Richie Martin

Richard Allen Martin (born December 22, 1994) is an American professional baseball shortstop for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB). He attended the University of Florida and played college baseball for the Florida Gators before the Oakland Athletics selected him in the 2015 MLB draft.

Martin was born in Detroit, Michigan and lived there until his family relocated to the suburbs of Tampa, Florida after his father, a school teacher, retired. Martin attended Bloomingdale High School in Valrico, Florida. As a senior, he hit .438. Martin committed to enroll at the University of Florida to play college baseball for the Florida Gators baseball team.

In the 2012 Major League Baseball draft, the Seattle Mariners selected Martin in the 38th round, with the 1,151st overall selection of the draft. He opted not to sign with Seattle, fulfilling his commitment to Florida, where he majored in civil engineering. As a freshman, he became the Gators' starting shortstop and batted .300 with 51 hits in 44 games. In the summer, Martin played in the Cape Cod League as a member of the Falmouth Commodores and batted .193 with 19 runs scored and 11 stolen bases. Martin led the Gators in at bats (249), stolen bases (18) and runs scored (49) while batting .265 as a sophomore in 2014. Following the end of the season, Martin returned to the Cape Cod League and played for the Bourne Braves, where he hit .364, the highest average in Braves history and second in the league, while leading the league with 59 hits and 36 runs scored and was selected to play in the league's All-Star Game. In 2015, Martin was named to the preseason Golden Spikes Award watch list. He finished the season with a .291 batting average and set career highs with 77 hits, 63 runs scored, 36 runs batted in (RBIs), and 20 stolen bases. He was a finalist for the Brooks Wallace Award. In three collegiate seasons, Martin recorded a career batting average of .284 with 193 hits, 136 runs scored, 81 RBIs, 45 stolen bases, 27 doubles, seven home runs and seven triples in 176 games played. He studied civil engineering while at Florida and was named Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll all three seasons.

Oakland Athletics

In the 2015 Major League Baseball Draft, the Oakland Athletics selected Martin in the first round, with the 20th overall selection. Martin signed with the Athletics. Martin spent 2015 playing for the Vermont Lake Monsters of the New York-Penn League. He finished 2015 batting .237 with two home runs and 16 RBIs in 51 games. Martin spent the 2016 season with both the Stockton Ports and the Midland RockHounds, posting a combined a .235 batting average with three home runs, 38 RBIs and 14 stolen bases in 91 total games between the two teams. In 2017, he played for both Midland and the Stockton Ports, batting .234 with four home runs and 33 RBIs in 109 total games, and in 2018, he played with Midland, slashing .300/.368/.439 with six home runs, 42 RBIs, and 25 stolen bases in 118 games.

Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles selected Martin with the first selection in the 2018 Rule 5 draft. Martin made the Orioles' Opening Day roster and made his major league debut on Opening Day against the New York Yankees. Martin recorded his first Major League hit, a single off James Paxton, and his first career stolen base on March 30, 2019. He hit his first career home run on May 22, 2019 off CC Sabathia in a 7-5 loss to the Yankees. Martin finished his rookie season with a .208 batting average with six home runs, 29 runs, 23 RBIs and 10 stolen bases in 120 games played, including 90 starts at shortstop (3rd most by a rookie in Orioles history).

Martin's maternal grandfather, Walter Lewis Thomas, played professional baseball in the Negro Leagues and was a teammate of Satchel Paige and Jackie Robinson as a member of the Kansas City Monarchs.