Tom Martin Gets the Call to the A’s Hall of Fame
Posted: November 26, 2018
Tom Martin, who played eight seasons and led the A’s in just about every offensive category in his 1976 MVP season, was elected to the Sheboygan A’s Hall of Fame.
The induction ceremony will be held at a still to be determined Sheboygan A’s game next summer.
Martin played from 1971 to 1978, appearing in 198 games and compiled a career .277 average with188 hits and 139 runs scored and 98 driven in. He hit .285, .301, .335 and .333 in four successive seasons.
His best year was 1976 when he led the club in hitting at .335 in a team-high 43 games played. He also led the club in plate appearances 278, at-bats 155, runs scored 36, hits 52, RBI 33, triples 7, and total bases 78.
His seven triples set a club record. Dave Kober tied that record in 1978, but then it stood until 2014 when Colin Willis hit eight. The triples record is an interesting story because 1976, the year Martin set the record, was Kober’s first season with the ball club. At one point that season Kober was struggling and talking about quitting. Martin talked him out of it and in addition to tying the triples record, Kober went on to an 11-year career and finished with a .324 career batting average, 80 doubles, 23 triples, 65 home runs and membership in both the A’s and Wisconsin State League Halls of Fame.
Another interesting asterisk in Martin’s career is that he and Dick Larsen are the only two A’s to have participated in two triple plays.
Despite the fact that 40 seasons have elapsed since Martin left the club, he is still ranked on several career charts. He ranks second in career sacrifices with 29, only bat magician Dave Gehr had more, and fourth on the triples lists with 15. He is also on the career assists list, 11th with 414, and double plays, 10th with 85.
And, despite those 40 years, Martin has fond memories of interactions with manager Chuck Zeichert and his teammates, particularly Kober, Gene Mand, Charlie Kometer and Ron Herr.
The A’s finished fourth in the State National Baseball Congress Tournament in 1971, losing to Madison Leske in the quarterfinal game. The memory of that game, however, isn’t so fond. Martin broke his leg in a play at third base.
After retiring as an active player, Martin served on the A’s Board of Directors and played with the Thielmann’s Athletic Club softball team.
Martin resides in Collierville, TN, (a suburb of Memphis) with Joan, his wife of 38 years. They have two children, a daughter Alyson and a son Ryan, and four grandchildren. He is retired from Konica Minolta.
The Sheboygan A's are members of the Wisconsin State League and Northeastern Wisconsin Baseball League. The A's have helped develop more than 43 players that have reached professional baseball, including 2002 World Series Champion Jarrod Washburn (Anaheim Angels). All Sheboygan A's home games are played at Wildwood Baseball Park in Sheboygan. Connect with the A's on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
