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Great Lives from History: Latinos, 2nd Edition

Dennis Martínez

by John E. Thorburn Jr.

Nicaraguan-born baseball player

Martínez became the first Nicaraguan-born Major League Baseball player when he was signed to the Baltimore Orioles in 1973. By the end of his career, he had racked up the most wins of any Latin American pitcher in major league history, winning 245 games, while losing 193.

Latino heritage: Nicaraguan

Born: May 14, 1955; Granada, Nicaragua

Also known as: José Dennis Martínez Emilia; El Presidente

Areas of achievement: Baseball

EARLY LIFE

On May 14, 1955, José Dennis Martínez Emilia, better known as Dennis Martínez (DEHN-ihs mahr-TEE-nehz), was born in Granada, Nicaragua, where he also attended high school. The Baltimore Orioles signed Martínez as a free agent when he was an eighteen-year-old amateur athlete, thus making him the first Nicaraguan-born player in Major League Baseball.

LIFE’S WORK

Martinez’s major league debut with the Orioles came on September 14, 1976. Because it was late in the season, he only appeared in four games, but his 2.60 earned run average (ERA) hinted at future success for the slim right-hander nicknamed “El Presidente.” In 1977, Martinez pitched in forty-games, winning fourteen and losing seven, the second-best winning percentage of any of Baltimore’s fourteen pitchers that season. Martínez’s success continued the next year, as his win-loss record was 16-11, with a 3.52 ERA. In 1979, Martínez pitched 292 innings, the most in his twenty-four-year career. Although his ERA was a respectable 3.66, he lost one more game than he won (15-16). However, he did win his game against the California Angels in the 1979 American League play-offs, but the Pittsburgh Pirates shelled him in his only two innings of that year’s World Series, which the Orioles lost.

The 1980 season was a poor one for Martinez. Slowed by injuries, he pitched only ninety-nine innings, the fourth-lowest total of his career. Martinez rebounded in 1981, however, pitching 179 innings with a win-loss record of 14-5 and a 3.32 ERA. He finished fifth in the voting for the Cy Young Award, given to the league’s top pitcher, and ranked twenty-third in the balloting for the league’s Most Valuable Player.

Martinez had another strong year in 1982, pitching 252 innings with a win loss record of 16-11. His ERA, however, ballooned to 4.21, which signaled an impending decline. Martinez also struggled with alcohol addiction, and during the next three seasons his average win-loss record was 8-12, with an ERA of 5.23. In 1983, the Orioles won the World Series, but Martinez’s win-loss record was 7-16, with a 5.53 ERA, and he did not even appear in that year’s postseason games.

Martinez’s career seemed over, and in 1986, after pitching in just four games with a 6.75 ERA, the Orioles traded him to the Montreal Expos of the National League. This change rejuvenated Martinez, and from 1987 to 1993, he won an average of 60 percent of the games in which he played. For three consecutive years, 1990-1992, he made the National League All-Star Team, and in 1991 he finished fifth in the voting for the National League Cy Young Award. That year, he had a solid 2.39 ERA and pitched five shutouts, two more than in any other year of his career. The highlight of that season, and perhaps Martinez’s career, was his perfect game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, in which no batter reached base, on July 28, 1991. He was the first Latin American player in Major League Baseball history to pitch a perfect game.

Martinez’s next two years were also exemplary, as he won thirty-one games, while losing twenty. The 1992 season marked his third appearance on the All-Star Team. After an excellent 1993 season, in which he won 62 percent of his games, Martinez, despite being thirty-eight years old, had become a valuable commodity on the free-agent market. The Cleveland Indians signed him to a $4.5 million dollar contract, $1.2 million more than he had made in any previous season.

Over the next three years, Martinez’s win-loss record was 32-17, with a 3.58 ERA. He made the American League All-Star Team in the 1994 season, and in 1995, he helped the Indians to the World Series with wins over Boston and Seattle in the American League play-offs. Martinez pitched well (3.48 ERA) against the Atlanta Braves in the 1995 Series, but the Indians lost in six games.

The 1996 season brought the final decline for Martinez’s professional career. His win-loss record was 9-6, but he pitched just 112 innings. Again a free agent, the Seattle Mariners picked him up in February, 1997, but released him seven weeks into the season after his win-loss record was 1-5 with a 7.71 ERA. Martinez was not done yet, however. At the age of forty-three, the Atlanta Braves signed him for one more season. Although he only pitched ninety-one innings that year, Martinez did have a win for three innings of work in the National League play-offs against the San Diego Padres. In 2012, the Houston Astros appointed Martinez as bullpen coach, but he was fired in October of 2013. Martinez managed the World Baseball Classic Qualifying Tournament of 2013. In 2019, he was appointed manager of the National League Futures Team for that year’s All-Star Game.

SIGNIFICANCE

While Dennis Martinez may never be elected to Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame, in 2002, the Baltimore Orioles enshrined him in the team’s hall of fame, and his fellow Nicaraguans renamed the baseball stadium in Managua after him. He was also inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016. He overcame his struggle with alcohol, and as of 2020 was one of only ten Major League pitchers with one hundred wins in both leagues. He also racked up the most wins of any Latin American pitcher in major league history. His Dennis Martínez Foundation supports needy children in Nicaragua.

Further Reading

1 

Coffey, Michael, and Bill James. “El Presidente: Dennis Martínez.” In Twenty-seven Men Out: Baseball’s Perfect Games. Updated ed. New York: Atria Books, 2005. Describes Martínez's 1991 shut-out against the Dodgers and places it within the context of other players who pitched “perfect games.”

2 

Fordin, Spencer. “Notes: Martínez Sharing His knowledge.” February 25, 2006. http://baltimore.ori-oles.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060225&content_id=1322491&vkey=spt2006news&fext=.jsp&c_id=bal. This article, from the official Web site of the Baltimore Orioles, provides a brief overview of Martínez's career and his attempts to obtain a job as a roving pitching instructor for the Orioles.

3 

Freedman, Lew H. Latino Baseball Legends: An Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood Press, 2010. Includes a lengthy entry on Martínez.

4 

O'Brien, Richard, and Kostya Kennedy. “Nicaragua's Number One Export.” Sports Illustrated, June 30, 1997, 20. A profile of Martínez and an overview of his career in baseball.

5 

Washburn, Gary. “'El Presidente' Happy in New Job: Former Orioles Star Coaching Pitchers at Camp.” February 20, 2005. http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/news/arti-cle.jsp?ymd=20050220&content_id=946722&vkey=news_bal&fext=.jsp&c_id=bal. This article, from the official Web site of the Baltimore Orioles, reports on Martínez's new job as a spring training pitching instructor for this team.

See also: Joaquín Andújar; Willie Hernández; Luis Tiant; Fernando Valenzuela.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
Thorburn, John E. "Dennis Martínez." Great Lives from History: Latinos, 2nd Edition, edited by Trudy Mercadal, et al., Salem Press, 2021. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=GLLatin2e_0333.
APA 7th
Thorburn, J. E. (2021). Dennis Martínez. In T. Mercadal, C. Tafolla & M. P. Cotera (Eds.), Great Lives from History: Latinos, 2nd Edition. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Thorburn, John E. "Dennis Martínez." Edited by Trudy Mercadal, Carmen Tafolla & Martha P. Cotera. Great Lives from History: Latinos, 2nd Edition. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2021. Accessed October 22, 2025. online.salempress.com.