American baseball player (born 1949)
Baseball player
Jerry Lindsey Martin
(born May 11, 1949) is an American former
Professional baseball
outfielder
. He spent 11 years in
Major League Baseball
, from
1974
to
1984
. On November 17,
1983
, Martin and
Kansas City Royals
teammates
Willie Aikens
and
Willie Wilson
each received three-month prison terms on misdemeanor attempted
cocaine
possession charges. They became the first active major leaguers to serve jail time.
Furman University Paladins basketball
[
edit
]
Martin was born in
Columbia, South Carolina
, and attended Olympia High School there. He then attended
Furman University
in
Greenville
. He starred in
basketball
, and was named the All-
Southern Conference
Tournament
Most Valuable Player
[1]
in
1971
after leading the Furman Paladins to their first conference championship.
[2]
Philadelphia Phillies
[
edit
]
Despite his prowess in basketball, he decided to follow his father,
Barney Martin
, who pitched in the majors with the
Cincinnati Reds
, as well as his younger brother, Michael, a left handed pitcher selected fifth overall in the
1970 Major League Baseball draft
by the
Philadelphia Phillies
.
[3]
A year later, Jerry signed with the club as an amateur
free agent
. Despite having spent three seasons together in the same organization, the brothers were never teammates.
Martin earned
Western Carolinas League
MVP honors in
1972
, when he batted .316 with twelve
home runs
and 112
runs batted in
for the
Spartanburg Phillies
. Over four seasons in the Phillies'
farm system
, Martin batted .303 with 43 home runs and 290 RBIs to earn a September call-up to the majors in
1974
. Making his
major league debut
as a late inning defensive replacement for
Greg Luzinski
on September 7, Martin did not log an
at-bat
.
[4]
When given his first major league at bat two days later, he drove in Luzinski with the first
run
of the Phillies' 2-0 victory over the
St. Louis Cardinals
.
[5]
After splitting the
1975
season between the Phillies and the triple A
Toledo Mud Hens
, Martin spent the entire
1976
season serving as a late inning defensive replacement for Luzinski. He appeared in 130 games, but logged only 129 at-bats. He made just one
plate appearance
in the
1976 National League Championship Series
against the
Cincinnati Reds
. He reached first base on an error, and scored on
Jay Johnstone
's
triple
in the ninth inning of the third game.
[6]
Despite having been a promising prospect for the Phillies, Martin would never rise above
fourth outfielder
status over his next two seasons with the Phillies. Just as pitchers and
catchers
were reporting to
Spring training
in
1979
, Martin was sent to the
Chicago Cubs
in a blockbuster deal. He,
Barry Foote
,
Ted Sizemore
and minor leaguers
Derek Botelho
and Henry Mack went to the Cubs for
Greg Gross
,
Dave Rader
and
Manny Trillo
.
[7]
Chicago Cubs
[
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]
Finally given the opportunity to start, Martin had a career year his first season in
Chicago
. Playing
centerfield
and batting sixth in the Cubs' line-up, Martin clubbed nineteen home runs, and drove in 73 runs while scoring 74. He followed that up with a career high 23 home runs in
1980
. After a contract dispute, Martin asked to be traded, and was sent to the
San Francisco Giants
with
Jesus Figueroa
and a
player to be named later
for
Phil Nastu
and
Joe Strain
at the 1980
Winter meetings
.
[8]
San Francisco Giants
[
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]
Martin signed a five-year deal shortly after arriving in San Francisco, however, his tenure with the Giants ended up being shorter than expected. His numbers dipped in the
strike
shortened
1981
season, as he hit just four home runs and drove in 25 while batting .241. After just one season with the Giants, Martin was dealt to the Kansas City Royals for pitchers
Rich Gale
and
Bill Laskey
.
[9]
Kansas City Royals
[
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]
A new position came with his change of scenery, as Martin was shifted to
right field
with the Royals. He got off to a hot start in
Kansas City
, batting .304 with five home runs and 25 RBIs through May. Though he would cool off by the end of the season, his .266
batting average
, fifteen home runs and 65 RBIs in
1982
was a marked improvement over his previous season.
He got off to a fast start in
1983
as well, but a muscle tear in his right wrist ended his season on April 24.
