WHEREAS, Edgar Martinez was born in New York City on January 2, 1963, grew up playing baseball with his brother and neighborhood friends in Dorado, Puerto Rico, and attended American College in Puerto Rico; and
     WHEREAS, Edgar Martinez was nineteen years old when he signed with the Seattle Mariners as an amateur free agent on September 12, 1982; and
     WHEREAS, When Edgar Martinez was a skinny twenty-year-old with the Mariners' Class A team in Bellingham in 1983, he hit only .173 and was better known for his glove than his bat; and
     WHEREAS, Edgar Martinez endured several more seasons in the minors before he made his major league debut in 1987, ironically as a pinch runner; and
     WHEREAS, Edgar's first big-league hit was a triple, proving to newer Mariners' fans that he was a fast baserunner early in his Seattle career; and
     WHEREAS, Edgar Martinez became Seattle's everyday third baseman in 1990 and responded by hitting .302 that season and .307 in 1991; and
     WHEREAS, Edgar Martinez made his American League All-Star debut in 1992, a season in which he was crowned American League batting champion with a .343 average; and
     WHEREAS, A severely pulled hamstring in a 1993 preseason exhibition game in Vancouver, B.C., caused Edgar to miss most of that season and forced him to transform himself from an able third baseman into the greatest designated hitter in history; and
     WHEREAS, Edgar Martinez helped keep baseball alive in Seattle in 1995 by delivering arguably the biggest hit in Mariners' history, a game-winning double ripped down the left-field line in the bottom of the eleventh inning of the fifth and final game of the American League Divisional Series against the New York Yankees, knocking in Joey Cora and Ken Griffey, Jr. and resulting in the most enduring image and defining moment in Mariners' history, as teammates mobbed Junior at the plate after he slid home with the series-winning run while a sold-out Kingdome crowd roared with joy; and
     WHEREAS, Edgar Martinez was a one-man wrecking crew in that fabled playoff series against the Yankees, as he drove in a major league record seven postseason runs to almost single-handedly rally the Mariners from a two-games-to-zero deficit against the Yankees; and
     WHEREAS, Edgar Martinez became a fan favorite throughout the Northwest and a team icon as a result of his loyalty and dedication to the Mariners and the Northwest, his quiet team leadership, his friendly, pleasant demeanor, his powerful bat, and his funny TV ads for the Mariners and Eagle Hardware; and
     WHEREAS, Mariners' fans often showed their love and respect for Edgar Martinez by serenading him with chants of "Edddd...Grrrrr" before or after one of his at-bats; and
     WHEREAS, Mariners announcer Dave Niehaus frequently said Edgar Martinez is the nicest guy to ever put on a pair of spikes; and
     WHEREAS, Edgar Martinez gained even more respect and admiration from fans throughout the region for his willingness to give back to the community through charities and other activities, which is evidenced by his winning the 2004 Roberto Clemente Award for outstanding baseball skills and devotion to the community; and
     WHEREAS, Edgar Martinez defined the position of designated hitter, holding the all-time major league record for home runs and RBIs by a DH, and is the only designated hitter in the history of baseball to win a batting title, hitting .356 in 1995; and
     WHEREAS, Major League Baseball Commissioner Allan H. "Bud" Selig paid fitting tribute to Edgar Martinez's remarkable status as the most prolific designated hitter in the history of Major League Baseball when he announced on October 2, 2004, that the American League Designated Hitter of the Year Award has been officially renamed "The Edgar Martinez Award"; and
     WHEREAS, Edgar Martinez retired at the end of the 2004 season with the same team with which he began, a rarity among major league ballplayers, ending his eighteen-year career with 309 home runs, 1,261 runs batted in, and 2,247 hits, including 514 doubles; and
     WHEREAS, Edgar Martinez joins Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and Lou Gehrig as one of only seven players in baseball history to have a career batting average of .300 or more, an on-base percentage of .400 or more, a slugging percentage of .500 or more, 2,000 hits, 300 home runs, 500 doubles, and 1,000 walks;
     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State Senate honor Edgar Martinez on his long and wonderful career with the Seattle Mariners and thank him for giving so much back to the team's fans and to the community.