Edgar Martínez Award

The Edgar Martínez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award, commonly referred to as the Edgar Martínez Award and originally known as the Outstanding Designated Hitter Award, has been presented annually to the most outstanding designated hitter (DH) in Major League Baseball (MLB) since 1973. The award is voted on by club beat reporters, broadcasters, and public relations departments. The Associated Press discontinued the award in 2000, but it was picked up by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, which has administered it since.^[1] All players with a minimum of 100 at bats at DH are eligible.^[2] From the award's inception in 1973 until 2019, and in 2021, use of the designated hitter was allowed only in the American League (AL).

Edgar Martínez Award

The award was renamed in honor of Edgar Martínez, a five-time winner, upon his retirement.
Awarded for	Most outstanding designated hitter in Major League Baseball (Exclusively American League for 1973–2019, 2021)
Country	United States
Presented by	Baseball Writers' Association of America
History
First award	1973
Most recent	Shohei Ohtani (LAA)

In September 2004, at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) ceremonies in honor of Edgar Martínez, Commissioner Bud Selig announced that the award would be renamed for the five-time recipient (1995, 1997–98, 2000–01).^[3] In an 18-year career with the Seattle Mariners, primarily as a designated hitter, Martínez batted .312, with 309 career home runs and 1,261 runs batted in.^[4]

In 2020, Major League Baseball allowed the use of the designated hitter for the National League (NL) in addition to the American League, expanding eligibility for the award to designated hitters in either league. The 2020 winner was Marcell Ozuna of the Atlanta Braves, who became the first-ever winner of the award from the National League.^[5] In 2021, MLB returned to only using the designated hitter for the American League, before a new collective bargaining agreement between MLB and its players' union allowed the use of the designated hitter in the National League beginning in the 2022 season.^[6]

David Ortiz has won the award eight times, more than any other player (2003–2007, 2011, 2013, 2016).^[7][8] Other repeat winners of the award include Martinez himself (five times), three-time winners Hal McRae (1976, 1980, and 1982) and Shohei Ohtani (2021–2023), and two-time winners Willie Horton (1975 and 1979), Greg Luzinski (1981 and 1983), Don Baylor (1985 and 1986), Harold Baines (1987 and 1988), Dave Parker (1989 and 1990), Paul Molitor (1993 and 1996), and Nelson Cruz (2017 and 2019).^[9] Boston Red Sox players have won the most Edgar Martínez Awards with eleven.^[1]

In 2021, Shohei Ohtani became the first player to win both the Edgar Martínez Award and the American League MVP award in the same season.^[10] He accomplished this feat again after the 2023 season.^[11]

Key

Year	The MLB season the award was given
Player (X)	Denotes winning player and number of times they had won the award at that point (if more than one)
Team	The designated hitter's team
†	Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
*	Denotes player who is still active
BA	batting average
HR	Home runs
RBI	Runs batted in
Italics	Indicates player led the AL in that category
Italics	Indicates player led the NL in that category

List of winners

Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda was the first winner of the award.

David Ortiz won the award eight times.

