Donald Renie Martin (born August 30, 1955) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher.

Early career

Born in Dover, Delaware, Martin played for Dover High School and later attended the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...

. Martin was drafted twice, by the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

in 1976 and by the Kansas City Royals in 1977 to play for the

Gulf Coast Royals The Gulf Coast League (GCL) Royals were a minor league baseball franchise in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League from 1971–1978, 1982–1983 and 1985–2002. The club was owned and operated by the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball. Th ...

farm team in

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sou ...

. He later played for the

Daytona Beach Islanders Daytona Beach Islanders was a name for various minor league baseball teams that have all played in the Florida State League from 1920–1966 and in 1977 and again from 1985–1986. In 1968 through 1973, the team became the Daytona Beach Dodgers, d ...

Jacksonville Suns The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are located in Jacksonville, Florida, and are named for shrimp caught in the area. The team pla ...

Fort Myers Royals The Fort Myers Royals were a minor league affiliate of the Kansas City Royals from 1978 to 1987. In 1978 the Royals were brought to Fort Myers, Florida by the Kansas City franchise. This was because Fort Myers served as the spring training home ...

Omaha Royals Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest c ...

, and in Phoenix Suns.

Major League career

He was called to the majors in 1979 and appeared in 25 games in relief in his rookie year. He finished the year with an ERA of 5.19 with five saves. The next year, the Royals gave him a chance to start. He started twenty games, going 10-10 with a 4.39 ERA. He did have two saves that year, also. In 1981, he had arguably his best year, pitching exclusively in relief, but achieving a 2.77 ERA in 29 games. However, the Royals traded him to the

with Craig Chamberlain,

Atlee Hammaker Charlton Atlee Hammaker (born January 24, 1958) is a former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher who played the majority of his career for the San Francisco Giants (1982–1990). He also played for the Kansas City Royals, San Diego Padres, an ...

, and Brad Wellman for

Vida Blue Vida Rochelle Blue Jr. (born July 28, 1949) is a former American professional baseball player. He was a left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball between and , most notably as an integral member of the Oakland Athletics dynasty that won thr ...

and

Bob Tufts Robert Malcolm Tufts (November 2, 1955 – October 4, 2019) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who played for the San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals between 1981 and 1983. Early life Tufts was born in Medford, Massac ...

. Martin spent most of his first year with the

Giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) *Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...

as primarily a starter (7-10, 4.65 ERA). They moved him to the bullpen the next year, and he spent most of the next two years as a relief pitcher before the Giants traded him to the Philadelphia Phillies at the end of August 1984 with

Al Oliver Albert Oliver Jr. (born October 14, 1946) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder and first baseman from through , most notably as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates teams that won f ...

for

Kelly Downs Kelly Robert Downs (born October 25, 1960) is an American former professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics from 1986 to 1993. He wore uniform number 37 for his seve ...

and George Riley. He continued his role as a reliever with the

Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citize ...

until they released him after the 1984 season. The Royals re-signed him in 1985, but he never pitched in the Majors again. Martin did have some postseason experience. He appeared in three games in the

1980 World Series The 1980 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) season. The 77th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion Philadelphia Phillies and the Ameri ...

for the Royals, appearing in three games, recording 9 IP, allowing three earned runs. He also appeared in the special Division Series after the strike-shortened 1981 season for the Royals. In that series, he threw 5 innings allowing only one hit.

Senior baseball

Martin was a member of the

Florida Tropics Florida Tropics SC is a professional soccer club based in Lakeland, Florida. They are owned by Central Florida Sports Ventures, LLC, led by Dr. Panos Iakovidis, and former USL commissioner and Rochester Rhinos owner Chris Economides. The organ ...

in the

Senior Professional Baseball Association The Senior Professional Baseball Association, referred to commonly as the ''Senior League'', was a winter baseball league based in Florida for players age 35 and over, with a minimum age of 32 for catchers. The league began play in 1989 and had ei ...

in 1990. He finished the season 1-2 with an ERA of 4.44.

Awards and honors

In 1995, the

Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame The Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame is a membership-based organization founded in 1976. The organization runs a museum with exhibits at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium on the Riverfront in Wilmington, Delaware and promotes physical fitness in t ...

inducted Martins in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington (Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

References

External links

, o
Baseball Almanac
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Pura Pelota
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Renie 1955 births Living people Baseball players from Delaware Daytona Beach Islanders players Fort Myers Royals players Gulf Coast Royals players Jacksonville Suns players Kansas City Royals players Major League Baseball pitchers Omaha Royals players People from Dover, Delaware Philadelphia Phillies players Phoenix Giants players Richmond Spiders baseball players San Francisco Giants players Tigres de Aragua players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela University of Richmond alumni West Palm Beach Tropics players