Rodolfo Héctor Martínez (May 11, 1939 – December 14, 1999) was a

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

baseball player Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

who played in

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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

on the North American mainland in 1957–1958, 1960–1964, and 1966–1967, mostly in the Kansas City Athletics'

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 Nor ...

system A system is a group of Interaction, interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment (systems), environment, is described by its boundaries, ...

. He was 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 cat ...

who threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . During his career, he had two separate trials in

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), ...

with the 1962–1963 Athletics, appearing in seven

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

, and making four

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

in 15 at bats. He was born in

Las Villas (Cuba) Santa Clara (also known as Las Villas after 1940) was a historical province of Cuba and its capital was Santa Clara. After 1976, its territory was divided into the modern Cuban provinces of Villa Clara, Cienfuegos and Sancti Spíritus Sancti ...

. Martínez' two most successful professional seasons came with the Albuquerque Dukes — in 1960, when they played in the Class D

Sophomore League The Sophomore League was a Class D (baseball), Class D level minor league baseball league that operated from 1958 in sports, 1958 through 1961 in sports, 1961. League franchises were located in New Mexico and Texas. The league evolved from the Sou ...

, and 1962, when the Dukes were members of the Double-A

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

.Minor league statistics
from

Baseball Reference Baseball-Reference is a website providing baseball statistics for every player in Major League Baseball history. The site is often used by major media organizations and baseball broadcasters as a source for statistics. It offers a variety of advan ...

In the former season, Martínez batted .310 and was named the second baseman of the Sophomore League's all-star team. In 1962, Martínez batted .352 with 68

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

in only 83 games for the TL Dukes. He made one Major League appearance at the tail end of the campaign,

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who is ...

as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

on September 30. In , he had a six-game May–June tenure with the Athletics, hitting a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

off

Ken McBride Kenneth Faye McBride (born August 12, 1935) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. The right-handed pitcher worked in 151 games, 122 as a starter, in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox (1959–1960) and Los A ...

in his second MLB at bat on May 24. Martínez' only three starts as an MLB outfielder came May 24–26, 1963, against the Los Angeles Angels at Chavez Ravine.Retrosheet
/ref> He spent most of that season with the Triple-A Portland Beavers. Héctor Martínez died in Cuba in December 1999 at the age of 60.

References

External links

*Career statistics and player information fro
Baseball ReferenceBaseball Reference (Minors)Venezuelan Professional Baseball League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Hector 1939 births 1999 deaths Albuquerque Dukes players Batavia Indians players Cuban expatriate baseball players in Canada Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States Cuban expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Dallas Rangers players Industriales de Valencia players Kansas City Athletics players Lewiston Broncs players McCook Braves players Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball players from Cuba Minor league baseball managers Navegantes del Magallanes players Peninsula Grays players Portland Beavers players Tigres de Aragua players Vancouver Mounties players