Boris Michael Martin (March 28, 1920 – August 1, 2013) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

for the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

(1944–46 and 1953) and a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

(1948–49). He was nicknamed 'Babe'.

Biography

Martin was born Boris Michael Martinovich in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

immigrant parents. The Martinovich family then moved to

Zeigler, Illinois Zeigler is a city in Franklin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,484 at the 2020 census. History In 1905, fifty men were killed in a coal mining accident in or near the town. Zeigler incorporated in 1914 and was named for L ...

, when Babe was a boy, and subsequently moved to

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

after the death of Babe's father. He started his professional baseball career in 1940 and had a breakout year in 1944 with the

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A baseball team nicknamed the ...

, batting .350 in 114 games. The following season, he joined the Major League Browns. He hit poorly and was sent back down to the minors. Martin retired in 1954. In 69 Major League games, he had 2

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s, 18

RBIs A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

, and a .214

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

. In later years, Martin still held a grudge against one-armed outfielder

Pete Gray Peter James Gray (''Birth name, né'' Wyshner; March 6, 1915 – June 30, 2002) was an American professional baseball outfielder who played for the St. Louis Browns of Major League Baseball for one season in 1945. He was notable for playing ...

, who was a teammate in 1945. "The worst thing that happened to our ballclub in 1945, which we should have won the pennant, was Pete Gray", he said. "And honestly I think if we hadn't had Pete ... we could have won the pennant in 1945." Although Martin's batting average that season was actually 18 points lower than Gray's, Martin was referring to Pete Gray's fielding ability. Because Gray only had one arm, his throws back into the infield were slowed because he had to remove his glove from his one hand, get the ball, and throw into the infield. This slowed him down and allowed runners to advance more easily than they otherwise would have. The Browns finished in third place in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

, six games behind the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

. Charlie Metro was Martin's teammate during Martin's lone season with the Oakland Oaks in 1946. He shared this anecdote: "Babe Martin came to us out from St. Louis. He was in the Browns organization at one time, and I knew him from that. He was a catcher. We were playing in Portland one day when some leather-lunged fan was giving him a good roasting. Portland had a dugout that sloped down kind of like a sunken shed. Babe had taken just about all that he could take from this heckler who was sitting right up there, and he took a running start and jumped up on the roof of the dugout, scrambling up, crawling up, wanting to get the guy, shin guards, mask, and all. He was going to get him, but he couldn't make it. He kept sliding down. Finally somebody grabbed him by his shoes and pulled him back down. He later became a councilperson or something in St. Louis."

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Babe 1920 births 2013 deaths American people of Serbian descent Baseball players from Seattle Boston Red Sox players Dallas Eagles players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball left fielders Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Palestine Pals players Paragould Browns players People from Zeigler, Illinois San Antonio Missions players Baseball players from St. Louis Springfield Browns players St. Joseph Autos players St. Louis Browns players 20th-century American sportsmen Toledo Mud Hens players Tyler Trojans players American Association (1902–1997) MVP Award winners