J.C. Martin: 1969 World Champion Mets Back Up Catcher (1968-1969)

Joseph Clifton Martin was born December 13, 1936 in Axton, Virginia. Both of his grandfathers were named Joseph, so the family began to call him by his initials J.C. to avoid any mix up.

J.C. was a clean-cut Christian boy, the son of a county deputy who use to visit his father at work & see the bad guys who didn't do the right things in jail. Martin never drank nor smoked, he lived a pure life because he all he wanted was to be a baseball player. 

Martin was a high school baseball, basketball & track star getting offered contracts in both basketball as well as baseball. In 1956 he was signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent originally as a first baseman.

In 1958 he hit .330 at Duluth-Superior, then was promoted to AA Indianapolis in 1959 where he hit .287. 

MLB Debut- White Sox: Martin made his MLB debut getting his first MLB hit on the last day of the 1959 season, just as the "Go-Go Sox" won the A.L. pennant. He was thrilled as the team won the pennant in Detroit then flew to a big celebration back in Chicago, as thousands of fans awaited the team. The White Sox under manager by Al Lopez won 94 games then lost the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games.

Martin did not play in the World Series loss to the LA Dodgers. 

In 1960, Martin played in the Pacific Coast League with the San Diego Padres .285 with 13 HRs & 73 RBIs. In 1961he came up to the majors for good splitting time between first base and third base.

In 1961 he played in 110 games, batted .230 with 5 HRs 8 doubles & 32 RBIs making the Topps All Star Rookie team. 

By 1962 long time White Sox catcher Sherm Lollar was at the end of his career & manager Al Lopez convinced Martin to go down to the minors to learn how to be a catcher to succeed Lollar. 

In 1963 he returned as the club's catcher winning over the job from Cam Carreon. Martin threw out 44 % of would-be base stealers, which was best in the league but also allowed 12 passed balls (2nd best in the league).

At the plate he hit a career high 5 HRs in 1963 but only batted .205 in 105 games played. In each of the next two seasons J.C. would lead all catchers in passed balls with 24 in 1964 & in 33 in 1965 setting a record that stood for 22 years. 

In those years Hall of Fame pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm's knuckleball added to Martins passed ball totals. In 1964 he dropped below the .200 mark (.197) at the plate, then became a backup to Johnny Romano the next two years.

In 1965 Martin raised his average 64 points, hitting a career best .261 with 2 HRs 12 doubles & 21 RBIs. Over the next two years he was teammates with the 1966 AL Rookie of the Year, Tommie Agee, whom he would win a World Series within New York.

In 1966, Eddie Stanky took over as the team's manager, that year Martin was limited to just 67 games hitting .255. 

The 1967 White Sox began the year with three catchers but when Duane Josephson went down with injury Martin saw most of the playing time. 

No Hitter: On September 10th, Martin was behind the plate catching Joe Horlen's no hitter over the Tigers. 

Walk Off HR: On July 25th J.C. hit a walk off HR off Cleveland's Sudden Sam McDowell in the first game of a double header. He then hit another HR in the second game win as well. 

In that game Chicago's Ken Berry hit another walk off HR. It was only the second time in history both ends of a double header ended in walk off HRs.

The 1967 White Sox were in a four-way pennant race along with the Tigers & Twins, all losing out to the Boston Red Sox on the last day of the season. 

Martin hit .234 & posted his best fielding % to date at .987%, allowing 16 passed balls second in the league, as Wilbur Wood also a knuckle ball pitcher, also joined the Sox staff.

Before the 1968 season Martin was traded to the New York Mets along with Billy Southworth in exchange for Ken Boyer and Sandy Alomar. 

Mets Career: Gil Hodges was now manager of the Mets, although he mostly observed the talents his team had, there were big changes with better play at Shea Stadium. Hodges planned to use Martin as a platoon partner Jerry Grote for the 1968 season.

1968: Martin was the Mets starting catcher on Opening day, catching the first Tom Seaver Opening Day in Mets history. Seaver would go on to start the next nine opener's as well. Martin got a hit that game, in the Mets loss to the San Francisco Giants. But he also took a foul ball that broke his finger & he would miss a month of action going on the DL.

That year Jerry Grote came into his own as one of the league's best defensive catchers and Martin became his back up. Martin returned in May & got red hot at the end of the month.

