Russell “Le Muscle” Martin is one of the greatest Canadian major leaguers of all-time. Breaking into The Show with the Dodgers in 2006, Martin came to the Yankees in December 2010, succeeding franchise icon Jorge Posada behind the plate.
Martin played two solid seasons in the Bronx behind the plate before signing with Pittsburgh, where he embarked on a remarkable resurgence that took him home to Toronto before finally ending back where he started, with the Dodgers.
Russell Nathan Coltrane Martin
Born: February 15, 1983 (East York, ON, Canada)
Yankees Tenure: 2011-2012
Martin was originally drafted out of a Montreal high school as a third baseman by the tragically defunct Montreal Expos in the 35th round of the 2000 MLB Draft. What could have been. He chose instead to go the college route and headed to Chipola College in Florida.
Two years later, he heard his name called again. This time, in the 17th round, the Los Angeles Dodgers selected the young Canuck. Still only 19 years old, Martin spent the next few seasons climbing the Dodgers’ farm system, combining a solid hit tool with excellent plate discipline and outstanding defense. Jay Jaffe describes the young Martin thusly:
“Shifted from third base after his first professional season, he took to the new position with the zeal of a convert. Martin combined outstanding athleticism — a strong arm, extraordinary lateral mobility, and elite pitch framing — with an intense competitive drive, an off-the-charts baseball IQ, and a natural leadership ability.”
Martin debuted in 2006 and finished ninth in National League Rookie of the Year voting, hitting for league average, showing off surprising speed for a backstop (10 stolen bases), and providing his usual excellent glovework. It would become his calling card throughout his long career, as sabermetrics’ gradual evolution in understanding ptch framing made Martin a favorite in the community.
Martin even found himself in position to do a solid for a future Hall of Famer. After the Dodgers wasted eight shutout innings from a 40-year-old Greg Maddux, Martin hit the first walk off home run of his career. In extra innings no less. It was the only run of the game. At least the Dodgers didn’t lose a game when one of history’s GOATs threw a masterpiece for them.
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Martin toiled behind the plate for LA through the 2010 season, when the Dodgers inexplicably non-tendered him. It did not take long for the Yankees to swoop in, as over the previous few years, pitch framing evaluation had swept through front office (with José Molina a key figure on the 2009 championship team). Officially, the Yanks signed him to a one-year deal on December 15th. But all of baseball had known for days the Canadian catcher was headed to the Bronx.
Martin’s innate leadership abilities likely also played some part in the Yankees bringing him aboard. Longtime catcher and franchise great Jorge Posada was reaching the end of the road and the acquisition of Martin shunted Jorge over to DH for good (much to the icon’s chagrin, though he bore no ill will toward the well-respected Martin himself).
Martin put together two perfectly cromulent campaigns in pinstripes. In 2011, he posted 5.4 fWAR with 18 homers and a 100 wRC+, making the All-Star Game for the third time in his career (and the first since 2008). It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, however. A .248 career hitter, Martin cratered at the dish in 2012, hitting a measly .211, albeit with a then-career-high 21 bombs and still drawing some walks. The result was Martin at least being within shouting distance of league average at the dish, and his glovework still led to 4.0 fWAR.
Martin also struggled in the postseason while a Yankee. In three combined playoff series, Martin hit .167 (8-for-48). He did, to give credit where it is due, provide the key blow in Game 1 of the 2012 ALDS against Baltimore.
Through eight frames, the Yanks and O’s were knotted at two. Leading off the ninth, Martin faced Orioles reliever Jim Johnson. Martin ran the count full before taking Johnson yard, depositing the ball in the left field bleachers at Camden Yards. That broke open the floodgates. The Yanks piled on four more runs to take the contest en route to eliminating the Orioles.
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You’d be forgiven for thinking Martin’s glory days were rapidly approaching their end. He was heading into his age-30 season in 2013 and catcher isn’t exactly renowned as a position where guys have 20-year careers. Moreover, the Yankee front office was hesitant to extend Martin a contract offer that would have met his demands in terms of length and money, especially since they thought some combination of Francisco Cervelli and Chris Stewart could match his framing ability.
So instead, Martin left for Pittsburgh, where he put together a brilliant two-season stretch, helping lead the moribund Pirates to the playoffs both years. His homer in the victorious 2013 NL Wild Card Game off a shaken Johnny Cueto likely marks the height of Pirates baseball this century.
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Meanwhile, Cervelli got hurt and suspended, and Stewart’s bat made Martin look like Yogi Berra as New York missed the playoffs in 2013; they had to quickly pivot and sign another catcher in Brian McCann the following offseason. (Amusingly, a resurgent Cervelli would follow Martin to Pittsburgh after the latter left the Steel City.)
After 2014, Martin headed north of the border to play for the Blue Jays as a returning national hero on a five-year, $82 million contract for their first two playoffs teams in over two decades, making his fourth and final All-Star appearance in 2015. He remained in Toronto through 2018, before returning via trade to where it all began in Los Angeles for one final season in 2019. Martin hit an NLDS Game 3 homer off the Nationals’ Hunter Strickland in what turned out to be his final career at-bat.
When he retired, Martin ranked first all-time among Canadian-born players in dWAR (16.5), third in bWAR (38.8), fourth in games (1,693), fifth in runs (803), sixth in hits (1,416), doubles (255) and total bases (2,262) and seventh in home runs (191). He also retired in possession of the record for Canadian players in postseason games (58), hits (38) and runs (24). Martin was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2025.
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Perhaps my favorite Martin stat: he retired second all-time in “Canadian home runs,” that is to say home runs hit by a Canadian in a regular season or playoff game played in Canada. Martin’s 36 trailed only Larry Walker’s 58 when the former hung up the tools of ignorance. I suspect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has surpassed both by now.
Anyway, happy 43rd birthday to a former Yankee, a Hall of Very Good catcher (at the very least), and one of the greatest Canucks to ever play Major League Baseball.
References
Jaffe, Jay. “JAWS and the 2025 Hall of Fame Ballot: Russell Martin.” FanGraphs. December 18, 2024.
Matchett, David. “From a Canadian Baseball Researcher’s Notebook.” SABR.
Matthews, Wallace. “It’s official: Martin is a Yankee.” ESPN. December 16, 2010.
Russell Martin. Baseball-Reference.
“Russell Martin.“ Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Waldstein, David and Tyler Kepner. “Martin Leaves the Yankees for the Pirates.” New York Times. November 29, 2012.
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