Year	Player	Team	BA	HR	RBI	Ref
1973	Orlando Cepeda†	Boston Red Sox	.289	20	86	[9][12]
1974	Tommy Davis	Baltimore Orioles	.289	11	84	[9][13]
1975	Willie Horton	Detroit Tigers	.275	25	92	[9][14]
1976	Hal McRae	Kansas City Royals	.332	8	73	[15][16]
1977	Jim Rice†	Boston Red Sox	.320	39	114	[17][18]
1978	Rusty Staub	Detroit Tigers	.273	24	121	[9][19]
1979	Willie Horton (2)	Seattle Mariners	.279	29	106	[14][20]
1980	Hal McRae (2)	Kansas City Royals	.297	14	83	[9][16]
1981	Greg Luzinski	Chicago White Sox	.265	21	62	[9][21]
1982	Hal McRae (3)	Kansas City Royals	.308	27	133	[16][22]
1983	Greg Luzinski (2)	Chicago White Sox	.255	32	95	[9][21]
1984	Dave Kingman	Oakland Athletics	.268	35	118	[9][23]
1985	Don Baylor	New York Yankees	.231	23	91	[24][25]
1986	Don Baylor (2)	Boston Red Sox	.238	31	94	[9][25]
1987	Harold Baines†	Chicago White Sox	.293	20	93	[9][26]
1988	Harold Baines† (2)	Chicago White Sox	.277	13	81	[9][26]
1989	Dave Parker	Oakland Athletics	.264	22	97	[9][27]
1990	Dave Parker (2)	Milwaukee Brewers	.289	21	92	[9][27]
1991	Chili Davis	Minnesota Twins	.277	29	93	[9][28]
1992	Dave Winfield†	Toronto Blue Jays	.290	26	108	[9][29]
1993	Paul Molitor†	Toronto Blue Jays	.332	22	111	[9][30]
1994	Not awarded due to the players' strike					[9]
1995	Edgar Martínez†	Seattle Mariners	.356	29	113	[4][9]
1996	Paul Molitor† (2)	Minnesota Twins	.341	9	113	[30][31]
1997	Edgar Martínez† (2)	Seattle Mariners	.330	28	108	[4][9]
1998	Edgar Martínez† (3)	Seattle Mariners	.322	29	102	[4][9]
1999	Rafael Palmeiro	Texas Rangers	.324	47	148	[9][32]
2000	Edgar Martínez† (4)	Seattle Mariners	.324	37	145	[4][9]
2001	Edgar Martínez† (5)	Seattle Mariners	.306	23	116	[4][9]
2002	Ellis Burks	Cleveland Indians	.301	32	91	[9][33]
2003	David Ortiz†	Boston Red Sox	.288	31	101	[34][35]
2004	David Ortiz† (2)	Boston Red Sox	.301	41	139	[35][36]
2005	David Ortiz† (3)	Boston Red Sox	.300	47	148	[35][37]
2006	David Ortiz† (4)	Boston Red Sox	.287	54	137	[35][38]
2007	David Ortiz† (5)	Boston Red Sox	.332	35	117	[7][35]
2008	Aubrey Huff	Baltimore Orioles	.304	32	108	[39][40]
2009	Adam Lind	Toronto Blue Jays	.305	35	114	[2][41]
2010	Vladimir Guerrero†	Texas Rangers	.300	29	115	[42][43]
2011	David Ortiz† (6)	Boston Red Sox	.309	29	96	[8]
2012	Billy Butler	Kansas City Royals	.313	29	107	[44]
2013	David Ortiz† (7)	Boston Red Sox	.309	30	103	[45]
2014	Víctor Martínez	Detroit Tigers	.335	32	103	[46]
2015	Kendrys Morales	Kansas City Royals	.295	21	104	[47]
2016	David Ortiz† (8)	Boston Red Sox	.317	38	127	[48]
2017	Nelson Cruz	Seattle Mariners	.288	39	119	[49]
2018	Khris Davis	Oakland Athletics	.247	48	123	[50]
2019	Nelson Cruz (2)	Minnesota Twins	.311	41	108	[51]
2020	Marcell Ozuna*	Atlanta Braves	.338	18	56	[52]
2021	Shohei Ohtani*	Los Angeles Angels	.257	46	100	[53]
2022	Shohei Ohtani* (2)	Los Angeles Angels	.273	34	95	[54]
2023	Shohei Ohtani* (3)	Los Angeles Angels	.304	44	95	[55]

See also

• Baseball portal

• List of Silver Slugger Award winners at designated hitter
• List of Major League Baseball awards
• Baseball awards § United States

