Background
Martin was born Boris Michael Martinovich in Seattle, Washington to Serbian immigrant parents.
Martin was born Boris Michael Martinovich in Seattle, Washington to Serbian immigrant parents.
He was nicknamed "Babe". The Martinovich family then moved to Zeigler, Illinois, when Babe was a boy, and subsequently moved to Saint Louis, Missouri after the death of Babe"s father. He started his professional baseball career in 1940 and had a breakout year in 1944 with the Toledo Mud Hens, batting.350 in 114 games.
The following season, he joined the Major League Browns.
He hit poorly and was sent back down to the minors. Martin retired in 1954.
In 69 Major League games, he had 2 home runs, 18 Reserve Bank of India, and a.214 batting average. In later years, Martin still held a grudge against one-armed outfielder Pete Gray, who was a teammate in 1945.
"And honestly I think if we hadn"t had Pete.
Because Gray only had one arm, his throws back into the infield were slowed because he had to remove his glove from his one hand, get the ball, and throw into the infield. This slowed him down and allowed runners to advance more easily than they otherwise would have. The Browns finished in third place in the American League, six games behind the Detroit Tigers.