Edgar Aims For An Average Year -- '93 Injury, Painful Stats Are History, Martinez Says

PEORIA, Ariz. - It might not have looked that way, but Edgar Martinez limped into history of a sort last year.

Hampered all season by a hamstring tear he suffered on the eve of the 1993 season, the Mariner third baseman had one of the worst batting title defenses of all time.

According to averages found in the Baseball Encyclopedia, Martinez' .237 in 1993 is the second lowest follow-up average ever by a batting champion. The 106-point drop, from .343 in 1992, is the fourth-largest since the turn of the century.

"That is not the kind of history you want to make," said Martinez, whose arduous offseason rehabilitation has made his legs as strong as ever going into the Cactus League season, which starts tomorrow.

"I think I felt every one of those 106 points, too," he said. "It hurt."

The biggest drop in the modern era belongs to Detroit first baseman Norm Cash, who fell 118 points after winning the AL title at .361 in 1961 - in near obscurity while Roger Maris hit 61 home runs. The real story there was not that Cash dropped so far the next year. It was that he hit .361 in the first place. A lifetime .271 hitter, Cash had no other season in which he hit .300 or better.

Such is not the case with Martinez. The 1992 season was the third straight in which he hit over .300. Conversely, last year's average was the lowest of his major-league career.

Martinez, of course, had a mere 135 at-bats. He missed the first six weeks after tearing his left hamstring on soft infield dirt during an exhibition game in Vancouver's B.C. Place, three days before the regular season started. He came back in mid-May, but he was never right and wound up going down for good on Aug. 16.

"It was so frustrating," he said. "The team needed me and maybe I came back too soon. I felt the leg was strong enough to play on, but it was never really right."

So Martinez suffered through an entire year in which he not only could not truly defend his crown, but was hardly a member of his team.

"It's a strange thing when you are injured," he said. "You are with the team, spend time in the clubhouse, maybe you practice and travel with them.

"But you're not really part of them. Omar (Vizquel) and the guys were supportive to me and tried to keep me up, but the players have to concentrate on doing their jobs every day. No one can have a lot of time for someone else."

That heightens the importance of having someone to talk to who truly cares. Martinez married Holli Beeler after the 1992 season.

"I was very fortunate to have Holli last year," he said. "I don't even want to think what it would have been like to go home to an empty apartment every day.

"Even the year before when everything was so good, it was hard to go home and be alone. You want to share the good stuff as well as problems. But Holli helped me very much to get through last year."

Ultimately, it is Martinez himself who has to get beyond last year. He applied his usual work ethic to make himself healthy again, including a return to winter ball at home in Puerto Rico. He ran on the beach every day with strength coach Pete Schmock, hit .413 and showed no signs of leg trouble.

That has carried into camp. "No problems at all," trainer Rick Griffin said. "And we've been watching closely."

Martinez singled in two at-bats playing in yesterday's 7-4 win over San Diego, a charity benefit that was the first game played in Peoria Park. The hit was typical Martinez, an outside pitch punched into right field.

In addition, he scored from second base on a Ken Griffey double.

"Junior said to me before the game he was going to give my leg a tryout," Martinez laughed. "He did, and it feels great."

Martinez also feels great hitting second in Manager Lou Piniella's lineup. "I love it there," Martinez said. "With Junior and Jay and a lot of left-handed batters behind me, pitchers don't want to walk me.

"They challenge me all the time and I've just got to be ready. I think I'm ready."

----------------------------------------- BIGGEST FALLS BY LEAGUE BATTING CHAMPIONS -----------------------------------------

Years Player Team Averages Drop --------------------------------------------------------------------. 1961-62 Norm Cash Detroit .361 .243 118 points --------------------------------------------------------------------. 1922-24 (1) George Sisler St. Louis Browns .420 .305 115 points --------------------------------------------------------------------. 1991-92 Julio Franco Texas .341 .234 107 points --------------------------------------------------------------------. 1992-93 EDGAR MARTINEZ SEATTLE .343 .237 106 points --------------------------------------------------------------------.

(1) Did not play in 1923 because of an illness.