By BOB MATTHEWS
Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle

Starter-turned-reliever Dennis Eckersley and third baseman-turned-designated hitter Paul Molitor will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame Sunday. Will they open the door for the addition of John Smoltz and/or Edgar Martinez in the future?

Probably not.

Eckersley and Smoltz are the only pitchers ever to post 20-win and 50-save seasons. They were very good starting pitchers who became excellent relief pitchers.

Interestingly, both pitchers have 361 career starts. Smoltz was the better starter:

Eckersley - 149-130 record, 3.71 ERA.

Smoltz - 159-115 record, 3.37 ERA.

Eckersley was a decent pitcher in the postseason (1-3 record, 15 saves, 3.00 ERA in 28 games) but Smoltz has been a spectacular postseason pitcher (13-4 record, 4 saves, 2.77 ERA in 37 games).

Both won one Cy Young Award, Eckersley as a reliever (he also was American League MVP in 1992) and Smoltz as a starter (24-8, 2.94 ERA in 1996).

The main reason Eckersley is a new Hall of Famer and Smoltz probably won't ever be elected is length of bullpen service.

Eckersley made the starter-to-reliever conversion at age 32 in 1987 and earned 390 career saves in the next 11 years. He was 48-41 out of the bullpen and wound up with a 197-171 career record.

Smoltz made the switch early in the 2001 season at age 35. He posted a National League-record 55 saves in 2002 and had 45 saves and a 1.12 ERA in 2003. He continues to excel for the red-hot Atlanta Braves this season.

But Smoltz entered this weekend with only 128 career saves and might need at least 200 saves to impress Hall of Fame voters as a combination starter-reliever. That's not likely to happen. He is 37 years old, has battled elbow problems since 1998 and still would prefer to start.

Molitor is the first Hall of Famer to play more games as a designated hitter than at any other position. He has paved the way for a predominantly DH to enter Cooperstown in the future but it probably won't be Edgar Martinez.

Martinez has been an excellent hitter since his first full season with Seattle in 1990. His career batting line entering this weekend: .312 batting average; 2,193 hits; 508 doubles; 304 HRs; 1,241 RBI. He won two American League batting titles. He was third in AL MVP balloting in 1995 and sixth in 2000 as a DH.

Designated hitters should not be discriminated against in voting for the Hall of Fame but it is fair to expect them to produce exceptional offensive numbers to offset the fact that they don't contribute defensively.

If Martinez had spent his entire career at third base, he'd have Hall of Fame numbers, but he has been a full-time DH since 1995 and his stats probably aren't quite good enough to earn him a plaque.

My hunch is that the next Hall of Famer who played more than half his games as a DH will be Frank Thomas, not Edgar Martinez.