Ed Martel got his chance to pitch from a future major league mound in 1992 and he didn't want to let something like substandard field conditions get in the way, The Miami Herald wrote.
Martel would play the season at AAA Columbus, but that spring, he was slated to start in an exhibition game at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami.
"The umpire, (Ken) Kaiser, said, 'We're not going to make you throw if you don't want to,'" Martell recalled afterward to The Herald. "I said, 'It's not a want.' I wanted to figure a way to fix it so I could get out there. You had to pry me off there today."
While he pitched well enough that spring to make AAA for the first time, in a career that saw seven campaigns, he fell short of the bigs.
Martel's career began in 1987, taken by the Yankees in the 11th round of the draft out of De La Salle High School in Michigan.
Martel started with the Yankees at short-season Oneonta. He saw two outings there in 1987 and nine more in 1988. He went 2-2, with a 3.02 ERA in 1988.
Martel moved to single-A Fort Lauderdale for 1989, then high-A Prince William for 1990. He went 8-13 over 25 starts in 1990, with a 4.08 ERA.
Martel took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of an April 1990 game with Prince William, though he ultimately took the loss, his third to that point on the year, The Raleigh News and Observer wrote.
"All I did today was concentrate inning by inning," Martel told The News and Observer after that game. "I kept the ball down and made some good pitches. I had been trying too hard before, trying to pitch too fine."
Martel moved to AA Albany-Colonie for 1991. He went 13-6, with a 2.81 ERA. He then made AAA Columbus for 1992. He went 10-9 there, with a 5.56 ERA over 25 starts.
A series of injuries, however, slowed and then helped end Martel's career. He's last recorded as playing in 1995, briefly with the Tigers at AAA and then in independent ball.
Martel went on to go into athlete training and rehabilitation. He created The Martel Method with the Overhead Athletic Institute, which he founded. He worked to discover why throwing injuries happen and how to prevent them, according to the organization's site.
Martel passed away in September 2018 at the age of 49 after a battle with cancer.
- Raleigh News and Observer, April 30, 1990: Bulls shut out Cannons, 2-0
- Miami Herald, March 22, 1992: Problems continue on JRS mound
- OverheadAthletics.com: The Martel Method
Made the Majors:1,351-33.2%
Never Made Majors:2,722-66.8%-X
5+ Seasons in the Majors:549
10+ Seasons in the Minors:333
No comments:
Post a Comment