Born May 31, 1950
La Junta, CO, USA
On August 24, 1983 Baltimore had run out of catchers and put an infielder behind the plate, so Toronto's runners took enormous leads. He picked off all three of them in the tenth inning — three men, three throws to first, three outs — and Baltimore won it in the bottom half on a home run. No pitcher has done it before or since.
Fourteen seasons gave him 115 saves and a 3.45 earned run average across 834 innings, eleven of them with Baltimore. He saved 21 games in that 1983 season and pitched in the World Series the Orioles won, and he was an All-Star in 1984.
He came from the Yankees in the ten-player trade of June 1976, the same one that sent Rudy May the other way. No Hall of Fame ballot has listed him.
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 1 | 1983 |
| Pitcher of the Month | 1 | 1982 |
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | NYY | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1975 | NYY | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1976 | BAL/NYY | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1977 | BAL | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1978 | BAL | 43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1979 | BAL | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1980 | BAL | 54 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1981 | BAL | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1982 | BAL | 76 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1983 | BAL | 65 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1984 | BAL | 55 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1985 | BAL | 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1986 | BAL | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1988 | MIN | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Career | — | 548 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | NYY | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 12.2 | 14 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 4.26 |
| 1975 | NYY | 1 | 2 | 23 | 2 | 8 | 37.0 | 27 | 11 | 32 | 20 | 2.68 |
| 1976 | BAL/NYY | 5 | 1 | 39 | 0 | 10 | 69.2 | 50 | 18 | 42 | 45 | 2.33 |
| 1977 | BAL | 5 | 1 | 41 | 0 | 9 | 50.0 | 47 | 15 | 27 | 29 | 2.70 |
| 1978 | BAL | 3 | 3 | 42 | 0 | 5 | 69.0 | 77 | 37 | 40 | 57 | 4.83 |
| 1979 | BAL | 10 | 3 | 39 | 0 | 3 | 78.0 | 59 | 25 | 31 | 61 | 2.88 |
| 1980 | BAL | 4 | 4 | 53 | 0 | 10 | 80.2 | 69 | 27 | 34 | 68 | 3.01 |
| 1981 | BAL | 3 | 3 | 37 | 0 | 11 | 59.0 | 48 | 19 | 32 | 50 | 2.90 |
| 1982 | BAL | 8 | 8 | 76 | 0 | 16 | 95.0 | 81 | 36 | 37 | 78 | 3.41 |
| 1983 | BAL | 9 | 3 | 65 | 0 | 21 | 103.1 | 76 | 27 | 37 | 81 | 2.35 |
| 1984 | BAL | 4 | 9 | 55 | 0 | 17 | 89.2 | 88 | 39 | 51 | 72 | 3.91 |
| 1985 | BAL | 3 | 3 | 49 | 0 | 4 | 70.0 | 70 | 42 | 37 | 47 | 5.40 |
| 1986 | BAL | 0 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 16.0 | 18 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 5.63 |
| 1988 | MIN | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 18.00 |
| Career | — | 55 | 42 | 546 | 2 | 115 | 834.0 | 732 | 320 | 425 | 632 | 3.45 |
La Junta, CO, USA
Tippy Martinez made a major-league debut on August 9, 1974.
Tippy Martinez played a final major-league game on April 18, 1988.
Image: Keith Allison, CC BY-SA 2.0