| Dave Martinez | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Martinez with theWashington Nationals in 2022 | |
| Washington Nationals – No. 4 | |
| Outfielder /Manager | |
| Born: (1964-09-26)September 26, 1964 (age 60) Brooklyn,New York, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| June 15, 1986, for the Chicago Cubs | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 7, 2001, for the Atlanta Braves | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .276 |
| Home runs | 91 |
| Runs batted in | 580 |
| Managerial record | 463–569 |
| Winning % | .449 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Managerial record at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
As player
As manager
As coach | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
David Martinez (born September 26, 1964) is an American professionalbaseballcoach and formeroutfielder who is themanager for theWashington Nationals ofMajor League Baseball (MLB). He previously served as the bench coach for theTampa Bay Rays andChicago Cubs. He played in MLB for the Cubs,Montreal Expos,Cincinnati Reds,San Francisco Giants,Chicago White Sox,Tampa Bay Devil Rays,Texas Rangers,Toronto Blue Jays, andAtlanta Braves from 1986 to 2001. Martinez had a .276 careerbatting average, 1,599hits, 91home runs, 795runs scored, and 580runs batted in.
Martinez became the bench coach for the Rays in2008, undermanagerJoe Maddon. When Maddon became manager of the Cubs after the 2014 season, Martinez joined him there as bench coach. The Nationals hired Martinez as their manager after the 2017 season, and he led the team to a2019 World Series championship in his second season.
Born inBrooklyn,New York, toPuerto Rican parents,[1] Martinez lived atEast 93rd Street andLexington Avenue inManhattan. He then lived inBrentwood, New York and played little league for BYA (Brentwood Youth Activities). At age 13, his family moved toOrlando, Florida, at the recommendation of one of his uncles.[1][2]
Martinez attendedLake Howell High School inWinter Park, Florida. He played on the school's baseball team, which won the Five Star Conference championship in 1981.[2] He then enrolled atValencia Community College, where he playedcollege baseball.[3]
TheChicago Cubs selected Martinez in the January phase of the1983 Major League Baseball draft.[4][5] After he signed, he played for theGeneva Cubs of theClass A-Short SeasonNew York–Penn League[6] and theQuad Cities Cubs of theClass AMidwest League.[7] He began the 1984 season with Quad Cities,[8] and in 1985, he received a promotion to theWinston-Salem Spirits of theClass A-AdvancedCarolina League.[9] Martinez led the Carolina League with a .342batting average; the second-place finishers,Keith Miller and John Wilson, batted .302.[10] Martinez began the 1986 season with theIowa Cubs of theClass AAAAmerican Association.[11]
The Cubs promoted Martinez to the major leagues for the first time on June 15, 1986,[12] and he served as an injury replacement forBob Dernier.[13] He had a .119 batting average (8-for-67) before he wasoptioned back to the minor leagues in August.[14] Martinez made the Cubs major league roster in 1987,[15] splitting time in center field with Dernier.[16] He batted .292 in 142 games.[17] Martinez struggled in the 1988 season, batting .230 in mid-June.[18] On July 14, 1988, Martinez was traded to theMontreal Expos in exchange forMitch Webster.[19][20] He finished 1988 with a .255 batting average and 23 stolen bases.[21]
Martinez was pegged as aplatoon player in Montreal, as he batted against right-handed pitchers and sat against left-handed pitchers. The Expos also had outfieldersOtis Nixon,Marquis Grissom, andLarry Walker on their roster.[2] He played 126 games in 1989, hitting .274.[21] In 1990, Martinez lost the competition for the center field job to Grissom. However, Grissom was injured,[22] and Martinez platooned with Nixon in center field. Martinez batted .279 with 11 home runs in 118 games in 1990.[23] He batted .295 in 1991.[24] After the 1991 season, the Expos traded Martinez withWillie Greene andScott Ruskin to theCincinnati Reds forBill Risley andJohn Wetteland. He was sought out as a replacement forEric Davis for the Reds.[24] He competed withReggie Sanders for the starting job duringspring training.[25][26]
