By Justin Archer
Special to BBA Weekly
April 22
So, Juan Martinez went in last week and told our GM that he’s retiring at the end of the season.
He’s the kind of guy the average fan doesn’t pay a lot of attention to: not a Steve Nebraska winner; not a flashy closer with a billion saves; doesn’t make headlines with bullshit pronouncements.
Juan just does his job. Some years are better than others, but he’s always, always, always a pro.
He’s from the Dominican Republic and was telling me the other night out in the ‘pen that he can’t remember a time when he wasn’t playing ball. In the streets, in school yards … wherever there was space to lay out basepaths, he and his buddies played.
At some point, he figured out that he could throw the ball a hell of a lot harder than any of the other kids he played with, and so he started pitching … and the rest is history, as they say.
Juan Martinez
But you won’t know that he’s one of the best listeners I’ve ever known. That when I was scared and frustrated this year because I got hammered in a few outings, Juan took me to the back of the clubhouse and talked me off the ledge.
And you won’t know that the next day he watched me throw and pointed out that I’d developed a “tell” that telegraphed when I was going to throw my slider – I’d rotate the ball a couple of times in my hand, and batters had picked up on it.
Juan didn’t have to do that. I mean, I'm nothing special to him, and I can't do anything for him. I mean, I can't give him a raise or get him a job or anything like that. Why should he take that kind of time to help someone like me?
I'll tell you why. Because that's how he is: he wants to help younger players. He wants to help people – he does so much volunteer work in the community and he goes back to the DR every offseason and works with young kids who want to follow in his footsteps.
So when people shrug and say it doesn’t matter when someone like Juan Martinez retires because he’s not going into the Hall of Fame or whatever, I set ‘em straight.
He might not get into the Brewster Hall of Fame as a player.
But he gets into the Justin Archer Hall of Fame as a person.
And that’s more important.
Enjoy your last season, Juan. Your teammates will miss the hell out of you when you’re gone.
