Víctor Jesús Martínez (born December 23, 1978 in
Ciudad Bolívar, Bolívar, Venezuela) is a
switch-hitting catcher and first baseman for the
Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball. He was
signed by the Indians as an amateur free agent in
1996 and after a pair of minor league MVP awards and
batting titles in 2001 and 2002, he made his debut
with Cleveland as a September call-up on September
10, 2002.
In 2003, Martínez was busiest between Triple-A
Buffalo Bisons and the Indians. He finished with a
combined .315 batting average, hitting at a .349
clip in August and September with the big club.
Exhibiting knowledge of the strike zone and an
ability to make contact, he reduced his strikeout
totals and produced a combined .376 on base
percentage. He also drove in 63 runs, hitting .323
with runners in scoring position, and was selected
to participate in the All-Star Futures Game played
at Chicago's U.S. Cellular Field. From 2001–03, the
Venezuelan slugger batted a combined .330 with 40
home runs and 194 RBIs.
Showing defensive improvement, Martínez displayed an
ability to call games at the major league level and
began 2004 as the Indians' No. 1 catcher. In his
first full-season he did a fine job defensively, hit
.283 with 23 home runs, set a new record for Indians
catchers with 108 RBI, earned his first All-Star
selection, and shared the Silver Slugger honor as
the top-hitting American League catcher with Iván
Rodríguez. For the first time since the awards began
in 1980, there was a tie at one position. On July
16, Martínez also had the best offensive night by a
Tribe catcher in franchise history, when he hit
three home runs, singled twice, drew a walk, and
drove in a career-high seven runs in a perfect
5-for-5 game.
In June 2005, Martínez was batting .207 but he came
into the season's final weekend batting .382
(96-for-251) after the All-Star break, the most for
any ML player. He finished the season with a .305
average, 20 home runs and 80 RBI.
Since 2006, the Indians started using Martinez
occasionally at first base. In the field, in 2006 he
allowed 100 stolen bases, more than any other
catcher in major league baseball.
In his career, Martínez has posted a .303 average
with 74 home runs and 359 RBIs in 561 games played.
