Early career Born in Temple, Oklahoma, Martin moved to
Oklahoma City with his parents at the age of six where he grew up playing baseball. At 19, he began his professional career when he signed to play as a
shortstop in the
Oklahoma State League for a team in Guthrie, Oklahoma. In 1925, he posted a .340 batting average in 98 games for the Hunters and his contract was acquired by the
St. Louis Cardinals to play for their
Western Association affiliate, the
Fort Smith Twins. He posted a .308 batting average in 39 games as a
utility player, helping the Cardinals win the National League pennant. Despite his respectable batting average, Martin was sent back to Houston in January 1929, where he hit for a .298 batting average. The following season, he was promoted to the
Rochester Red Wings where his offensive statistics improved with 20
home runs, a .363 batting average, and a .631
slugging percentage, helping the Red Wings win the 1930
International League title. Martin's performance earned him a return to the major leagues with the Cardinals in
1931. Martin impressed observers with his hustle in the outfield as well as on the base paths, where he often slid into bases head-first. He ended the year with a .300 batting average along with seven home runs and 75
runs batted in to help the Cardinals clinch the 1931 National League
pennant by 13 games over the
New York Giants.
World Series star The
1931 World Series was a rematch of the previous year's participants, pitting the Cardinals against the
Philadelphia Athletics. Led by
Connie Mack, the Athletics had won the previous two World Series and were heavily favored to win for a third consecutive year. In Game 1 held at
Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, Martin had three hits, including a
double, a
stolen base and drove in one run in a 6–2 loss to the ace of the Athletics staff, 31-game winning pitcher Lefty Grove. Martin proved to be the difference in Game 2 in what was otherwise a tight pitching duel between
Bill Hallahan of the Cardinals and
George Earnshaw for the Athletics. Martin scored the first
run of the game in the second
inning by stretching a
single into a double when the ball was mishandled in the outfield, stealing third base, and then scoring on a
sacrifice fly. Those would be the only runs of the game as Hallahan pitched a three-hit
shutout to even the series, 1–1. In Game 4, he produced the only two hits by the Cardinals as they lost to Earnshaw, 3–0. Martin almost single-handedly provided the offense for the Cardinals in Game 5, driving in four runs with two singles, a home run and a sacrifice fly, as the Cardinals triumphed 5–1. Although he was held hitless in the final two games of the series, he made an impressive catch to extinguish an Athletics two-run rally in the ninth inning of Game 7 to end the game and clinch the world championship for the Cardinals. Hall of Fame manager
John McGraw described Martin's performance as "the greatest individual performance in the history of the World Series". In December, he was selected as the inaugural
male athlete of the year by the
Associated Press.
Later career Martin experienced an injury-plagued season in
1932, missing several weeks when he dislocated his shoulder in April and missed a month and a half when he broke a finger in July while sliding into
home plate. In August, Cardinals manager
Gabby Street moved Martin to third base to fill the gap left by the injured
Sparky Adams. Martin was not a naturally gifted third baseman, often fielding balls after having stopped them with his chest. He ended the season with a .238 batting average with four home runs and 34 runs batted in as the Cardinals fell to seventh place in the National League. Now hitting as the Cardinals'
leadoff hitter, he finished the season ranked sixth in the league with a career-high .316 average and led the league with 122 runs scored and 26 stolen bases. Martin ranked tenth in the league with a .456
slugging percentage, and he had a career-high .387
on-base percentage along with 36 doubles, 12
triples and eight home runs as the Cardinals improved to a fifth-place finish. Martin's batting average dropped to .289 in
1934, and he once again led the league in stolen bases as the Cardinals rallied from seven games behind the
New York Giants in early September to win the National League pennant on the last day of the season. He made an appearance as a
relief pitcher on August 19, allowing one hit in two innings pitched. In a memorable
1934 World Series against the
Detroit Tigers, the Cardinals were down 3 games to 2, before rebounding to win the final two games. The following inning, outraged Detroit fans pelted Medwick with debris when he assumed his defensive position in the outfield. While in a St. Louis hospital in December 1934, for a minor operation on his left arm, Martin insisted that he be entertained by a
cowboy musical group that he had hired. He created such a disturbance among the other patients that the hospital staff moved him to an isolated wing. Martin, along with Cardinals teammates such as
Leo Durocher,
Dizzy Dean and Joe Medwick among others, became known as the 1934
Gashouse Gang due to their boisterous activities on and off the field. He played the guitar in a
hillbilly band composed of Cardinals players named The Mudcat Band. Although Martin had a good year offensively in
1935, he continued to struggle defensively at third base. In the midst of a tight
pennant race in July, he committed three costly errors in a loss to the Giants and ended the year with 30 errors. He was hitting for .333 by mid-season to earn the starting third baseman's position in the
1935 All-Star Game. For the season, he hit for a .299 average with nine home runs and 54 runs batted in. In January 1936, Branch Rickey asked Martin to curtail his extra-curricular activities. Already well known as a hunting and fishing enthusiast, Martin had taken up the hobby of
midget car racing and was also playing in football and basketball games during the winter months. He also became the vice-president and general manager of an Oklahoma City ice hockey team. He continued to hit well by
1937, although he was relegated to a part-time role, as his spirited, headlong style of play took its toll on his body. He experienced a resurgence, leading the team with a .340 batting average in June before a sprained wrist put him out of action for two weeks. He ended the season with a .306 batting average in 88 games, helping the Cardinals to finish second in the National League. He then became a player-manager for the Rochester Red Wings in 1943. When professional baseball experienced a shortage of players during World War II, Martin returned to the major leagues in
1944 with the Cardinals at the age of 40. In 40 games with the Cardinals, he posted a .279 batting average and an impressive .386 on-base percentage to help the Cardinals clinch the 1944 National League pennant. Martin did not appear in the
1944 World Series, playing his final major league game on October 1, 1944. ==Career statistics==