The designated hitter (DH) was first introduced to the AL in 1973, with Ron Blomberg of the New York Yankees becoming the first official DH in MLB history. In the nearly half-century since then, the DH has been a source of much debate for baseball fans and has often served as a position for sluggers to transition to once they become fielding liabilities. Nevertheless, some of the most feared offensive players in recent baseball history have been primarily DHs, namely Edgar Martinez of the Seattle Mariners in the 1990s and David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox in the 2000s. With Martinez being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019 and Ortiz soon becoming eligible, the comparisons between these two star DHs naturally leads to the question:
Who was better – Edgar Martinez or David Ortiz?
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