you have a couple guys on base and the pitcher is due up, you don't have to kill your rally. Pitchers average a .115 batting average nationally. This means they usually cant hit worth a hill of beans. Managers love the DH because it opens up all kinds of ways to put the game in motion in the bottom of the batting order. Of course, I am a Mariner fan and in 2012 we carried four starters that hit under .200. Just saying.
Why am I telling you all of this. Edgar Martinez is on the ballot for entrance into the Hall of Fame this year. The controversy is that many baseball purist feel the "designated hitter position" does not make one worthy of entrance into the hall. Having receive the Roberto Clemente Award in 2004 for outstanding service on and off the field, I am not sure how Edgar could be more qualified. Are we going to deny David Ortiz entrance as well? Here is what I am getting at.
When you take a job, you are usually asked to do the best you can. Is there anyone alive who's job stays exactly the same their entire career? Usually multiple additional tasks are asked of them and success is determined by their ability to adapt and overcome challenges. From a McDonald's fry guy to a professional athlete, your role at work will change.
It is in how we deal with change and how we rise to the occasion that defines us. Edgar Martinez redefined a position in the great game of baseball. When it was determined that he would no longer be a starting third baseman, the position that Martinez loved and had played his entire career, he took to the batting cages. Edgar would write words on tennis balls and load them into a pitching machine. As the balls flew by him at 100 mph he would read the words. That is intense. It is also the self-discipline of wanting to become the best at what the game of baseball had offered him...well into his 40's.
No matter how our jobs have been redefined, lets make the best of them today. Look at the differences in your work place from say five years ago. How have you changed? How has your job changed? How will you change your approach to your job? Oh, and, get out their and vote Edgar into the hall. If their is one man that has exemplified the human spirit and the will to overcome, its him.
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