Russell Martin's All-Star Year: 2007

May 5th, 2006. 23-year-old Russell Martin was called up from AAA Las Vegas for his major league debut to replace the LA Dodgers' catcher, Dioner Navarro, put on the DL by a wrist injury.
June 21st, 2006. 33-year-old All-Star veteran pitcher Derek Lowe was getting frustrated after too many good outings without run support. Martin jogged out to the mound to check in.
"Relax, bro," said the kid.
Lowe glared.
"I'm not leaving until you've calmed down," Martin insisted.

5/23/06: A sign of things to come
Photo Credit: Malingering on Flickr

Lowe was the first pitcher to sing Martin's praises. Soon Dodger pitchers from sensational rookies Billingsley, Broxton and Saito to veterans Brad Penny and Greg Maddux would speak highly of their young batterymate. Navarro never got his job back; he was sent to Tampa Bay.

Martin racked up milestones quickly: his first major league home run in his third game, catching for Gagné's last game with the Dodgers in June, a walk-off home run to finish a sweep of the Giants in August. Naturally, Martin's was one of the four back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs in LA's record-making come-from-behind victory on September 18th, 2006. For good measure, he hit that one off legendary closer Trevor Hoffman.

Photo Credit: Malingering on Flickr

Russ became just the third rookie catcher in MLB history to make the playoffs. It was a topsy-turvey season, but one fact stood out by October: the Dodgers' record was 71-43 in games where Martin was the starting catcher and 17-31 when he wasn't. The Dodgers and Padres reached the post-season with identical season records, but the Pads had the edge in head-to-head play. So LA had to settle for the Wild Card. It's a pity Martin didn't catch a few more.

Martin's First Hit
5.5.06. MIL @ LAD. 2RBI double. Scully calls it.

Martin Blocks Plate in First Game
5.5.06. MIL @ LAD. Minor play, sign of things to come!

Martin's First Home Run
5.7.06. MIL @ LAD. Go-ahead HR. Scully calls it.

Martin's First Walk-off Home Run
8.13.06 SF @ LAD. Fun way to finish off our rivals!

Back-to-Back-to-Back-to-Back Home Runs
9.18.06. SD @ LA. Martin's Dad came down from Montreal for this one; he's the fan in the yellow shirt.

Russell Martin Sr. Plays Star-Spangled Banner
9.20.06. A magical moment at Dodger Stadium. Dad's playing in Montreal subway station helped fun Russell Martin Jr.'s baseball dream!

Photo Credit: Dizzy-eyed on Flickr

For the first half of the 2007 season, Martin led all NL catchers in nearly every offensive category, and at times led in ALL categories. His defense was been on a par with the other leading NL catchers, with his 33% rate of nabbing base stealers an important contribution to Dodger pitching. By the end of the season, playing 145 games -- the most of any Major League Catcher -- he was tired but still managed to hold onto his offensive edge, leading NL catchers in hits, homers, runs, stolen bases, batting average, OBP, and slugging. In defense, he kept pace with his peers.

2007 Season Stats: Leading National League Catchers

Source: Yahoo Sports: MLB Stats

Martin is exceptional as a catcher in three ways:

Photo Credit: Malingering on Flickr

• A truly five-tool player. He hits for power, he hits often, he runs bases like a rabbit, his defense is excellent, and his is often the game-winning hit.
  
  
• Stolen bases. On June 24th, Martin passed the Los Angeles Dodgers' all-time single-season steals record for a catcher (12), set in 1962. On August 1st, he tied the single-season Dodgers record (18) for steals by a catcher set by Con Daily in 1892 (or perhaps he'd beaten it already, due to despite some irregularities about early MLB recordkeeping), and he passed it for certain with two steals on August 18.
  
  
• Endurance. Martin played more games than any other Dodger infielder, and more than any other catcher in MLB. 2006's backup catcher, Toby Hall, asked to be traded. One can't blame him: Martin once insisted on catching during a day game after catching 17 innings the night before.
  

2007 Season Defensive Stats: Leading National League Catchers

Source: Yahoo Sports: MLB Stats

On top of everything else, Martin is an incredibly humble guy who gives all the credit to teammates, even in games where he's instrumental. Which is most nights.

(Me on the ASG streetcar in Dodger Stadium parking lot)

When the All-Star ballot started being reported in May, Russell Russell Martin was only fourth in ASG voting, yet he was the leading NL Catcher in every offensive category except doubles (tied for second) at the time and keeping up with the best in defense.

Fans mobilized -- this page was my contribution! -- to get the word out about his stellar season. The Dodgers organization stepped in as well, starting a "Vote For Russ" campaign on Dodgers.com. Meanwhile, Martin kept stepping it up.

When asked about his rival for the All-Star roster during a mid-June Mets/Dodgers series, Lo Duca had nothing but praise for Martin:

"He's the complete package. His makeup is what makes him so good," said Lo Duca, who befriended Martin when he was the Dodgers' starting catcher and Martin was a young farmhand.

"He does everything the right way, and that's hard to find," Lo Duca said. "I wasn't as talented as Russell at his age. He's so polished behind the plate. Pitchers are comfortable throwing to him, he understands the game and he's an unbelievable offensive player."

~ San Jose Mercury News, 6.14.07

On the last day of All-Star voting, Martin led NL catchers in almost every offensive and defensive stat:


Source: MLB.com Sortable Stats

On July 1st, what fans already knew became official: Russell Martin was an All-Star catcher. Here's Russell Martin's post-game interview after the news was announced.

Final 2007 All-Star Votes for National League Catcher

1. Russell Martin, Dodgers, 2,039,130
   
2. Paul Lo Duca, Mets, 1,742,182
   
3. Johnny Estrada, Brewers, 1,460,902
   
4. Bengie Molina, Giants, 1,383,753
   
5. Brian McCann, Braves, 971,502
   

So how was Russell Martin's first All-Star Game?

He held his own defensively, but he'll have to show off his slugging and steals ability next time.

• Caught the first six innings for Jake Peavy, Brad Penny, Ben Sheets, Cole Hamels, Chris Young, and Francisco Cordero. McCann of the Braves came in for inning #7 to catch for Saito (fooey).
  
• Peavy, Penny, Sheets, and Hamels were scoreless, but Young gave up an inside-the-park 2RBI HR to Suzuki and Cordero gave up a solo homer to Crawford.
  
• Russell was 0-for-3.
  
• Biggest moment: Video Highlight: Russell Martin tags out A-Rod at the plate
  

The game came down to the wire. Bottom of the 9th, NL had the bases loaded but it wound up AL 5-4. Russ was out of the game by then, taking in the game from the dugout.

Martin's All-Around Night
LA @ MIL 4/3/07. Single, RBI double, throws out runner, HR.

Martin Blocks the Plate
LA @ SF 4/6/09. Giants announcers impressed.

Martin's First Walk-off Grand Slam
4.21.07 PIT @ LAD. Vin Scully has the call.

Game-winning Triple
5.23.07 MIL @ LAD. Scully calls it.

Martin's Great Catch
5.27.07 CHC @ LAD. Martin tumbles into the stands for spectacular catch.

Home Run for Home Crowd
LAD @ TOR. To the cheers of Jays fans, Martin hits his first homer in a Canadian ballpark with family and friends watching.

Martin Catches Ball, Drops Beer
7.18.07 Rusell Martin bumps a fan to grab a ball.

Photo Credit: Malingering on Flickr.