J. C. Martin (baseball)
For the former long-term mayor of Laredo, Texas, see J. C. Martin (Texas politician). Joseph Clifton Martin (born December 13, 1936) is a former Major League Baseball player. The left-handed hitting, right-handed throwing Martin played for the Chicago White Sox from to and the New York Mets in and , and finished his career with the Chicago Cubs from to . Chicago White Sox Martin was scouted by the White Sox as an amateur free agent in . After five seasons in the ChiSox farm system, which included call-ups to the majors late in and , Martin became a regular in . Splitting time between first and third base, Martin batted .230 with five home runs and 32 runs batted in. Martin converted into a catcher in , after Al López convinced him to go down to the minor leagues and learn to catch. Regular catcher Sherm Lollar was at the tail end of his career at the age of 37; moreover, the White Sox had traded Earl Battey and Johnny Romano and had no catchers in their farm system. As the team’s regular catcher, Martin batted only .205 in and .197 in . In , Martin batted a career-best