Today would have been the 48th birthday for former White Sox and Indians infielder Carlos Martinez. If you follow the game now, you may be confused with one of the Cardinals top pitching prospects, also named Carlos Martinez. There was a pitcher for the Florida Marlins who pitched in 2006, 2007 and 2009 that has the same name. If you search on baseballreference.com, you'd see several minor league players over the course of the last several seasons who have the same name. While the expectations of the Cardinals pitching prospect should pay dividends on the field, the career of the former included interesting moments, if not spectacular.
Sadly, on 1/24/2006, Martinez passed away from symptoms of AIDS. He was signed as an amateur free agent in 1983 by the New York Yankees. He and another minor league player, Bill Lindsey, were sent to the White Sox in the deal that sent Wayne Tolleson, Joel Skinner and Ron Kittle to the Yankees. Coming to the big leagues in 1988, Martinez was the most frequent White Sox 3B in 1989, keeping the spot warm for Robin Ventura in 1990. He would play more games at 1B in 1990 than any other White Sox player. Of course, Frank Thomas would play that season and take over the following season.
He became a free agent before 1991 and joined the Cleveland Indians. He would have a 2 HR game for the Indians against Oakland RHP Ron Darling on 8/30/1992. His unintentional claim to fame may be on 5/26/1993, when he hit a home run against the Texas Rangers. At Municipal Stadium in Cleveland, Martinez hit a long fly ball to right field. Rangers RF Jose Canseco was backing up attempting to catch the ball when he lost sight of it and the ball bounced off his head and over the wall.
Sadly, on 1/24/2006, Martinez passed away from symptoms of AIDS. He was signed as an amateur free agent in 1983 by the New York Yankees. He and another minor league player, Bill Lindsey, were sent to the White Sox in the deal that sent Wayne Tolleson, Joel Skinner and Ron Kittle to the Yankees. Coming to the big leagues in 1988, Martinez was the most frequent White Sox 3B in 1989, keeping the spot warm for Robin Ventura in 1990. He would play more games at 1B in 1990 than any other White Sox player. Of course, Frank Thomas would play that season and take over the following season.
He became a free agent before 1991 and joined the Cleveland Indians. He would have a 2 HR game for the Indians against Oakland RHP Ron Darling on 8/30/1992. His unintentional claim to fame may be on 5/26/1993, when he hit a home run against the Texas Rangers. At Municipal Stadium in Cleveland, Martinez hit a long fly ball to right field. Rangers RF Jose Canseco was backing up attempting to catch the ball when he lost sight of it and the ball bounced off his head and over the wall.
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