A tabulation of the early votes shows Seattle Mariners legend Edgar Martinez is off to a good start in his bid to finally get into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Martinez, in his ninth year on the ballot, needs to have his name chosen on 75 percent of the ballots that are cast.
Ryan Thibodaux, a noted tracker of Hall of Fame balloting, says Martinez is currently appearing on 84.4 percent of the ballots already turned in.
But it's early in the voting. Thibodaux says he's only seen results of 45 ballots and Martinez is on 38 of them. Thibodaux says a player would need to appear on 312 of an estimated 416 ballots to reach the 75 percent threshold. That means Martinez needs another 274 votes.
The official results will be announced January 24, 2018. If Martinez fails to make it in 2018, he can appear on the ballot only one more time in 2019.
Until the past couple of years, Martinez's effort to get elected has been hindered by the fact that he spent most of his career as a designated hitter and not playing in the field. But his vote totals picked up in 2016 and 2017.
The award given each year to the American League's top designated hitter is named the Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award.
Edgar Martinez Hall of Fame voting history
2010: 36.2 percent
2011: 32.9 percent
2012: 36.5 percent
2013: 35.9 percent
2014: 25.2 percent
2015: 27.0 percent
2016: 43.4 percent
2017: 58.6 percent