On May 18th he drove in two runs, with an RBI single & sac fly in a 5-2 win over the Atlanta Braves at Shea Stadium. He had three straight multi-RBI games, then drove in a run in the next three games as well. He totaled eight hits & nine RBIs in that stretch. 

From June 4th to June 15th, Martin then drove in runs six of seven games, with seven more RBIs in that time. Overall, in the past month he hit .364 with 16 hits & 16 RBIs.

On June 4th, Jerry Koosman blanked Fergie Jenkins & the Cubs 5-0, as Martin had two hits & drove in two of the runs. O

n June 12th, with the Mets down 1-0 to Don Drysdale & the Dodgers in Los Angeles, Martin doubled to score Dick Selma with the game tying run. Jerry Grote then singled home Martin in what was the game winning run. 

On July 21st, in the second game of a double header St. Louis, his RBI single off Nelson Briles was the only run of another Koosman four hit shutout.

In mid-August he hit two HRs in a losing effort in two games against the Houston Astros at home. He drove in the only runs in those tough losses.

On September 2nd, in the night cap of a double header, Martin's two run triple off the Braves Phil Niekro were the only two Mets runs in a game that ended in a seven-inning tie.

On September 3rd he led the Mets to a 4-3 win over the Braves at Shea Stadium with a 2nd inning two run HR off Atlanta's Milt Pappas. Then in the 7th inning, he tied the game up on a grounder to short that allowed Cleon Jones to score. Ed Charles followed with another grounder scoring Art Shamsky which ended up being the game winning run.

Overall, for the 1968 season he batted .225 with three HRs, nine doubles, two triples 31 RBIs & 55 runs scored. He walked 21 times with a .298 on base % .613 OPS in 78 games. Behind the plate Martin threw out 40% of would-be base stealers. 

1969 Mets Championship Season: In 1969 he continued his backup catching role but became more of the third string catcher behind Grote & rookie Duffy Dyer. 

In May Martin played for a week straight as Grote missed some time with injury. 

He swung a hot bat with six hits & five RBIs on the week. On May 11th Martin drove in two runs in the second game of a double header, leading the Mets past Houston 11-7. It was a big win, as the Mets only beat the Astros twice that whole year.

On May 16th, with the Mets down 6-4 to the Reds, Martin contributed to a six-run 7th inning with an RBI single off George Culver in the Mets 10-9 victory. On May 17th, he collected two hits with a two run HR off former Met Jack Fisher in an 11-3 Mets win at Cincinnati.

In another stretch in late June, he collected eight hits over ten games. On June 17th, Martin drove in the only run of the game, with an RBI single off Bill Champion, in Gary Gentry's two-hit shutout in Philadelphia.

On July 16th, in a big series with the first place Cubs at Wrigley Field, Martin hit a 1st inning two run single off Ferguson Jenkins. He collected two hits in the 9-5 Mets win. 

On July 20th at Shea Stadium, Martin hit an 8th inning HR off Cincinnati reliever Clay Carroll. The two-run shot scored Al Weis & put the Mets ahead for good in the 4-3 win. In July Martin would have three multi-RBI games.

 During the final two months of the season, he saw very limited action as Duffy Dyer got most of the backup time. 

On August 8th, Martin had a pair of RBI singles in a 4-1 win over the Braves at Atlanta. On
August 17th, he added an RBI sac fly in a 3-2 win over the Padres at Shea.

On the season Martin only hit .207 with 37 hits 4 HRs 5 doubles a triple & 21 RBIs. He struck out 32 times drew 12 walks, scored 12 runs posting a .257 on base % in 66 games. In 48 games at catcher, he posted a .996 fielding % throwing out 21% of base stealers.

1969 Post Season- NLCS: In the NLCS win over the Atlanta Braves, Martin appeared in two Games as a pinch hitter going 1-2. 

In the 9-5 Game #1 victory at Atlanta, Martin pinch hit for Tom Seaver in the top of the 8th inning with the bases loaded. The Mets had just taken the lead that inning & blew the game open when Martin delivered a single to right field off pitcher Phil Niekro, as all three runners scored with the help of an Atlanta error giving the Mets the 9-5 lead.

1969 World Series: Martin would only see action in one game of the World Series win over Baltimore & get only one at bat, but it was a historical one which will have him remembered forever. 

In Game #4 at Shea Stadium, with the game tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 10th inning, the Mets had pinch-runner Rod Gaspar representing the winning run on second base. Manager Gil Hodges summoned Martin to pinch-hit for Tom Seaver.  

