Al Martin

This article is about the baseball outfielder. For the baseball second baseman, see Al Martin (second baseman). For Al Martin, motivational speaker, see Allen Martin.

Al Martin
Left fielder
Born: November 24, 1967 (1967-11-24) West Covina, California
Batted: Left	Threw: Left
MLB debut
July 28, 1992 for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Last MLB appearance
September 21, 2003 for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Career statistics
Batting average	.276
Home runs	132
Runs batted in	485
Teams
Pittsburgh Pirates (1992–1999) San Diego Padres (2000) Seattle Mariners (2000–2001) Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2003) LG Twins (KBO) (2004)

Albert Lee Martin (born November 24, 1967 in West Covina, California) is a former professional baseball left fielder. He played twelve seasons in Major League Baseball, mostly for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He also played one season in the Korea Baseball Organization.

Early life

Martin graduated from John A. Rowland High School in Rowland Heights, California, in 1985.

Professional career

Martin played for four teams in the majors: the Pittsburgh Pirates (1992–99), the San Diego Padres (2000), the Seattle Mariners (2000–01), and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2003). His best season was in 1996 when he hit .300 with 18 home runs and 72 RBIs. That year he also stole 38 bases. He played for the KBO's LG Twins in 2004.

Controversies

Martin claimed to have played football at University of Southern California. In 2001, he compared a collision with Seattle teammate Carlos Guillén to the time he tried to tackle Michigan running back Leroy Hoard in 1986, when he was playing strong safety at Southern California. In actuality, USC and Michigan did not meet that year, and Martin was an outfielder in the Atlanta Braves' system at the time. Furthermore, USC has no record that Martin ever attended the university.

In a September 1996 game against the Chicago Cubs, Al Martin spit out a large wad of sunflower seeds immediately after hitting a home run, prompting complaints from several viewers that Martin intentionally vomited on the field (similar to Jay Buhner).^{[citation needed]}

In 2000, Martin was involved in a domestic abuse incident with a woman named Shawn Haggerty. She told police that they were married. Martin was already married to another woman at the time, making this a case of bigamy. Martin claimed that he did not realize the ceremony in Las Vegas (with Haggerty) was legally binding.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
• Baseball-Almanac.com - statistics page