J. C. Martin

Infobox MLB retired
bgcolor1=silver
bgcolor2=black
textcolor1=black
textcolor2=silver
name=J. C. Martin
position=Catcher
bats=Left
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1936|12|13
debutdate=September 10
debutyear=by|1959
debutteam=Chicago White Sox
finaldate=August 12
finalyear=by|1972
finalteam=Chicago Cubs
stat1label=BA
stat1value=.222
stat2label=HR
stat2value=32
stat3label=RBI
stat3value=230
teams=
*Chicago White Sox (1959-1967)
*New York Mets (1968-1969)
*Chicago Cubs (1970-1972)
highlights=
*World Series Champion: 1969

Joseph Clifton Martin (born December 13, 1936 in Axton, Virginia) is a former Major League Baseball player.

The left-handed hitting, right-handed throwing Martin played for the Chicago White Sox from 1959-1967, New York Mets in 1968 and 1969 and Chicago Cubs from 1970-1972.

Martin was scouted by the White Sox as an amateur free agent in 1956. After five seasons in the ChiSox farm system, which included callups to the majors late in by|1959 and by|1960, Martin became a regular in by|1961. Splitting time between first base and third base, Martin batted .230 with five home runs and 32 runs batted in.

Martin converted into a catcher in by|1962, after Al Lopez convinced him to go down to the minor leagues and learn to catch. Regular catcher Sherm Lollar was at the tail end of his career at the age of 37; moreover, the White Sox had traded Earl Battey and Johnny Romano and had no catchers in their farm system. As the team’s regular catcher, Martin batted only .205 in by|1963 and .197 in by|1964; however, he exhibited his value to the team in catching a pitching rotation that contained the likes of Gary Peters, Juan Pizarro, Joe Horlen (whose no-hitter Martin would catch in by|1967) and Ray Herbert, as well as closer Hoyt Wilhelm.

In by|1965 Martin batted a career-best .261; however, he also set a major league record with 33 passed balls (after committing 24 the year before)—due, in large part, to catching knuckleball pitchers Wilhelm and Eddie Fisher. This record stood until Geno Petralli committed 35 passed balls in by|1987.

In by|1967 Martin batted .234 on a team that was involved in a four-way pennant race with the Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox for the American League pennant, which the latter of these teams won on the final day of the season. The White Sox had been eliminated from pennant contention after losing a doubleheader to the lowly Kansas City Athletics on September 27. After the season, the White Sox traded Martin to the New York Mets to complete a deal that had been made earlier in the season. On July 22 of that year the Mets had traded Ken Boyer to the White Sox for Billy Southworth. Both teams received a player to be named later in the deal; Sandy Alomar, Sr. was traded to the White Sox on August 15 to complete one side of the trade, and the trade of Martin to the Mets on November 27 completed the other. In another deal that same offseason, the White Sox traded Tommie Agee and Al Weis to the Mets with four players (among them Tommy Davis and Jack Fisher) going to the White Sox.

In by|1969 Martin, as a backup catcher to Jerry Grote, played on a Mets team that surprisingly won the World Series in five games over the Baltimore Orioles. In Game Four of that Series, Martin was involved in a controversial play. With the game tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 10th inning and pinch-runner Rod Gaspar on second, Martin, pinch-hitting for Tom Seaver, bunted to the mound and, while running to first, was hit on the arm by Pete Richert’s errant throw, the error allowing Gaspar to score the winning run. Replays later showed that Martin was running inside the baseline, which could have resulted in him being called out for interference; however, the umpires said they didn’t make the call because they felt Martin didn’t "intentionally" interfere with the play. As a result of this play, the running lane that extends from halfway down the first-base line to the bag was added to all major league fields. A runner can be running in this lane and be hit by a thrown ball and not be called for interference.

Martin was traded to the Chicago Cubs on March 29, by|1970 for catcher Randy Bobb.

In by|1975 Martin was a White Sox broadcaster alongside Harry Caray on WSNS.

In his career Martin batted .222 with 32 home runs and 230 RBIs in 908 games played.

ee also

* Chicago White Sox all-time roster

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/martij.01.shtml J.C. Martin’s career statistics and analysis]