Mariners
Edgar's 500th double, 299th homer leads M's

By Bob Finnigan
Seattle Times staff reporter

JOHN LOK / THE SEATTLE TIMES Edgar Martinez salutes the crowd as they give him a standing ovation after Martinez hit his 500th double in the first inning.

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Spider-Man gone one day, Bret Boone gone the next.

Just when you thought all the superheroes were being nixed, up stepped Edgar Martinez.

When his Mariners needed him most, the old man stepped back in time as well, to the days when he would pick up a struggling Seattle offense, back to the years when he helped carry the team through one big game after another.

Last night — in the Mariners' biggest game of the year, in front of the biggest crowd in Safeco Field history, a raucous 46,491 — Martinez came through big time.

He drove in four runs with his 500th career double and 299th career home run, taking the Mariners to a 6-2 win over the New York Yankees.

Dan Wilson, who has watched the 41-year-old Martinez do these deeds for more than a decade, called the night "vintage Edgar."

"He doubles a tough pitch to right the first time, pulls a home run to left the next," the veteran catcher said. "The only thing missing was the ball rolling around under the bullpen bench on the double, like it used to in the Kingdome."

Manager Bob Melvin said his designated hitter gave him goose bumps.

"Two huge hits on a huge night. He gets his 500th double, hits a homer and almost, almost gets his 300th homer," Melvin said. "Talk about a flair for the dramatic."

Indeed, Martinez wound up a few feet shy of some kind of baseball history. In the seventh inning, he put 46,491 hearts into hope and put Hideki Matsui to the warning track in left field to bring down his long fly ball, just missing what would have been homer No. 300.

"I hit that ball good enough," he said. "It was maybe a little to the end of the bat."

	JOHN LOK / THE SEATTLE TIMES Ichiro jumps near the wall to snag a ball hit in the fourth inning.

Typically, he handled his achievement with grace, admitting he had seen a list of the 41 players with 500 two-base hits, some three dozen of them in the Hall of Fame.

"I remember seeing Mickey Mantle's name, and it is very special to have some of their numbers," Martinez said.

Of his chances to make the Hall of Fame, he said, "I don't know about that. You look at all the numbers of those guys, when you compare and see all the homers and average and RBIs. I don't know if 500 doubles will be enough."

For one more memorable Martinez night, the six total bases and four RBI were enough as his team won an opener for the fourth straight series.

After the first inning, in which Martinez lined his 500th double up the right-field line to give Seattle a rare early lead, 2-0, the Safeco Field message board ran a tribute to Martinez, marking his feat.

The fans interrupted their night-long boo for former Mariner Alex Rodriguez long enough to rise and cheer their warhorse. But with coaches searching for him in the dugout, runway and clubhouse, Martinez never came out to tip his cap.

"The man hits his 500th double, gets a standing ovation and he's not even there," Melvin said.

Martinez's explanation: "I broke my gamer (bat) before the double and I went inside looking for a replacement to have as a second bat. I didn't know about the ovation. I apologize. I felt terrible."

Think of how the Yankees felt to have him do what he so often has done to them.

"He's too old. He shouldn't be playing anymore," New York manager Joe Torre said. "He knows how to hit. He has a plan every time he is at the plate. He's a tough out."

After Seattle manufactured a run in the second inning, which scored on Ichiro's single, Martinez smacked a Jon Lieber fastball out to left for two more runs in the third.

It is nearly inexplicable that Martinez would struggle so much for nine games — he had just seven singles since his 499th double on April 25 at Texas — then see pinstripes and go historic.

"This was a long time coming. It's been about three weeks since I hit a ball hard," he said.

"I can't tell you what it is about me and the Yankees," added Martinez, a .321 lifetime hitter against New York. "They are a good team, and there is something special about playing them. They are tough."

The Mariners' part of the scoreboard in the first three innings last night read 2-1-2, which coincidentally is the New York City area code. It created a 5-0 lead for Mariners starter Ryan Franklin and a big change for Seattle, which had been outscored 51-13 in the first three innings of games this season. The Mariners held an opponent scoreless in that stretch for only the eighth time in 29 games.

"Having that lead makes you feel comfortable," Franklin said. "The crowd was in it, and that picks up your adrenaline."

He converted that into electric pitching, striking out the side — Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield and Jorge Posada — in the second inning. He got a break in the third when Matsui looked like Cristian Guzman on the bases.

Outfielders Ichiro and Randy Winn bumped at the warning track on Ruben Sierra's long ball, causing the ball to fall. Matsui thought he had seen Ichiro make a catch and started back to first, but Sierra had rounded the bag and headed for second, and he was called out for passing the runner.

New York picked up a run in the fifth inning when plate umpire Ed Rapuano called Matsui safe under a Wilson tag after Winn's great throw from center.

Melvin charged out to argue to no avail. But with two on, Franklin went calmly back to work and struck out Derek Jeter and Rodriguez, at which the packed stands went into paroxysms of pleasure.

"It was a good game for our team, a great game for Edgar," Franklin said. "Everyone was so happy for him. It was Edgar's night."

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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