In 2001, Tino Martinez was so eager to come to St. Louis that he called Walt Jocketty to be sure the Cardinals’ general manager knew he was available – and interested.
“I approached them and asked them to consider me in their plans, if I’d fit in,” Martinez said. “‘My agent will be in Boston. Please talk to him.’ I wanted to make sure I initiated something so they could keep my name in their minds. I would have been kicking myself if I hadn’t done that and hadn’t been able to come here at all.”[1]
The Cardinals, who were seeking a first baseman following the retirement of Mark McGwire, shared Martinez’s interest in the match. On December 18, the Cardinals signed the 34-year-old to a three-year, $21.5 million contract with a team option for a fourth season. They reportedly beat out the A’s, Braves, and Orioles for Martinez’s services.[2]
“With him calling like that, it impressed me a lot because he had other opportunities,” Jocketty said. “He said he really liked what he saw here and what he perceived this organization to be.”[3]
Just two years later, however, both Martinez and the Cardinals were ready to part ways, as St. Louis sent Martinez back to his hometown of Tampa while paying almost his entire salary for the upcoming year.
Martinez came to St. Louis as a 12-year major-league veteran with a resume that included two all-star selections and four World Series championships. After beginning his career with the Mariners, Martinez was traded to the Yankees, where he was the everyday first baseman for World Series championship teams in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000. Martinez was a key piece for this teams: in five of his six seasons in New York, he totaled at least 28 homers and 105 RBIs.
After the 2001 season, however, the Yankees signed Jason Giambi as a free agent, suddenly making Martinez expendable. Though the Yankees offered him arbitration, Martinez began to look for other opportunities. In the back of his mind, he remembered his Yankees manager, Joe Torre, singing St. Louis’s praises.[4]
“As long as I got some sort of indication that they (the Cardinals) were willing to make an offer for me, I was willing to reject arbitration,” Martinez said. “I didn’t really want to go back (to New York) because I felt the Yankees wanted to go in another direction.”[5]
At the press conference announcing Martinez’s signing, Jocketty and Cardinals manager Tony La Russa pointed to Martinez’s experience and his personal attributes, inspiring St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz to question whether the Cardinals “were nominating Martinez to play first base or for sainthood.”[6]
“He’s the type of guy we needed on this ballclub,” Jocketty said. “Every single person we talked to about him, they all said the same thing. ‘This is one of the best guys in the game.’ They love him.”[7]
At times, La Russa couldn’t help but smile as Martinez answered the media’s questions.
“Did you hear how many times he used the word ‘championship?’” La Russa asked. “That’s all he talks about. Every answer he gave had that word in it. He’s going to be good for our players. He’s got his priorities right. It isn’t about stats and money. It’s about competing and winning.”[8]
Miklasz, however, wasn’t entirely convinced, noting that he would have preferred the Cardinals sign outfielder Moises Alou, who was coming off an all-star season with the Astros. With Alou in the outfield, the Cardinals could have moved Albert Pujols to first base and left Placido Polanco at third. Instead, the addition of Martinez meant Pujols would go to third base and Polanco would become a super-utility player.[9] Alou signed a three-year, $27 million contract with the Cubs one day after Martinez and the Cardinals came to terms.
“La Russa went with Tino because he wants the intangible, character-driven benefits,” Miklasz wrote. “La Russa covets Tino’s presence and a little dose of that Yankee magic. I understand where La Russa is coming from, but I just hope that Martinez continues to give the Cardinals those annual 100 RBIs that he supplied for New York. If Martinez’s bat slows down, and if he struggles in a new home ballpark against unfamiliar pitchers, the Cardinals will have spent $20 million-plus on a new statue for Busch.”[10]
As Miklasz feared, Martinez’s numbers dipped in his debut season in St. Louis. The 34-year-old hit .262 with 21 homers and 75 RBIs, ranking third and fourth on the team, respectively. While fans expected more, La Russa pointed to the value of Martinez’s leadership during a challenging season that saw the passing of pitcher Darryl Kile and longtime broadcaster Jack Buck.[11]
Teammates also testified to Martinez’s leadership.
“Tino has a great understanding of the game and the way it’s supposed to be played,” said Scott Rolen, who was dealt to St. Louis ahead of the 2002 trade deadline. “I just see a guy who knows what it takes to get to the playoffs and to the World Series. He’s a guy who’s going to win us ballgames. Not only does he know how, he’s done it. He’s played every day and won championships. That’s different than sitting back and saying, ‘I know what it takes.’ I don’t know, but Tino’s got four rings.”[12]
“There’s a percentage of fans and media who don’t think he’s the answer to our needs, and that’s put a chip on his shoulder,” La Russa said. “But here, he gets a different message. He knows we believe in him. There’s no doubt in my mind, for a man with his credentials, he is concerned about the impression he has made to his teammates and the city. This guy beats himself up.”[13]
Despite his verbal support for Martinez, La Russa began to adjust his use of the veteran first baseman, dropping him from fifth to seventh in the lineup and sitting him against some lefthanders as Martinez hit just .207/.294/.342 against southpaws. The veteran didn’t appreciate La Russa’s penchant for playing the matchups.