The Orioles’ manager Earl Weaver had been ejected from the game earlier & future Met skipper George Bamberger who was running the show, brought in relief pitcher Pete Richert to face Martin.

J.C. laid down a perfect bunt in front of the pitcher’s mound. He ran to first base close to the foul line, as Richert fielded the ball, the lefty threw to first base.

Martin was hit on the wrist by Richert’s throw, and the ball ricocheted into right field as Rod Gaspar scampered all the way around to score the winning run.

The Mets won the game & now led the Series three games to one. For Tom Seaver, he had what was his only World Series victory of his career. 

At the time, no one argued the play & the game ended. But after the game, the Orioles protested that Martin had ran inside the foul line. 

Home plate Umpire Shag Crawford said he didn’t make an interference call because he felt Martin didn’t intentionally interfere with the play. Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn stepped in & backed up the statement. 

The next day the controversy was the talk of the baseball world. 

Quotes- J.C. Martin: "Remember first base is actually in fair territory. If you are a left-handed hitter and you run inside that double line, you’ll never touch the bag if you run straight at it. The funny thing is that nobody really made a big deal about it until the papers came out the next day."

"They had a picture that showed Pete Richert’s throw hitting me on the left wrist. The umpire said I was safe, so I must have been safe, I get a kick seeing the ball roll away and old Gaspar scoring”.

After the Championship: After the World Series, the Mets decided to go with Duffy Dyer as their backup catcher. In early 1970 Martin was traded to the rival Chicago Cubs in exchange for Randy Bobb. 

Martin spent three seasons in Chicago, mostly backing up Randy Hundley & former Met Chris Cannizzaro. In 1971 he had one of his best seasons at the plate hitting .264 with 2 HRs 5 doubles & 17 RBIs in 47 games played. 

In 192 he played in just 17 games at the big-league level & was released in Spring Training 1973, ending his career at age 36.

Career Stats: In his 14-year career he played in 908 games, batted .222 with 487 hits 82 doubles 12 triples 32 HRs & 230 RBIs with 189 runs scored. He struck out 299 times, walked 201 times with a .291 on base % & .606 OPS.

Behind the plate he posted a .987 fielding % throwing out 34% of would-be base stealers in 692 games played. His 121 passed balls are 99th most all time. J.C. made 45 errors in 3447 chances turned 45 double plays & had 267 assists.

Family: J.C. & his wife Barbara have been living in the Charlotte, South Carolina area.

Martin’s son Jay went on to have a fine college career at Wheaton College. He later became the head baseball coach in Canton, Ohio.

Retirement: In 1974 J.C. Martin was a bull pen coach for the Chicago Cubs under former New York Giant, Whitey Lockman. 

Broadcaster: He then moved into the broadcast booth with the White Sox, alongside the legendary Harry Caray for the next season. He only worked as a broadcaster for one season, mostly because he did not get along with Caray.

When asked if he enjoyed his White Sox broadcast experience: J.C. said- "Not really. I didn’t really fit in with Harry. He didn’t want to work with me. We didn’t hit it off at all. I wasn’t used to working with a guy that had that kind of authority and Harry used that against me. I was only there for one year. Now Bill Mercer was a great guy, he helped me out a lot. Harry just left me out to dry.

Quotes- J.C. Martin: " I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I spent 14 years in the big leagues seeing the best players ever, guys like Bob Gibson, Willie Mays, Carl Yastrzemski. Players like that just aren’t around anymore. 

Baseball was better back then, they didn’t have the DH, which has killed all the suspense in the American League, and the ballparks were fair. You didn’t have this emphasis on hitting home runs all the time. It was great.”

Trivia: J.C. caught five Hall-of-Fame pitchers in his catching career: Tom Seaver & Nolan Ryan with the Mets. Early Wynn & Hoyt Wilhelm with the White Sox. And Ferguson Jenkins with the Cubs.

Honors: In 2019, Martin was on hand for the 50th Anniversary celebration of the 1969 Amazing Mets, at Citi Field. 

He & his old roommate on the road trips, Al Weis, are still close friends fifty plus years after the Miracle of 1969.

White Sox Reunion: Back in 2005, Martin attended a reunion of the 1959 AL Champion White Sox team with former teammates; Luis Aparicio, Billy Pierce & Jim Rivera.