Martinez played for Cincinnati in 1992, but as Sanders established himself as the Reds' starting center fielder, Martinez declared for free agency after the season. He signed with theSan Francisco Giants on a two-year contract for the 1993 and 1994 seasons. He suffered a torn hamstring in 1993[27] and was limited to 91 games. He hit .241, his lowest average in several seasons.[21] The Giantswaived Martinez in October 1994 after he was held to a .247 average, four home runs and 27runs batted in (RBIs).[28]
Martinez signed a one-year, $500,000 contract with theChicago White Sox for the 1995 season. He received limited playing time undermanagerGene Lamont. When Lamont was replaced byTerry Bevington, Martinez saw an increase in playing time.[29] He signed a two-year $1.425 million contract for the 1996 and 1997 seasons.[30] He spent the 1996 season as a backup behindDarren Lewis,Tony Phillips, andDanny Tartabull, along with fellow backupLyle Mouton.[31]
In 1997, Martinez batted, .286 and set career highs with 12 home runs and 55 RBIs. He then signed a two-year contract with the expansionTampa Bay Devil Rays worth $3.5 million with an option for a third season at $1.75 million.[32][33][34] In addition his desire to play in Florida, he was enticed by the Rays' additions ofFred McGriff,Wilson Álvarez, andRoberto Hernández.[2] In 1998, he recorded the first hit in Tampa history.[5] His contract option for the 2000 season vested when he recorded his 500that bat of the 1999 season.[35]
After batting .260 in his first 29 games of the 2000 season, the Devil Rays, who needed to improve their pitching staff, traded Martinez to the Cubs forMark Guthrie and cash.[36] On June 9, 2000, the Cubs traded Martinez to theTexas Rangers in a three team trade that sentChuck Smith from theFlorida Marlins to the Rangers andBrant Brown from the Marlins to the Cubs.[37] On August 4, 2000, the Rangers traded Martinez to theToronto Blue Jays for aplayer to be named later.[38][39] The Blue Jays sentPeter Munro to the Rangers to complete the trade.[40] By playing for four MLB teams in one season, Martinez tied the record. Since 1901, the previous players to play for four MLB teams in a season wereFrank Huelsman (1904),Willis Hudlin (1940),Paul Lehner (1951),Wes Covington (1961),Mike Kilkenny (1972), andDave Kingman (1977).Dan Miceli (2003) andJosé Bautista (2004) later achieved the feat.[41] With Toronto, he filled in for the injuredRaúl Mondesí as the Blue Jays contended for the American Leaguewild card.[42] Between the four teams, he had a .274 batting average, five home runs, and 47runs batted in (RBIs) in 132 games.[43] He is one of the few players to play for both major league Canadian teams, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Montreal Expos.[44]
Martinez signed with theAtlanta Braves on a two-year contract covering the 2001 and 2002 seasons, valued at approximately $3 million.[45] He batted .328 in the first half of the 2001 season, but only .233 in the second half. Late in the year, he was diagnosed with chronictendinitis in thepatella. He appeared in theMLB postseason for the only time in his career, as he played in the2001 National League Division Series, as the Braves defeated theHouston Astros, and the2001 National League Championship Series, where the Braves lost to theArizona Diamondbacks. Martinez returned to the Braves in 2002, but missed the entire season after he injured his right knee during spring training.[46] He announced his retirement. In 1,919 games played, Martinez had a .276 career batting average, 1,599 hits, 91 home runs, 795 runs scored, and 580 RBIs.[47]
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Martinez worked for the Tampa Bay Rays as a spring training instructor in 2006 and 2007.[4][48][49] On October 11, 2007, he was hired by the Tampa Bay Rays to be their bench coach. As the Rays' bench coach, Martinez was in charge of defensive positioning, and worked with the Rays' players on bunting and baserunning.[5]
Martinez interviewed for managerial positions with Toronto in the 2010 offseason[50] and theCleveland Indians.[5] During the 2011 offseason, Martinez interviewed for White Sox' managerial position.[51][52] The White Sox hiredRobin Ventura. After the 2012 season, Martinez was considered for the Astros' managerial position, which went toBo Porter.[53] During the 2013 offseason, Martinez interviewed for Cubs' managerial position,[54] which went toRick Renteria, and theWashington Nationals' managerial position,[55] which went toMatt Williams.
