Mariners Moose Tracks, 12/30/16: #EdgarHOF, Forgotten Stories, and Generosity

Good morning everyone! Before we get to today’s news, let’s take a glance at how our favorite designated hitter is doing in his bid to enter the National Hall of Fame.

Larry Stone at the Seattle Times wrote a piece last week about Edgar’s surge in votes. According to Ryan Thibodaux’s tracker, Edgar is garnering close to 70% of votes in publicly released ballots (129 total ballots at the time of this writing). Stone was once dubious of Edgar’s chances to make the hall, but now feels more confident about it:

“I didn’t see this coming, frankly. Even last year, when the Mariners great jumped from 27 percent to 43.4 percent, I thought the chance of him making the leap to the 75 percent necessary for enshrinement was slim. Not with, at the time, just three years left on the ballot (two after this year) before his eligibility expires and he would move on to the next avenue to Cooperstown, the veterans’ committee.

But now, with approximately 20 percent of the precincts reporting (as compiled by Thibodaux), I can say I officially have changed camps. Based on current trends, I now feel fairly optimistic that Edgar has a solid chance to be voted into the Hall by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Eventually.”

We shouldn’t expect Edgar to be inducted this year. If he is, it’ll be something of a miracle. However, he has gained more votes than any other player on the ballot and public opinion is moving in his favor rather rapidly. I’d be shocked at this point if he didn’t make it at all. Of course, in order for him to get in at all, many minds will have to be changed. So keep on fighting the good fight and we’ll soon see Edgar in Cooperstown.

Now onto the rest of the day’s news.

In Mariners news...

• If you’re craving some Mariners content, here’s Felix throwing a bullpen session in the winter league.

Around the league...

• Jesus Montero has reportedly signed a minor league deal with the Orioles.

• MLB Trade Rumors takes a peek at potential bounce-back candidates for the 2017 season, a list which includes a number of former Mariners.
• Our very own Kate Preusser wrote a great piece with The Hardball Times about the lifespan of a major league broadcaster.
• Grant Brisbee chronicles some of baseball’s stories from 2016 that you may have forgotten.

Anders’ picks...

• This story is from a long time ago (the first day of 2016, actually), but it’s a good one from from Jonah Keri about a man who decided to give money away to everyone who asked him for a year.