Dennis Martínez

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Martínez and the second or maternal family name is Emilia.

Dennis Martínez
Pitcher
Born: May 14, 1955 (1955-05-14) (age 56) Granada, Nicaragua
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 14, 1976 for the Baltimore Orioles
Last MLB appearance
September 27, 1998 for the Atlanta Braves
Career statistics
Win–loss record	245–193
Earned run average	3.70
Strikeouts	2,149
Teams
Baltimore Orioles (1976–1986) Montreal Expos (1986–1993) Cleveland Indians (1994–1996) Seattle Mariners (1997) Atlanta Braves (1998)
Career highlights and awards
4× All-Star selection (1990, 1991, 1992, 1995) World Series champion (1983) Pitched a perfect game on July 28, 1991

José Dennis Martínez Emilia (born May 14, 1955 in Granada, Nicaragua), nicknamed "El Presidente" (The President),^[1] is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was the first Nicaraguan baseball player (pitcher or position player) to play in the majors.

Career

Martínez pitched for the Baltimore Orioles (1976-1986), Montreal Expos (1986-1993), Cleveland Indians (1994-1996), Seattle Mariners (1997) and Atlanta Braves (1998).

During a 23-year baseball career, Martínez compiled 245 wins, 2,149 strikeouts, and a 3.70 earned run average. He is one of the top Latin American pitchers of all-time. On July 28, 1991, Martínez pitched the thirteenth perfect game in baseball history, pitching for the Montreal Expos against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He remains the only Latin American-born pitcher to pitch a perfect game.^[2]

On September 28, 1993, Martinez won his 100th game for the Expos, becoming one of nine major league pitchers ever with at least 100 wins in both the American and National leagues. Others to do that are Jim Bunning, Ferguson Jenkins, Al Orth, Gaylord Perry, Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson, Nolan Ryan and Cy Young.

On September 28, 1995, Martínez had the misfortune to be the last man to pitch to the late Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett in his career. A wild pitch by Martínez broke Puckett's jaw.

Martínez has the most career victories of any pitcher who has never won 20 games in a single season. Milt Pappas, Jerry Reuss, Frank Tanana, Charlie Hough, Chuck Finley, and Kenny Rogers are the only other pitchers with more than 200 career victories who have done so. (Of those, Reuss and Rogers had pitched no-hitters, with Rogers' also being a perfect game three years to the day of Martínez's.)

In his post-playing career, Martinez has worked as a spring training instructor for the Baltimore Orioles in 2005 and 2006,^[3] and currently serves as the pitching coach for the Palm Beach Cardinals in the Florida State League.^[4]

The national baseball park in Managua (Nicaragua's capital city), Dennis Martínez National Stadium, was named in his honor.

Martinez runs his own organization, The Dennis Martinez Foundation, to help poor children around the world.

Highlights

• 4-time All-Star (1990–1992, 1995)
• Twice Top 10 Cy Young Award (1981, 1991)
• Led league in wins (1981)
• Led league in ERA (1991)
• Led league in shutouts (1991)
• 6-time Top 10 in shutouts (1979, 1981, 1990, 1994–1996)
• Led league in games started, innings pitched and batters faced (1979)
• 9-time pitched 220 or more innings in a season (1978–1979, 1982, 1988–1993)
• 3-time oldest player in the majors (1996–1998)
• 52nd on the strikeouts all-time list
• Set record for most wins by a Latin American pitcher (244 - August 9, 1998)
• Pitched the 13th perfect game in baseball history (July 28, 1991) with the Montreal Expos.^[5]

July 13th, 1991: Pitched 13th perfect game in Major League Baseball history.

See also

• Pitchers who have thrown a perfect game
• Players from Nicaragua in MLB
• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
• List of Major League Baseball ERA champions
• List of Montreal Expos Opening Day starting pitchers
• MLB All-Time Hit Batsmen List
• Top 100 strikeout pitchers of all time

References

1. ^ Washburn, Gary. "'El Presidente' happy in new job". Major League Baseball. http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20050220&content_id=946722&vkey=news_bal&fext=.jsp&c_id=bal. Retrieved 2007-08-21. 
2. ^ "Baseball's Perfect Games: Dennis Martinez, Montreal Expos". The BASEBALL Page.com. http://www.thebaseballpage.com/stats/lists_feats/perfect_games.htm. Retrieved 2007-08-21. 
3. ^ baltimore.orioles.mlb.com Martinez sharing his knowledge
4. ^ [1]
5. ^ "Most Popular". CNN. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/gallery/featured/GAL1137746/22/27/index.htm. 

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Baseball Library
• Baseball Page
• Dennis Martinez Foundation

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Steve Stone	American League Wins Champion 1981 (with Steve McCatty, Jack Morris & Pete Vukovich)	Succeeded by LaMarr Hoyt
Preceded by Tom Browning	Perfect game pitcher July 28, 1991	Succeeded by Kenny Rogers
Preceded by Bob Milacki, Mike Flanagan, Mark Williamson, & Gregg Olson	No-hitter pitcher July 28, 1991	Succeeded by Wilson Alvarez
Preceded by Danny Darwin	National League ERA Champion 1991	Succeeded by Bill Swift

Persondata
Name	Martinez, Dennis
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	May 14, 1955
Place of birth	Granada, Nicaragua
Date of death
Place of death