Rays' managerJoe Maddon opted out of his contract with Tampa Bay after the 2014 season. The Rays sought feedback from their players on who should manage the team.Evan Longoria,Alex Cobb, andBen Zobrist endorsed Martinez.[56] Martinez interviewed for the position, but was not among the Rays' three finalists.[57] Martinez announced his intention to leave the Rays.[58] On December 4, he was hired to serve as the bench coach for the Cubs under Maddon.[59] In 2016, Martinez was part of the Cubs' coaching staff that led the team to winning the2016 World Series, breaking a 108-year long drought.[60]
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TheWashington Nationals elected not to extend managerDusty Baker's contract after a second consecutive season in which the Nationals reached theNational League Division Series and lost in five games (in2016 to theLos Angeles Dodgers; in2017 to Martinez's Cubs).[61] Martinez was one of just a handful of candidates mentioned for the open managerial job. On October 30, 2017, the Nationals announced they had come to terms with Martinez on a three-year manager contract starting with the2018 season, with a club option for the 2021 season.[62]
Martinez returned to the Nationals franchise after playing with the club from 1988 to 1991 when it was the Expos. He earned his first win as a major league manager in his first career game managed, as the Nationals shut out theCincinnati Reds 2–0 on March 30, 2018, to begin the season.[63] Throughout his first season, Martinez made strategic lineup moves; placing Bryce Harper in the leadoff spot for the first time in over four years on May 1, 2018,[64] and allowing ace Max Scherzer to throw 121 pitches on May 19, 2018.[65] The Nationals finished the 2018 season with an 82–80 record.[66]
The Nationals began the 2019 season with a 19–31 record and public calls began for Martinez to be fired.[66] The Nationals rebounded and reached the2019 World Series. In Game 6 of the best-of-7 series, Martinez was ejected after an argument with an umpire over a controversial call.[67] The next night, Martinez and the Nationals captured the 2019 World Series championship by defeating theHouston Astros in Game 7. The Nationals won all four games as the visiting team, the first time that this has happened in a World Series.[68]
In 2020, he had his pitching staff issueintentional walks at a higher rate than any other major league manager.[69]
On July 2, 2022, the Nationals exercised Martinez's option for the 2023 season.[70]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| WAS | 2018 | 162 | 82 | 80 | .506 | 2nd in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| WAS | 2019 | 162 | 93 | 69 | .574 | 2nd in NL East | 12 | 5 | .706 | WonWorld Series (HOU) |
| WAS | 2020 | 60 | 26 | 34 | .433 | 4th in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| WAS | 2021 | 162 | 65 | 97 | .401 | 5th in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| WAS | 2022 | 162 | 55 | 107 | .340 | 5th in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| WAS | 2023 | 162 | 71 | 91 | .438 | 5th in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| WAS | 2024 | 162 | 71 | 91 | .438 | 4th in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 1,032 | 463 | 569 | .449 | 12 | 5 | .706 | |||
Martinez resides inSafety Harbor, Florida, a suburb ofTampa and is the father of four children[38][72] and two granddaughters.[73] Jagger attended theUniversity of Tampa, where he played for the school'ssoccer team.[47] Dalton played baseball at theCollege of Central Florida in 2014.[74] The family also provided a second home to Dalton's best friendMike Love.[75] In September 2019, Dave Martinez underwent acardiac catheterization after experiencing chest pains during a win over the Atlanta Braves.[76]
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Tampa Bay Rays bench coach 2008–2014 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chicago Cubs bench coach 2015–2017 | Succeeded by |
