Mike Martin (baseball)
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Mike Martin, Sr. (born February 12, 1944) is the sixth all-time winningest coach in NCAA Division I college baseball history, and second in all-time winning percentage. Heading into the 2006 season, Martin had compiled a record of 1,391 wins, 472 losses and four ties over 26 seasons of collegiate coaching. Ten games into his 26th season, on February 25, 2006, he became the 8th coach to reach 1,400 collegiate baseball wins and only the 3rd coach in Division I to accomplish the feat.
Martin is currently the coach of the Florida State University Seminoles, where he has coached for the last 27 seasons and amassed a record of 1391-472-4 prior to the 2006 campaign.
Martin, himself a graduate of Florida State in 1966, began his collegiate playing career at Wingate Junior College where he was a Junior College All-American. He then transferred to Florida State where he played from 1965-1966. During his years as the center fielder at Florida State, Martin hit .354, and earned all-District honors in his senior season and played in the 1965 College World Series. After his college career was over, Martin played professional baseball in the New York Mets and Detroit Tigers minor league organizations for three seasons before beginning his career in coaching.
Martin began his career in coaching at the junior high school level. His first stint as a college coach, surprisingly came in a different sport, basketball when Martin became the head basketball coach at Tallahassee Community College.
It was in 1975, when Woody Woodward took over the head coaching job at Florida State, that Martin would be reunited with his alma mater. Martin served as an assistant coach under Woodward for four seasons, and then for another season under Dick Howser. Howser would get his chance to manage the New York Yankees and Martin stepped into the head coaching role at Florida State in 1980.
Though Martin's teams have yet to win a national title, his tenure at Florida State is marked with many honors and feats. Only one team in college baseball, the University of Miami, has been to more consecutive NCAA Tournaments than Florida State, who have, as of the 2005 season, made 28 straight postseason appearances. Martin's Seminoles have won four Atlantic Coast Conference championships and have appeared in 12 College World Series.
Martin's players, which include many college and professional standouts such as Deion Sanders, J. D. Drew, Doug Mientkiewicz, Jody Reed and Paul Wilson, have excelled as well. 62 of Martin's players have been named All-Americans, five have been named national player of the year, three have won the Golden Spikes Award, considered to be the most prestigious individual award in amateur baseball, and one has won the Dick Howser Trophy, considered to be the equivalent of the Heisman Trophy for baseball.
Dedicated in 2005, Florida State's baseball team plays on Mike Martin Field at Dick Howser Stadium.
| Atlantic Coast Conference |
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| Boston College • Clemson • Duke • Florida State • Georgia Tech • Maryland • Miami • North Carolina • North Carolina State • Virginia • Virginia Tech • Wake Forest |
