| 02 January 2010
Welcome to Random Seattle Athlete of The Day, a new occasional series where we find one forgotten Seattle athlete from the past and bring him/her back to glory. This is our first installment: tell us if you love it or hate it.
Name: Al Martin
Claim to Fame:
Being the worst regular on one of the best teams in baseball history, the 2001 Mariners.
Being the worst regular on one of the best teams in baseball history, the 2001 Mariners.
Was He Any Good?
Not for Seattle. He had some good years patrolling the same outfield as Barry Bonds in Pittsburgh but he fell off a cliff upon putting on a Mariner uniform.
Not for Seattle. He had some good years patrolling the same outfield as Barry Bonds in Pittsburgh but he fell off a cliff upon putting on a Mariner uniform.
Anything Else Interesting About Him?
Plenty. Al Martin was a bit of a nutcase, especially in Seattle.
His most famous example of this was his insistence on having played strong safety for USC, once comparing a collision with Mariner shortstop Carlos Guillen to tackling former Michigan running back Leroy Hoard in 1986. The problem was, according to USC, there was no record of Al Martin on any roster, or having played in any game, or having even attended the university, which made sense because Martin was drafted out of high school and never attended college. To clinch it, USC did not even play Michigan that year.
In addition to that debacle, Al Martin was a bigamist, having been married to two women at the same time. However, in his defense, he was unaware that weddings performed in Las Vegas actually counted.
Plenty. Al Martin was a bit of a nutcase, especially in Seattle.
His most famous example of this was his insistence on having played strong safety for USC, once comparing a collision with Mariner shortstop Carlos Guillen to tackling former Michigan running back Leroy Hoard in 1986. The problem was, according to USC, there was no record of Al Martin on any roster, or having played in any game, or having even attended the university, which made sense because Martin was drafted out of high school and never attended college. To clinch it, USC did not even play Michigan that year.
In addition to that debacle, Al Martin was a bigamist, having been married to two women at the same time. However, in his defense, he was unaware that weddings performed in Las Vegas actually counted.
