Barnes Robertson “Barney” Martin (March 3, 1923 – October 30, 1997) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

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 ...

who had a "

cup of coffee A "cup of coffee" is a North American sports idiom for a short time spent by a minor league player at the major league level. The idea behind the term is that the player was only in the big leagues long enough to have a cup of coffee before ...

" with the

Cincinnati Redlegs Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

in . Born in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-largest ...

, he threw and batted right-handed and was listed as tall and .

Career

Though Martin appeared in just one

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

game, he had a ten-year

minor-league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

career. Originally signed by the New York Giants as an amateur

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

before the season, Martin compiled a 44–43 record and 4.06

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

in five seasons in their farm system. He was then acquired by Cincinnati sometime during the season, and posted a 23–7 record, 2.13 ERA, and a

Sally League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

-leading 174 strikeouts for the Columbia Reds, who played in Martin's home town, in . That performance earned him a spot with the big league club for . On April 22, the sixth game of the regular season, the Redlegs was already losing 6-2 to the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

with Stan Musial set to lead off the seventh inning, when

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Rogers Hornsby Rogers Hornsby Sr. (April 27, 1896 – January 5, 1963), nicknamed "The Rajah", was an American baseball infielder, manager, and coach who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1915–1926, 193 ...

summoned Martin to relieve

Bud Podbielan Clarence Anthony Podbielan (March 6, 1924 – October 26, 1982) was an American professional baseball player, a pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1949–52), Cincinnati Reds/ Redlegs (1952–55 and 1957) and Cleveland Indians (1959). He was born ...

. Martin retired Musial, and got out of his first inning of work unscathed. In his second frame, however, he allowed a lead-off

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...

Rip Repulski Eldon John "Rip" Repulski (October 4, 1928 – February 10, 1993) was an American professional baseball player, an outfielder in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals (1953–56), Philadelphia Phillies (1957–58), Los Angeles Dodgers ...

, followed by a

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

Del Rice Delbert Rice Jr. (October 27, 1922 – January 26, 1983) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played for 17 seasons as a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1945 to 1961, most notably for the St. Louis Cardinals ...

. After retiring the next two batters, it appeared Martin would escape with just the one run scored; however,

Red Schoendienst Albert Fred "Red" Schoendienst (; February 2, 1923 – June 6, 2018) was an American professional baseball second baseman, coach, and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB), and is largely known for his coaching, managing, and playing years wi ...

followed with a double to drive in Rice, and bring Musial back to the plate. Musial grounded out to short to end the inning without further damage. Five days later, Martin was optioned back to Columbia, where he would compile a 17–6 record with a 2.14 ERA. His overall minor league stats include 104 wins versus 74 losses in 245 games (128 starts). His minor league ERA was 3.35. While pitching for Columbia, he was the team's

bus driver A bus driver, bus operator, or bus captain is a person who drives buses for a living. Description Bus drivers must have a special license above and beyond a regular driver's licence. Bus drivers typically drive their vehicles between bus st ...

and was also a

railroad engineer A train driver, engine driver, engineman or locomotive driver, commonly known as an engineer or railroad engineer in the United States and Canada, and also as a locomotive handler, locomotive operator, train operator, or motorman, is a pers ...

for Southern Railway.

Family

Two of Martin's sons played professional ball. Michael, a left-handed pitcher, was selected fifth overall in the

1970 Major League Baseball Draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1970 Major League Baseball draft. ''*'' Did not sign Other notable Selections ''*'' Did not sign References External links Complete draft list from ''The Basebal ...

by the Philadelphia Phillies, but ultimately was unable to make the major leagues. A year later, the Phillies signed older brother Jerry, an

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 c ...

, as an undrafted free agent. Despite spending three seasons together in the same organization, Michael and Jerry were never teammates. Jerry went on to play 1,018 games in the majors for five clubs between 1974 and 1984.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Barney 1923 births 1997 deaths Baseball players from Columbia, South Carolina Cincinnati Redlegs players Columbia Reds players Jacksonville Tars players Major League Baseball pitchers Manchester Giants players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Savannah Redlegs players Trenton Giants players