Every debate regarding the greatest designated hitter of all time eventually boils down to two names: Edgar Martinez and David Ortiz. It makes Tuesday’s announcement all the more fitting.
Major League Baseball announced Tuesday that Ortiz has been voted the 2013 winner of the Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award. This marks the seventh time in Ortiz’s 17-year career that he has won the award.
Ortiz was the unanimous choice this year, receiving all of the first-place votes cast by club beat writers, broadcasters and American League public relations departments. His seven awards are the most ever since its 1973 inception — Martinez, himself, won the honor just five times.
Orlando Cepeda (1973), Jim Rice (1977) and Don Baylor (1986) are the other Red Sox players to have won the award, but Ortiz has simply dominated the voting throughout his time in Boston. Ortiz won the award each year from from 2003 to 2007 and again in 2011.
Ortiz put together an excellent 2013 campaign. He hit .309 with 30 homers, 103 RBIs and a .395 on-base percentage in 137 regular-season games. The slugger then enjoyed a huge postseason, hitting .353 with five homers and 13 RBIs in 16 games to help Boston capture its first World Series title since 2007.
Detroit’s Victor Martinez finished second in this year’s voting with 52 second-place votes.
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