References

In-line citations

1. "Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
2. Bastian, Jordan (December 15, 2009). "Lind named Outstanding DH of 2009". MLB.com. Archived from the original on December 19, 2009. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
3. Finnigan, Bob (October 3, 2004). "Edgar gives tip of the cap in tribute; M's fall to Rangers". The Seattle Times. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
4. "Edgar Martínez Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
5. "Ozuna named DH of Year in first look at role". MLB.com. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
6. Blum, Ronald (February 8, 2021). "MLB renews 7-inning doubleheaders, runners on 2nd in extras". Associated Press. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
7. Browne, Ian (December 4, 2007). "Ortiz wins Edgar Martinez Award". MLB.com. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved September 28, 2011. David Ortiz ... was the winner of Major League Baseball's Edgar Martinez Award for the fifth straight year.
8. Brown, Ian (December 7, 2011). "Papi's bounce-back season honored with award". MLB.com. Archived from the original on January 7, 2012. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
9. McKelvey, G. Richard (2004). All bat, no glove: a history of the designated hitter. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. pp. 180–181. ISBN 0-7864-1944-X. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
10. "Shohei Ohtani Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference, LLC. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
11. "Three-peat! Ohtani wins Outstanding DH Award again". MLB.com.
12. "Orlando Cepeda Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
13. "Tommy Davis Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
14. "Willie Horton Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
15. "Russell Knows Why". Eugene Register-Guard. Wire Service Reports. December 3, 1976. p. 2D. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
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17. "Honor For Rice". Times-Union. United Press International. December 3, 1977. p. 15. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
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19. "Rusty Staub Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
20. "Horton Comeback Player". Ludington Daily News. Associated Press. January 8, 1980. p. 8. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
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22. "Sports Briefs". Lawrence Journal-World. Associated Press. November 30, 1982. p. 12. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
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26. "Harold Baines Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
27. "Dave Parker Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
28. "Chili Davis Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
29. "Dave Winfield Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
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31. "Miranda, Brewers reach agreement on contract". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Associated Press. December 20, 1996. p. 12C. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
32. "Rafael Palmeiro Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
33. "Ellis Burks Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
34. McAdam, Sean (December 14, 2003). "Winter Baseball Meetings Notebook: A-Rod comments on TV stir up a hornets' nest". The Providence Journal. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
35. "David Ortiz Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
36. Horrigan, Jeff (December 12, 2004). "Baseball; Red Sox notebook; Francona on talk tour". Boston Herald. p. B.03. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2011.(subscription required)
37. "Boston's David Ortiz wins third straight Edgar Martinez Award" (Press release). Major League Baseball. December 21, 2005. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
38. "Boston's Ortiz captures fourth straight outstanding DH award". MLB.com (Press release). December 5, 2006. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
39. Fordin, Spencer (December 10, 2008). "Huff wins Outstanding DH Award". MLB.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
40. "Aubrey Huff Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on September 26, 2011. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
41. "Adam Lind Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
42. Fordin, Spencer (November 24, 2010). "Vlad wins Edgar Martínez Award". MLB.com. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
43. "Vladimir Guerrero Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
44. Kaegel, Dick (December 4, 2012). "Butler earns Martinez Outstanding DH Award". MLB.com. Archived from the original on March 13, 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
45. "David Ortiz the unanimous choice for Edgar Martinez Outstanding DH Award". MLB.com. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
46. Beck, Jason (December 4, 2014). "V-Mart named Outstanding DH for first time". MLB.com. Archived from the original on December 9, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
47. Calcaterra, Craig (December 1, 2015). "Kendrys Morales wins the Edgar Martinez DH of the Year Award". NBC Sports. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
48. Snyder, Matt (November 30, 2016). "David Ortiz wins 8th Edgar Martinez DH award, three more than Edgar ever did". CBS Sports. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
49. Divish, Ryan (November 30, 2017). "Mariners' Nelson Cruz voted as the 2017 Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter award winner". Seattle Times. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
50. "A's Khris Davis wins Edgar Martinez Award because he actually was a DH". Archived from the original on November 23, 2018. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
51. "Twins' Nelson Cruz named MLB's Outstanding Designated Hitter". Twincities.com. December 2, 2019. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
52. "Marcell Ozuna becomes first National League player to win Designated Hitter of the Year award". Cbssports.com. December 12, 2020. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
53. "Ohtani wins 2021 Edgar Martinez DH Award". MLB.com. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
54. "Ohtani honored with 2nd straight Outstanding DH Award". MLB.com. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
55. "Three-peat! Ohtani wins Outstanding DH Award again". MLB.com.