[10]
Toward the end of the 1983 season, Martin and several of his Royals teammates were questioned by U.S. Attorney Jim Marquez in connection with a federal
cocaine
probe. Following the season, he, Willie Aikens and Willie Wilson pleaded
guilty
to attempting to purchase cocaine, while former teammate
Vida Blue
pleaded guilty to
possession
of three
grams
of cocaine.
[11]
On November 17, Martin, Aikens, Blue and Wilson were all sentenced to a year in prison, with nine months of it suspended, and ordered to surrender to a
Fort Worth, Texas
, minimum security federal correctional institution on December 5 (Aikens was given until January 5 in order to complete a drug treatment program).
[12]
New York Mets
[
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]
Martin was released early from prison on February 23,
1984
,
[13]
however,
Baseball commissioner
Bowie Kuhn
subsequently suspended all four players for the entire
1984
season. The suspensions were reduced after appeal, and the four were allowed to return to their teams on May 15. By then, Martin had signed with the
New York Mets
.
[14]
Martin joined the Mets on May 16 in San Francisco.
[15]
Through 51 games with the Mets, Martin managed just a .154
batting average
, three home runs and five RBIs, and was released on September 30.
A bid for a comeback in
1985
found no takers, so he retired.
[16]
Martin took a coaching job in the Phillies' minor league system shortly after his retirement. He spent the first six weeks of the
2008
season as interim first base coach for the eventual
World Champion
Phillies while
Davey Lopes
was undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.
[17]
Martin most recently served as
hitting coach
for the
Detroit Tigers
' double A affiliate, the
Erie SeaWolves
, in
2011
and
2012
.
[18]
Tommy John
called Martin "a strong defensive outfielder."
[19]
He is the son of
Barney Martin
, who pitched in a single game for the Cincinnati Reds in
1953
.
[20]
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Furman Faces Fordham in NCAA Playoffs Today"
.
The Post and Courier
. March 13, 1971.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
Leslie Timms (March 7, 1971).
"Jackson, Martin Spark Furman to First Southern Title, 68-61"
.
Spartanburg Herald-Journal
.
- ^
"Pitchers Go Fast in Draft"
.
Spartanburg Herald-Journal
. June 5, 1970.
- ^
"Chicago Cubs 3, Philadelphia Phillies 0"
.
Baseball-Reference.com
. September 7, 1974.
- ^
"Philadelphia Phillies 2, St. Louis Cardinals 0"
. Baseball-Reference.com. September 9, 1974.
- ^
"1976 National League Championship Series, Game Three"
. Baseball-Reference.com. October 12, 1976.
- ^
"Trillo Goes to Phils In 8-man Deal"
.
St. Petersburg Times
. February 24, 1979.
- ^
"Giants Deal for Martin, Alexander"
.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
. December 13, 1980.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
"Royals Acquire Martin"
.
Herald-Journal
. December 12, 1981.
- ^
"Royals Call Up Pat Sheridan"
.
The Daily Union
. May 15, 1983.
- ^
Frank Litsky
(October 18, 1983).
"Blue Pleads Guilty to Cocaine Charge"
.
New York Times
.
- ^
"3 Royals sentenced to Prison"
.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
. November 18, 1983.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
"Wilson, Martin Await Suspension Review"
.
Herald-Journal
. February 24, 1984.
- ^
"Mets Sign Jerry Martin"
.
Observer?Reporter
. March 16, 1984.
- ^
"Aikens, Martin, Wilson in Uniform"
.
The Palm Beach Post
. May 17, 1984.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
Teddy Heffner (May 30, 1988).
"Knocked Down By Drug Scandal, Jerry Martin Is Back On His Feet"
.
Chicago Tribune
.
- ^
"Baseball Teams Dealing"
.
Portsmouth Daily Times
. December 21, 1989.
- ^
Mike Copper (September 4, 2012).
"Erie SeaWolves end season with fifth straight loss"
.
Erie Times-News
.
- ^
John, Tommy; Valenti, Dan (1991).
TJ: My Twenty-Six Years in Baseball
. New York: Bantam. p. 177.
ISBN
0-553-07184-X
.
- ^
"Barney Martin"
. Baseball-Reference.com.
External links
[
edit
]