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

Baseball pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws (" pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Early career

Born in

Dover, Delaware Dover ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and the List of municipalities in Delaware, second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, Delaware, Kent County and the princ ...

, 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 college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approxim ...

. Martin was drafted twice, by the

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

in 1976 and by the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

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. The ...

farm team in

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers, Florida, Fort Myers and Punta Gorda, Florida, Punta Gord ...

. 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,

Omaha Royals Omaha ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 41st-most-populous city, Omaha had a popu ...

, 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 an American 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 ...

, and Brad Wellman for

Vida Blue Vida Rochelle Blue Jr. (; July 28, 1949 – May 6, 2023) was an American professional baseball player. He was a left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1969 to 1986, most notably as an integral member of the Oakland Athletics dynasty ...

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, Massachu ...

. 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 'g ...

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

at the end of August 1984 with

Al Oliver Albert Oliver Jr. (born October 14, 1946) is an Americans, 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 ...

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 seven ...

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. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

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 Amer ...

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 orga ...

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 Hall of Fame The Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame was founded in 1976. Al Cartwright, who helped found it, was its first president and was inducted to its hall of fame in 1980. The current museum building was constructed in 1993. The Delaware Sports M ...

inducted Martin.

References

External links

, o
Baseball Almanac
o

Renie Martin
at

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 ...

(Baseball BioProject) {{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 Sportspeople 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 Dover High School (Delaware) alumni 20th-century American sportsmen