Morris Webster Martin (September 3, 1922 – May 24, 2010), nicknamed "Lefty", was an American professional baseball player. The left-handed pitcher worked in 250

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

in Major League Baseball over ten seasons with the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

(1949),

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

(1951–1954), Chicago White Sox (1954–1956), Baltimore Orioles (1956), St. Louis Cardinals (1957–1958), Cleveland Indians (1958) and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

(1959). Martin was born in Dixon, Missouri; he was listed as standing tall and weighing . Martin's professional career began in 1941 in the White Sox' organization. After two seasons, including 25 games in the top-level American Association, he entered the United States Army. Assigned to the First Army's 49th Combat Engineers, he participated in

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – Run for Tunis, 16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of secu ...

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...

, Operation Cobra and the Battle of the Bulge. According to Gary Bedingfield's Baseball in Wartime, Martin was badly wounded in action at least twice: "At the Battle of the Bulge, he suffered a bullet wound to the thigh and nearly lost a leg after gangrene set in. It took more than 150 shots of penicillin to spare him from an amputation." However, Martin was able to return to baseball in 1946, the first full peacetime season. Now a member of the Brooklyn

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

, he had his first MLB trial with the pennant-bound 1949 Dodgers, appearing in ten games, including four starts. After spending 1950 back in the minor leagues, he was selected by the Philadelphia Athletics in the Rule 5 draft and had a sparkling campaign, winning 11 of 15 decisions ( .733) for a sixth-place team that played at only a .455 pace over the entire season. Along the way, Martin threw his only big-league shutout, a five-hitter against 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 of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

at Briggs Stadium on July 19. Retrosheetbr>box score: 1951-07-19 (1)
/ref> He became more of a relief specialist as his big-league career progressed. In his 250-game MLB career, Martin posted a 38–34 won–lost mark, 15 saves, eight

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

s and a 4.29 earned run average. In 604

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

, he permitted 607 hits and 249

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

, with 245

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s. He retired after the 1960 minor-league season and died in Washington, Missouri, at age 87 in 2010.

References

External links

Bedingfield, Gary, ''Morrie Martin.''
Baseball in Wartime
Morrie Martin
- Baseballbiography.com * 1922 births 2010 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II Asheville Tourists players Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Missouri Brooklyn Dodgers players Chicago Cubs players Chicago White Sox players Cleveland Indians players Danville Dodgers players Deaths from lung cancer in Missouri Fort Worth Cats players Grand Forks Chiefs players Houston Buffs players Major League Baseball pitchers People from Pulaski County, Missouri Philadelphia Athletics players St. Louis Cardinals players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Vancouver Mounties players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1920s-stub