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Draft day glory has strange story
Martz’s path to big leagues started at USC with football flameout
Former pitcher Randy Martz signs autographs for fans before a game in the 1980s. Martz its a former first-round draft pick.
CommentsIt couldn’t happen today.
You couldn’t pull a player off the scrap heap of another sport and turn him into one of the best players in college baseball and a first-round draft pick.
But 32 years ago, it happened to Randy Martz.
The USC baseball program has produced 14 first-round selections in the Major League Baseball draft, with pitcher Sam Dyson possibly becoming the 15th when this year’s draft begins Tuesday. But perhaps none has been more improbable than Martz.
"It was an amazing story," said June Raines, Martz's coach at USC.
It is one that begins on the football field. Martz came to USC from rural Pennsylvania, recruited by coach Paul Dietzel as a quarterback. But Martz never lettered for the football team, and when Dietzel was replaced by Jim Carlen after the 1974 season, Carlen asked him to switch to tight end. Martz's drop-back quarterback skills didn't fit Carlen's option offense.
Martz wasn't crazy about moving to tight end, a position occupied by Jay Saldi, who went on to play for the Dallas Cowboys. So he approached the baseball staff after the 1975 football season.
Martz had pitched in high school, but the speed of his pitches never had been measured. Raines and assistant coach Johnny Hunt clocked Martz in the 90s.
"Wait a minute, we got something here," Raines remembered saying. "The rest is history."
In retrospect, Martz thinks it was the combination of taking a few years off from baseball and participating in the football weight program that turned him into a hard thrower.
"I didn't know much about pitching," Martz said. "My dad was never a pitcher; he was an infielder. I kind of picked up stuff on my own. ... I mostly threw fastballs. The good thing about me was I could spot it."
His fastballs also had natural movement, and he was a quick learner, Raines said.
Not much was expected of the Gamecocks that season, but they ended up having tons of talent. Four players — Martz, outfielder Mookie Wilson and pitchers Ed Lynch and Jim Lewis — went on to major league careers.
Martz was dominant in 1977. He was named the national player of the year, with a 14-0 record and 1.98 ERA.
By the time of the draft, the Gamecocks were preparing for the College World Series, in which they lost to Arizona State in the championship game.
Martz had rocketed up the draft boards, and he knew he was going to be a first-round pick. Ted Turner, then the owner of the Atlanta Braves, called and told Martz his club would pick him fourth overall, according to Martz. But draft day presented a surprise: The Braves passed on Martz, instead selecting a player who never made it to the majors, while Martz was picked 12th by the Chicago Cubs.
"I didn't even know who the Cubs were," Martz said. "I was an East Coast guy."
Initially, Martz wanted to return to South Carolina for another season. But after the CWS, Wilson and Lynch signed pro contracts, and Martz decided it was time to go. He accepted a $75,000 signing bonus and a minor league contract from the Cubs.
Martz spent 10 years in the pros, but only four in the majors. From 1980-82, he appeared in 67 games, including 44 starts. Then he was traded to the Chicago White Sox in a six-player deal that included Pat Tabler, Scott Fletcher and Steve Trout.
Martz said he believed he beat out future Hall of Famer Tom Seaver for a starting spot in 1984, but Martz was sent to Triple-A. He developed arm soreness there and was diagnosed with a slightly torn rotator cuff.
With today's technology, Martz thinks he could have had Tommy John surgery and returned a year later as good as new. Instead, he came back in six weeks, not throwing as hard. Since he was a power pitcher, it was the death knell for his major league career.
"I had a decent career," said Martz, who finished with a 3.78 ERA, a 17-19 record and seven saves. "But I don't think I projected out like I was supposed to."
A few years later, he became the coach at Lewis and Clark Community College in Illinois and has run that program the past 19 years. Along with coaching stints in the independent Frontier League, he has tutored future major league pitchers Josh Kinney, Jason Isringhausen and Mark Clark.
His son, Nolan, is a pitcher who is expected to be selected in next week's draft. Martz regrets not alerting USC to his son, who instead went to a small Midwestern school, but the father said he didn't realize his son would turn out to be so good.
He was a late bloomer — just like his dad.
Reach Emerson at (803) 771-8676.
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