Edgar Martinez's last major league at-bat came on Oct. 4, 2004, but he's taken a good hack at election into the National Baseball Hall of Fame this year. Just days before this year's class of inductees is introduced, Martinez is on the cusp of Cooperstown.
The Baseball Writers Association of America will announce the 2018 inductees Wednesday at 3 p.m. Pacific on MLB Network. Martinez, 55, has been named on 162 of the 203 ballots tallied by vote-tracker extraordinaire Ryan Thibodaux as of Monday afternoon. Martinez, a seven-time All-Star is in his eighth year of Hall-of-Fame eligibility (out of 10), needs to be on 75 percent of the ballots for election, but only about half have been cast thus far.