Status: Tampa Bay Rays bench coach. Former MLB outfielder from 1986-2001 with Chicago Cubs, Montreal, Cincinnati, San Francisco, Chicago White Sox, Tampa Bay, Texas, Toronto and Atlanta.
DOB: September 26, 1964 In: Brooklyn, New York
First Baseball Memory: “Four-years-old. My dad put me on his Little League team. I skipped T-ball and everything. It was kind of a thrill for me. I kinda didn’t know what I was doing. But he said, Just go out there and he gave me a glove [laughs].”
Baseball Inspiration: “At this point, probably one day to manage. Yeah.”
Nicknames: “Oh gosh. I’ve had a couple. Tippy – after Tippy Martinez, the pitcher for Baltimore. I’ve had Hagi from Johnny Quest [laughs]. Lately, it’s kind of been Muomar.”
Last Book Read: “Gosh, I gotta go way back. To Kill A Mockingbird [laughs].”
Favorite Movie: “Braveheart.”
First Job: “Construction.”
Current Car: “Ford Expedition EL.”
Greatest Sports Moment: “Hitting a grand slam to win the game with the White Sox against Detroit.”
Most Painful Moment: “When I tore my hamstring. Running in the outfield after a ball, almost collided with Willie McGee. When I was with San Francisco.”
Favorite Uniforms: “Tampa Bay Rays.”
Favorite Ballpark: “Probably Wrigley.”
Favorite Meal: “Good rice and beans.”
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Chocolate chip cookie dough.”
Strangest Game: “Strangest game I ever played was I think the 22-inning, 2-1 ball game against the Dodgers when I was with Montreal.”
Funny Baseball Memory: “You know what was a good one? We went into Cincinnati. They had this thing in a cage. They said it was a mongoose. And they got Shawon Dunston and Billy Hatcher one day. And they popped this thing out of the cage and Shawon jumped on top of the locker [smiles]. It was amazing. That was probably the funniest.”
Closest Baseball Friends: “Gosh, I got a few of them. Mike Difelice, Darnell Coles, Miguel Cairo. I’ve got quite a few. Tim Raines.”
Funniest Players Encountered: “I think Tim Raines is pretty funny. Ozzie was funny. (Smith or Guillen?) Guillen [laughs].”
Toughest Competitors Encountered: “Gosh. The toughest pitcher I faced was probably Randy Johnson.”
Favorite Sport Outside Baseball: “Football.”
People Qualities Most Admired: “Honesty. Sincere. I always believe in people who are honest and sincere.”
Career Accomplishments: .276 career batting average with 91 homers and 580 RBI over 16 MLB seasons; Played in post-season just once with Atlanta during his final season, reaching the NLCS; Played for four different teams during the 2000 season – Tampa Bay, Chicago, Texas and Toronto.
Topics: Bench Coach, Brooklyn New York, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Chocolate Chip Cookie, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Darnell Coles, Dave Martinez, Ford Expedition El, Johnny Quest, Miguel Cairo, Mike Difelice, Painful Moment, Shawon Dunston, Sports Moment, Tampa Bay Rays, Tim Raines, Tippy Martinez, To Kill A Mockingbird, Willie Mcgee
Biofile with Dave Martinez | 