“My first thought when I heard the news was man, I must be getting old. My next thought was what an honour to be inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame alongside other greats. I’ve never played the game for awards and accolades, but this is pretty darn special.”
Born in East York, Ont., in 1983, Russell Martin moved to Montreal when he was two and honed his skills with the Junior National Team before being selected in the 17th round of the 2002 MLB draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He cemented himself as the club’s top catching prospect when he batted .311 and posted a .430 on-base percentage (OBP) in 129 games for the Double-A Jacksonville Suns in 2005. That performance earned him an invite to the MLB Futures Game.
Martin would make his big league debut with the Dodgers on May 5, 2006. He proceeded to bat .282 with 10 home runs in 121 games that season and be named to the Topps All-Star Rookie Team. For an encore, he hit .293 with 19 home runs and a career-best 87 RBIs in 2007 and was selected to his first All-Star Game. He was also honoured with a Silver Slugger Award, a Gold Glove Award and the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s Tip O’Neill Award.
He followed that up with another All-Star campaign in 2008 in which he batted .280 with 13 home runs in 155 contests. After two more seasons with the Dodgers, he signed with the New York Yankees and belted 18 and 21 home runs in the 2011 and 2012 seasons respectively.
On November 30, 2012, he signed a two-year deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates. In his first season with the Pirates, he excelled behind the plate, earning Wilson Defensive Player of the Year honours. He followed that up with one of his finest offensive seasons in 2014, batting .290 and posting a career-best .402 OBP, while also earning his second consecutive Wilson Defensive Player of the Year honour.
Following the 2014 campaign, Martin signed a five-year contract with the Blue Jays. In his first season with Toronto, he belted a career-best 23 homers to earn his fourth All-Star selection and help the club to their first postseason appearance in 22 years. He clubbed 20 more homers in 2016 to propel the Blue Jays to the playoffs for a second consecutive year. In total, in parts of four seasons with the Blue Jays, he hit 66 home runs in 447 games.
Martin played his final major league season with the Dodgers in 2019. That year, he reached the postseason for the 10th time in 14 major league campaigns.
Martin ranks in the top 10 among Canadians in most major league statistical categories, including first in dWAR (16.5), third in WAR (38.8), fourth in games (1,693), fifth in runs (803), sixth in hits (1,416), doubles (255) and total bases (2,262) and seventh in home runs (191). He also holds Canadian major league postseason records in games (58), hits (38) and runs (24).
On the international stage, Martin suited up for the Junior National Team in 2000 and for Canada at the World Baseball Classic in 2009. He also coached for Canada at the 2017 and 2023 World Baseball Classics.
