Greatest 21 Days Baseball Profiles

Pitching for the AA Wichita Wranglers in April 1994, Jose Martinez took a deflected comebacker off his cheek, The Wichita Eagle wrote . The play complete, Martinez, on his way to a complete game shutout, quickly signaled he was OK, The Eagle wrote . "I didn't want the trainer or anyone to check on me," Martinez told The Eagle . "There was no way I was coming out of the game." As it turned out, Martinez was fortunate he wasn't hurt. Soon after, he got his call directly to the majors. He saw four outings with the Padres, the only major league outings of his career. Martinez' career began in 1989, signed by the Mets as a free agent out of his native Dominican Republic . Martinez started with the Mets in the rookie Gulf Coast League . He saw 11 outings there in 1989 and returned for 13 starts in 1990. He went 8-3, with a 1.57 ERA in 1990. He moved to single-A Columbia for 1991 and went 20-4 over 26 starts, with a 1.49 ERA. He made high-A St. Lucie and AA...