5 former Pirates in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame

Russell Martin

Martin is a fan favorite from the last great Pirates teams. Though he spent only two years in Pittsburgh, he certainly left an impact. Recently, he fell off the latest Hall of Fame ballot (for Cooperstown, that is), receiving only 2.3% of the vote. His career started and ended with the Dodgers with many stops along the way. Martin was first drafted by the Expos out of secondary school, but did not sign with them. He attended Polyvalente Edouard-Montpetit in Montreal, the same school as another Dodgers star from Quebec, Éric Gagné.  

Martin went on to Chipola College in the Florida Panhandle, a JUCO program that boasts several notable major league alumni, such as José Bautista (more on him later), Patrick Corbin, José Caballero and Bowden Francis. Fans of local high school baseball will also know that Shaler Area’s Miguel Hugas is currently at Chipola. Martin ended up being one of the best Pirates free agent signings in recent years, as was his batterymate Francisco Liriano. The veteran leadership the two provided, as well as that which came from Burnett and others, was key to the Pirates’ sustained success from ‘13 to ‘15. Though Martin wasn’t on the 2015 squad that flirted with greatness, his two years with the Bucs were certainly memorable, most notably with his iconic home run off Johnny Cueto in the 2013 NL Wild Card Game. 

He signed a five-year, $82 million contract with the Blue Jays after the Pirates fell to the Giants that postseason. This homecoming worked out reasonably well for both parties, with Martin enjoying a few more solid years with the Jays in the twilight of his career. He was an All-Star for them in 2015, hitting a career high 23 homers. Toronto went on a run that year, which featured an MVP campaign from Josh Donaldson and Bautista’s famed bat flip, and ended in the ALCS to the eventual World Series champion Royals. Martin returned to the Dodgers for his age 36 season before the 2019 season in a trade that sent the Blue Jays back a few prospects, neither of which made it to the majors. 

Martin served as a backup/mentor to Austin Barnes and Will Smith that year. Smith has since become an All-Star and one of the better catchers in the league. Los Angeles fell to Washington in five games in the NLDS, though Martin provided Dodgers fans with more playoff excitement with a two-run blast in Game 3. He became a free agent afterward, though he went unsigned, announcing his official retirement a few years later; the Dodgers would go on to win the World Series for the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Though a championship alluded Martin during his 14-year career, he has much to be proud of. In addition to being a four time All-Star, Martin won the Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, and had been such a valuable member of many big league clubhouses.  

The Veterans Era committee will hopefully consider Russell Martin for Cooperstown sometime in the near future. In terms of approximating his value as a player, FanGraphs’ more favorable estimate, which considers “Statcast’s Fielding Runs Prevented in its range component”, is at 54.5 fWAR, putting him on par with others already in the Hall of Fame, such as Joe Mauer and Ted Simmons. Martin was a member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s most recent class in 2024.