“I batted fifth every day in New York – lefties, righties, slumps, it didn’t matter,” Martinez said. “I knew coming to the ballpark I was in the lineup every day unless (Torre) told me I needed a day off. I knew no matter what my numbers were against a certain pitcher – a certain lefthander – that he thought that day I would get one key hit or move one guy over. He never got caught up in numbers. He believed I’d get the job done every day, and you feed off that as a player.
“Tony is different. He likes to switch the lineup. And that’s not negative. It’s just the way he likes to manage the game. Tony goes by a lot of stats and matchups, and I’ve had to adjust to his style and do the best I can in the situation.”[14]
Even as La Russa’s tinkering frustrated Martinez, his biggest criticism came not from the manager, but from the stands and the press box as he struggled in clutch situations. In 2003, he hit just .210 with runners in scoring position. In late and close situations (plate appearances after the sixth inning in which the Cardinals were tied, ahead by one run, or had the potential tying run on deck), Martinez hit .181.
“You hear you’re old and washed up,” Martinez said. “I don’t think that’s the case, but that’s what you hear when you’re struggling as a veteran player. I’m not out to prove anybody wrong. I see a lot of guys struggling, younger guys. But that’s the media. They look at numbers and draw a conclusion.”[15]
Martinez pointed to a May 25, 2003, loss to the Pirates as the turning point in his relationship with Cardinals fans. With the Cardinals leading 6-2, the Pirates loaded the bases in the sixth inning. Kenny Lofton hit a ground ball to first base that Martinez fielded cleanly, but rather than taking the easy out at first, his throw home bounced past catcher Chris Widger, allowing two runs to score. The Pirates went on to win 8-7.
“A terrible play,” Martinez said after the game. “It cost us the game.”[16]
It was Martinez’s first error of the season. Nonetheless, as Martinez recalled weeks later, “The next day, Monday, I popped up in the first inning and they booed me very loud. … They haven’t let up since.”[17]
Martinez got a very different reception at Yankee Stadium. In the second game of a three-game series in mid-June, Martinez hit two homers in a 13-4 Cardinals loss. Before his first at-bat in the series opener, Yankees fans gave him a standing ovation. The next day, the crowd gave him another ovation after his first home run. After his second homer, the New York fans pleaded for a curtain call, but with his team down by nine runs, Martinez declined.
“We were getting our butts kicked,” he said. “I appreciate the fact that they acknowledged me, but I wasn’t going to go out there unless (there were different) circumstances. I just didn’t feel right doing that in somebody else’s ballpark.”[18]
In a game that saw Giambi hit two home runs of his own, the Yankees faithful gave bigger ovations to the man wearing the birds on the bat.[19]
As Martinez struggled in the second half of the 2003 season, however, he failed to get such a reception in St. Louis and rumors swirled around his future. Shortly after the Cardinals’ season ended with a third-place finish in the Central Division, Martinez gave Jocketty a list of seven teams to which he would accept a trade.[20]
On November 21, the Cardinals sent Martinez to his hometown Tampa Bay Devil Rays for relief pitcher Evan Rust and a player to be named later. Pitcher John-Paul Davis was selected as the player to be named.
“There was an expectation (Martinez) would put us over the hump,” La Russa said. “We got close last year and missed out this year. I thought he competed, but he wasn’t as productive as he’s been. With Tino, I think whenever the fans were disappointed, he was beating himself worse than anybody. … In my opinion, he was more productive than he thought. But it wasn’t a happy time for him. It was tough.”[21]
Sources indicated that the Cardinals were willing to pay almost $7 million of Martinez’s $7.5 million salary for 2004. At the end of the 2004 season, the Devil Rays could either assume Martinez’s $8 million option or pay him a $1 million buyout.
“We could have easily kept Tino here this year, but I’m not sure that would have made our club any better,” Jocketty said. “We need to change the dynamics of the club a little and the only way to create change is to try to move a guy like Tino.
“Our problem was we didn’t have enough guys on base. One thing I want people to understand, I don’t think we view Tino’s time here as a disaster or a mistake. He had a good first half this season and a terrible second half, but there are a lot of other things Tino did to help this club that went unnoticed. For some reason, he got a bad rap from people.”[22]
Martinez’s final season in St. Louis saw him bat .273 with 15 homers and 69 RBIs. Across two seasons with the Cardinals, Martinez hit .267/.345/.434 with 36 homers and 144 RBIs. While his final numbers weren’t terrible, they didn’t match his previous accomplishments with the Yankees.
