#EdgarHOF - Day 54

There are only four days left until Hall of Fame voting closes, so it’s time to start pulling out the heavy artillery. Today, it’s Edgar’s home run from Game 1 of the 2001 ALDS.

The 2001 Mariners had posted one of the best winning percentages ever seen in MLB, but the ALDS didn’t start out so rosy for the Mariners. However, after Seattle had been blanked by Cleveland in the opening game of the series, the Mariners stormed back in Game 2. Seattle scored four runs in the first inning alone, first when Mike Cameron stepped to the plate to deliver a two-run blast off Indians starter Chuck Finley. Bret Boone followed with a single to center field. After that, Finley tried to get himself back on track by throwing a first pitch to Edgar for a strike. He missed, and missed badly:

Edgar could reach out and place a baseball at will, like he was fixing a star in the heavens. He was a gentle man, a finesse hitter, but when he was offered something down the middle, even by a pitcher struggling to throw strikes, he did not hesitate to show his teeth. The four-run first inning by the Mariners pushed their win expectancy for this game to about 85%, as Cammy and Edgar made the last year’s All-Star Finley look positively pedestrian. Cameron’s shot may have drawn first blood, but Edgar’s was a kill shot, dead center to the deepest part of Safeco. After the Indians had blanked the Mariners the day before, Edgar needed to remind the Tribe whose house it was. With one swing of the bat, he did that.