| Dave Martinez | |
|---|---|
| Tampa Bay Rays – No. 4 | |
| Bench Coach | |
| Born: September 26, 1964 Brooklyn, New York |
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| Batted: Left | Threw: Left |
| MLB debut | |
| June 15, 1986 for the Chicago Cubs | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 7, 2001 for the Atlanta Braves | |
| Career statistics | |
| Batting average | .276 |
| Home runs | 91 |
| Runs batted in | 580 |
| Teams | |
David Martinez (born September 26, 1964) is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for several teams from 1986 to 2001. He is currently the bench coach for the Tampa Bay Rays.
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After playing high school baseball in Orlando, FL, Martinez attended Valencia Community College in Orlando during the fall of 1982, where he was drafted in the January phase of the MLB draft by the Chicago Cubs. After several years in the minors, he made his major league debut in 1986. In 1988, amid rumors that he was sleeping with the wife of teammate Ryne Sandberg, Martinez was traded to the Montreal Expos.[1][2] Over the next decade, he established himself as one of the better defensive outfielders in the game. He was among the league leaders in assists, range factor, and fielding percentage several times.
Martinez is one of only a handful of players to play for four major league teams in the same season.(See July 30, 2004 in baseball) This happened in 2000, when he played for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (from opening day till May 12), the Chicago Cubs (from May 12 to June 9), the Texas Rangers (from June 9 until August 4), and finally the Toronto Blue Jays (from August 4 through the end of the season). He never played in a postseason series until his final year in the majors, when the Atlanta Braves reached the NLCS.
On October 11, 2007, he was hired by the Tampa Bay Rays to be their bench coach.
Martinez resides in the Tampa Bay area with wife Lisa and four children - Josh, Jagger, Dalton, and Angelica.
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