Editor’s note: This story is part of the Cleveland Baseball Countdown, a series of 30 features on the club’s 30 best players of the past 30 years.
People always seem, understandably, to remember the bitter conclusion.
There was Victor Martinez, sitting at his locker minutes after the trade deadline passed in 2009, sporting sunglasses to conceal his tears as he recounted how his son, Victor José, had asked him earlier that day: “Are we still an Indian?” Those five words from a 4-year-old resonated with a frustrated fan base.
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Martinez described it as “the toughest day” of his career and referred to Progressive Field as his home. “It’s tough when you know you’re leaving your house,” he told reporters that afternoon.
When considering Martinez’s tenure in Cleveland, that’s the prevailing image, a heartbreaking end for Martinez, for the fans and even for those in the front office pulling the strings. The club had already traded Mark DeRosa, Rafael Betancourt, Ryan Garko, Ben Francisco and Cliff Lee in the days preceding the deadline. No one had forgotten about the CC Sabathia deal from the previous summer, either.
And right before the buzzer sounded at 4 p.m. on July 31, the franchise’s decision-makers opted to inflict one more dose of pain upon the long-suffering fan base, just 21 months after the team stood one win shy of a trip to the World Series: They sent Martinez to Boston for three pitchers, Justin Masterson, Nick Hagadone and Bryan Price. The trade of Martinez — Cleveland’s only All-Star that season, a player whose bobblehead would be distributed to attendees of the game the following night and a guy who genuinely seemed like he wanted to remain with the club — was further reinforcement of just how far it had fallen, and how quickly.
Maybe it was the right decision for the team’s long-term health and direction. Masterson did supply Cleveland with a couple of strong seasons atop the starting rotation. The 2009 season was already a lost one, and the prospects for 2010 weren’t exactly encouraging. That trade, though, marked another low point for the team, which would suffer 93-plus losses in ’09, ’10 and ’12.
But what about the beginning? Martinez signed with the club as a 17-year-old shortstop. By the time of the trade, he had spent nearly half of his life with the organization and had transitioned to catcher and first base.
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For years, Cleveland’s front office had jettisoned young hitters in trades to land immediate help for a championship-contending roster. John Hart and company dealt Sean Casey, Jeromy Burnitz, Brian Giles, Richie Sexson and others to acquire help elsewhere on the diamond, especially on the mound.
Martinez was spared, in part because the team reached the end of its run as his prospect stock soared. He was the organization’s Minor League Player of the Year in 2001 and 2002, the clear heir apparent to Sandy Alomar Jr. behind the plate (with Einar Díaz bridging the gap between them). Martinez obliterated minor-league pitching, hitting .332 over his final three years in the farm system. He debuted for the Indians in September 2002, destined to anchor the next batch of prolific Cleveland lineups, alongside other building blocks such as Travis Hafner, Brandon Phillips (whoops), Jhonny Peralta, Grady Sizemore and Milton Bradley.
In his first full season, 2004, Martinez was one of five Cleveland All-Stars, the first of his three selections while with the club. He also shared Silver Slugger Award honors with eventual Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez. Martinez had an easy, free-flowing swing from both sides of the plate that produced doubles in bunches. He routinely eclipsed the .300 mark in batting average (in all but one season from 2005-14, in fact). He walked nearly as often as he struck out. During the team’s 2007 postseason run, he posted a .318/.388/.500 slash line.
In July 2017, Martinez notched his 2,000th career hit in the ballpark he once described as his residence. He recorded an opposite-field single off Carlos Carrasco, whose tenure in Cleveland — which began the day of the Lee trade — overlapped with Martinez’s for only two days. Edwin Encarnación pretended to toss the baseball into the stands before handing it to Martinez, who held it to his chest, kissed it and then raised his helmet to acknowledge the appreciative crowd.
Fourteen months later, Martinez stood behind home plate with Terry Francona and Chris Antonetti on a cloudless September afternoon. The three watched a video tribute commemorating Martinez’s Cleveland career before Antonetti presented him with a framed, home plate-shaped plaque detailing his credentials. With tears tumbling down his face, Martinez lifted his cap to salute the crowd and then hugged Antonetti and Francona. He would appear in his final big-league game a week later, 16 years and two weeks after he debuted, and nine years after he left his house for the final time as a member of the Cleveland franchise.
About the series
The Cleveland Baseball Countdown is a series of features on the club’s 30 best players of the past 30 years. There surely will be debate about the rankings. I tried to balance longevity with dominance, but this is an inexact science. Feel free to spout off in the comments with your frustrations about where I placed Albert Belle or how I omitted Ryan Garko. Just please keep it lighthearted. This isn’t a definitive ranking. It’s supposed to be fun. Throughout the series, we’ll have some bonus pieces, extra anecdotes, honorable mentions, one-year wonders and more.
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• No. 30: José Mesa
• No. 29: Travis Fryman
• No. 28: Andrew Miller
• No. 27: Shin-Soo Choo
• No. 26: Asdrúbal Cabrera
• No. 25: David Justice
• No. 24: Shane Bieber
• No. 23: Cody Allen
• No. 22: Jason Kipnis
• No. 21: Cliff Lee
• No. 20: Carlos Carrasco
• No. 19: Bartolo Colon
• No. 18: Charles Nagy
(Photo of Victor Martinez at the 2007 All-Star Game: Jeff Gross / Getty Images)