“I’m disappointed with the way I performed,” Martinez said. “I didn’t play the way I’d hoped to play and I didn’t produce like I’m capable. I’m disappointed about that. I liked the city, I liked the fans, and I liked my teammates. For whatever reason, it just didn’t work out.”[23]
In Rust, the Cardinals received a relief pitching prospect who split the 2003 season between Double-A Orlando and Triple-A Durham, totaling 12 saves with a 2.96 ERA over 70 innings. One year earlier, Rust set a franchise record with 31 saves while pitching in Class A and Double-A. Between 2002 and 2003, he had allowed just two home runs.[24]
“He reminds me of some guys we’ve had with good arms, like a Mike Crudale,” La Russa said. “I think he’s got a chance to be a factor for us in spring training. It’s not in cement that he makes the club, but he’ll have a chance.”[25]
Despite the Cardinals’ praise for Rust, it was clear that the trade was primarily about Martinez. “By assuming $7 million of the $8.5 million owed Martinez, the Cardinals tacitly conceded a miscalculation of how much Martinez had left when they anointed him with a three-year, $21 million contract in December 2001,” Post-Dispatch reporter Joe Strauss wrote.[26]
Columnist Bryan Burwell was even more direct. “When you are willing to trade a veteran starter who you previously and vigorously defended as one of the team’s irreplaceable emotional rocks – and you do it by agreeing to pay nearly his entire salary – that sends a very loud message,” he wrote. “The Cardinals can spin it any way they want; they can talk about changing dynamics or opening up the payroll, but the message is still fairly clear. This was like one of those divorces where the guy just opens up his checkbook and says, ‘Here, please take whatever you want, just as long as the only thing you leave is me.’”[27]
Martinez’s departure allowed Pujols to return to first base. Though Rust never made it to the majors, the Cardinals did go on to win the NL pennant in 2004. Meanwhile, Martinez hit .262 with 23 homers and 76 RBIs in his lone season with the Devil Rays. The following year, he returned to the Yankees for his final big-league season before retiring.
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[1] Rick Hummel, “Martinez takes initiative, signs with the Cardinals,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 19, 2001.
[2] Rick Hummel, “Martinez takes initiative, signs with the Cardinals,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 19, 2001.
[3] Rick Hummel, “Martinez takes initiative, signs with the Cardinals,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 19, 2001.
[4] Rick Hummel, “La Russa says Pujols will play third base,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 20, 2001.
[5] Rick Hummel, “Martinez takes initiative, signs with the Cardinals,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 19, 2001.
[6] Bernie Miklasz, “Cards like Martinez’s winning way, hope he still has a quick bat,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 19, 2001.
[7] Bernie Miklasz, “Cards like Martinez’s winning way, hope he still has a quick bat,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 19, 2001.
[8] Bernie Miklasz, “Cards like Martinez’s winning way, hope he still has a quick bat,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 19, 2001.
[9] Rick Hummel, “La Russa says Pujols will play third base,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 20, 2001.
[10] Bernie Miklasz, “Cards like Martinez’s winning way, hope he still has a quick bat,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 19, 2001.
[11] Joe Strauss, “Cardinals begin offseason makeover,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 23, 2003.
[12] Joe Strauss, “Life After Pinstripes,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 15, 2003.
[13] Joe Strauss, “Life After Pinstripes,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 15, 2003.
[14] Joe Strauss, “Life After Pinstripes,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 15, 2003.
[15] Joe Strauss, “Life After Pinstripes,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 15, 2003.
[16] Rick Hummel, “Defense torpedos Cards,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 26, 2003.
[17] Joe Strauss, “Life After Pinstripes,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 15, 2003.
[18] Joe Strauss, “Calero to get first start on Monday,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 15, 2003.
[19] Joe Strauss, “Life After Pinstripes,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 15, 2003.
[20] Joe Strauss, “Cardinals begin offseason makeover,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 23, 2003.
[21] Joe Strauss, “Cardinals begin offseason makeover,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 23, 2003.
[22] Dan O’Neill, “It’s official: Tino is a Devil Ray,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 22, 2003.
[23] Dan O’Neill, “It’s official: Tino is a Devil Ray,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 22, 2003.
[24] Dan O’Neill, “It’s official: Tino is a Devil Ray,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 22, 2003.
[25] Dan O’Neill, “It’s official: Tino is a Devil Ray,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 22, 2003.
[26] Joe Strauss, “Cardinals begin offseason makeover,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 23, 2003.
[27] Bryan Burwell, “Tossing off pebble costs the Cardinals mountain of bucks,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 23, 2003.