Marty Martínez
| Marty Martínez | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Utility player / Manager | |
| Born: August 23, 1941 Havana, Cuba | |
| Died: March 8, 2007 (aged 65) Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic | |
Batted: Both Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| May 2, 1962, for the Minnesota Twins | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 4, 1972, for the Texas Rangers | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .243 |
| Home runs | 0 |
| Runs batted in | 57 |
| Teams | |
Orlando Martínez Oliva (August 23, 1941 – March 8, 2007) was a Cuban utility player, manager, coach and scout in Major League Baseball. Listed at 6' 0" [1.83 m], 170 lb. [77 k], Martínez was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed.
Born in Havana, Cuba, Martínez was nicknamed Marty by fans and teammates. He never hit a home run in 945 major-league career at-bats, but did everything a player was asked to do. Martínez appeared at shortstop in 157 games, and also played at first (5), second (59), and third bases (74); caught (30), and made a relief appearance. Nevertheless, he is best remembered as the man who scouted and signed Edgar Martínez and Omar Vizquel, among other distinguished players.
Signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent in 1960, Martínez reached the majors in 1962 with the Minnesota Twins, spending one year with them before moving to the Atlanta Braves (1967–1968), Houston Astros (1969–1971), St. Louis Cardinals (1972), Oakland Athletics (1972) and Texas Rangers (1972). In 1968 with Atlanta, he appeared in a career-high 113 games. In 1969, he hit a career-high .308 in 78 games for Houston as a backup catcher for Johnny Edwards and also played six different positions.
In all or part of seven seasons, Martínez was a .243 hitter with 57 RBI and 97 runs in 436 games, including 230 hits, 19 doubles, 11 triples and seven stolen bases.
Following his major league career, Martínez played and managed for the Tulsa Drillers, Texas Rangers Double-A affiliate. He managed the Drillers in 1977 and 1978 and led the team to a Texas League first-half title in 1977. After that, he spent more than a decade in the Seattle Mariners organization as a coach on the staffs of Del Crandall, Chuck Cottier and Bill Plummer (1983–86; 1992), serving as the Mariners interim manager in the 1986 season. As a Mariners instructor, he nurtured and molded a whole generations of Seattle infielders, including the aforementioned Vizquel and Martínez, as well as Harold Reynolds and Spike Owen.
He died of a heart attack at the age of 65.
External links
[edit]- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
- Marty Martínez managerial career statistics at Baseball-Reference.com
- Marty Martínez at SABR BioProject
- Marty Martínez at Baseball Almanac
- Marty Martínez at Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League)
- "Baseball Marty" left big impression on Mariners The Seattle Times (Obituary)
- Marty Martínez at Find a Grave
- 1941 births
- 2007 deaths
- Águilas del Zulia players
- Atlanta Braves players
- Atlanta Crackers players
- Cardenales de Lara players
- Cuban expatriate baseball players in Venezuela
- Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players
- Denver Bears players
- Erie Sailors players
- Florida Instructional League Twins players
- Houston Astros players
- Major League Baseball catchers
- Major League Baseball infielders
- Major League Baseball outfielders
- Major League Baseball players from Cuba
- Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States
- Minnesota Twins players
- Minor league baseball managers
- Oakland Athletics players
- Pittsfield Rangers players
- San Antonio Brewers players
- Seattle Mariners coaches
- Seattle Mariners managers
- Seattle Mariners scouts
- Spokane Indians players
- Baseball players from Havana
- Baseball players from Santo Domingo
- St. Louis Cardinals players
- Texas Rangers players
- Tulsa Drillers players
- Wausau Timbers players
- Wilson Tobs players