Alphonse Case "Phonney" Martin (August 4, 1845 – May 24, 1933) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

and

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

who played two seasons in the National Association from to .

Career

Martin, born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, was an

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

veteran who played in organized baseball as far back as 1869, when he pitched for the Brooklyn Eckfords. That year, a reporter for the

New York Clipper The ''New York Clipper'', also known as ''The Clipper'', was a weekly entertainment newspaper published in New York City from 1853 to 1924. It covered many topics, including circuses, dance, music, the Outdoor recreation, outdoors, sports, and ...

described him as an "extremely hard pitcher to hit for the ball never comes in a straight line‚ but in a tantalizing curve." If the observation is true, this would pre-date

Candy Cummings William Arthur "Candy" Cummings (October 18, 1848 – May 17, 1924) was an American professional baseball player. He played as a pitcher in the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, and National League. Cummings is widely cred ...

, the pitcher given credit as the inventor of the

curveball In baseball and softball, the curveball is a type of pitch thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball, causing it to dive as it approaches the plate. Varieties of curveball include the 12–6 curve ...

. His pitching style led to his nickname of "Old Slow Ball". Martin officially began his professional baseball career when he joined the Troy Haymakers of the National Association as a pitcher and right fielder, playing in 25

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

, pitching in eight of those games. Later in the season, he returned to the Eckfords, now also in the Association, and played in the same pitcher/outfielder role for 18 games. That year, he is given credit for

managing Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

the Eckfords for nine games, with a record of 1 win and 8 losses. There is some dispute about this, as

SABR Sabr () (literally 'endurance' or more accurately 'perseverance' and 'persistence'"Ṣabr", ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'') is one of the two parts of Iman (concept), faith (the other being ''shukr'') in Islam. It teaches to remain Spirituality, sp ...

and retrosheet.org list

Andy Allison Andrew Kent Allison (1848 – March 21, 1897) was an American professional baseball player who played first base in Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally ...

, Jimmy Wood, and Martin as managing the team that year, while baseball-reference.com lists Jim Clinton and Wood as the managers. For the season, he joined the

New York Mutuals The Mutual Base Ball Club of New York was an American baseball club established in 1857, the year of the first baseball convention. The Mutuals just missed out on being a founding member of the National Association of Base Ball Players that yea ...

, which turned out to be his last season at this level. He played 30 games in right field, and pitched six games.

Death

Martin died in Hollis, New York at the age of 87, and is interred at Cypress Hills National Cemetery in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Phonney Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball right fielders New York Mutuals (NABBP) players Brooklyn Eckfords (NABBP) players Troy Haymakers players Brooklyn Eckfords players Brooklyn Eckfords managers New York Mutuals players Baseball player-managers Baseball players from New York City Burials at Cypress Hills Cemetery 1845 births 1933 deaths Burials at Cypress Hills National Cemetery