Shairon Martis

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Shairon Martis

Shairon Benjamin Martis Martis

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Biographical Information[edit]

Shairon Martis is a pitcher who made his debut with the Washington Nationals in 2008 and played three major league seasons. He also pitched for the Dutch national team.

Martis was signed at age 16 by scout Philip Elhage for the San Francisco Giants. He debuted professionally in 2004 with the DSL Giants, going 4-3 with a 1.79 ERA. He allowed 55 hits and 17 walks in 70 1/3 innings while striking out 63. He came stateside with the 2005 AZL Giants, posting a 2-1, 1.85 record with one save. He struck out 50 and walked 9 in 34 innings. Baseball America rated him as the #10 prospect in the Arizona League.

Martis had trained with the Dutch team in the past but was added to their roster for the first time prior to the 2006 World Baseball Classic. He was the youngest member of the squad, but did the best. He got the start in their third game, against a Panamanian national team that was fresh off a Bronze Medal at the 2005 Baseball World Cup and included four major leaguers in the starting lineup. The Netherlands was in desperate hope for a win after a 0-2 start. Martis walked Olmedo Saenz and allowed no hits in 7 innings when the game was called due to the mercy rule as the Netherlands led, 10-0. Martis used just 65 pitches and amazingly did not strike out a batter in the gem. In the 7th, Adolfo Rivera reached on a shot off of 3B Ivanon Coffie's glove; it was ruled an error. Martis retired Saenz then got pinch-hitter Cesar Quintero to ground to Coffie, who started the game-ending double play. Martis had gone down in the history books with the first shutout and first no-hitter in World Baseball Classic history.

Martis opened 2006 with the Augusta GreenJackets, going 6-4 with a 3.65 ERA. He was then traded to the Washington Nationals for Mike Stanton. He pitched for three Nationals farm clubs - the Savannah Sand Gnats (1-1, 3.80), Potomac Nationals (0-2, 3.00) and Harrisburg Senators (0-1 12.60, 4 HR in 5 IP). Baseball America rated him as Washington's #6 prospect entering 2007.

Martis had a somewhat productive year in 2007, with a 14-8, 4.23 record for Potomac. He was one win behind Carolina League leader Rowdy Hardy and led Washington's minor leaguers in wins and innings pitched (151). He was back with the Netherlands for the 2007 European Championship. He allowed 2 hits and no walks in 6 shutout innings against the Czech team, fanning 8, before Duko Jansen closed the win. Against Spain, the Silver Medal winner, he allowed 3 runs (1 earned) and struck out 7 in 5 innings, getting outdueled by Manny Olivera; the Netherlands rallied to win against the Spanish bullpen. Martis was 1-0 with a 0.82 ERA in the event, posting an ERA slightly better than the Netherlands team total of 0.87. Thanks to their Gold Medal, they clinched a spot in the 2008 Olympics. Martis did not remain with the Dutch squad for the 2007 Baseball World Cup.

Martis was back with the Netherlands for the 2008 Olympics and went 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA, taking losses against Team USA and Team Canada. He did outpitch the team's other hurler to start two games, Alexander Smit. He was called up top the National League a few weeks after the Olympics ended but lost his major league debut on September 4, 2008, giving up two runs in five innings against the Atlanta Braves. Martis started 2009 5-0 on a team that was otherwise 8-34 before dropping a decision. However, he did not win another decision after that point, finishing at 5-3 with an ERA of 5.25 in 15 starts. He then did not return to the majors until 2013, when he was 0-1, 5.59 in 6 relief outings for the Minnesota Twins.

By the time the 2023 World Baseball Classic rolled around, most fans would have though Martis was long retired, not having pitched in the major leagues since 2013. However, it was not the case, and he was a member of the Netherlands' roster, twenty years after first making his mark on the international stage. He had also pitched in the 2017 WBC, so the 2009 edition of the tournament was the only one he had missed. In fact, only two players had been active for all five editions of the tournament: Miguel Cabrera and Oliver Perez, so he was in pretty limited company. He had been mainly active in the independent American Association and the Dutch domestic league, Honkbal Hoofdklasse, since his last appearances in organized baseball, in 2017. For the last three seasons, he had pitched for the L&D Amsterdam Pirates and had done extremely well, with ERAs of 0.56 in 2021 and 1.22 in 2022, and a combined 10-1 record over these two seasons.

Sources[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • Anthony Castrovince: "10 years since his last MLB appearance, Martis is back for the Classic", mlb.com, March 2, 2023. [1]

Related Sites[edit]

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