Babe Martin

Biography

Boris Michael Martinovich (born March 28, 1920) was an Major League Baseball outfielder for the St. Louis Browns (1944-46 and 1953) and a catcher for the Boston Red Sox (1948-49). He was most commonly known as Babe Martin.

Martin was born in Seattle, Washington. He started his professional baseball career in 1940 and had a breakout year in 1944 with the Toledo Mud Hens, batting .350 in 114 games. The following season, he joined the major league Browns. He hit poorly and was sent back down to the minors. Martin retired in 1954. In 69 major league games, he had 2 home runs, 18 RBI, and a .214 batting average.

In later years, Martin still held a grudge against one-armed outfielder Pete Gray, who was a teammate in 1945. "The worst thing that happened to our ballclub in 1945, which we should have won the pennant, was Pete Gray," he said. "And honestly I think if we hadn't had Pete ... we could have won the pennant in 1945." That season, Martin's batting average was actually 18 points lower than Gray's. The Browns finished in third place in the American League, six games behind the Detroit Tigers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Martin