Player Spotlight: Chin-Hui Martin

In Season 5, the Seattle Spartans broke the bank to sign 18-year-old Korean free agent Chin-Hui Martin. The returns on that investment were more immediate than owner bagpipes28 possibly could have hoped; the teenager cracked 27 HR and OPSed .926 in 107 games during his debut season. After a solid Season 6, Martin posted a ridiculous .314/.380/.648 slash line in Season 7, accompanied by 60 HR and 123 RBI, en route to being named the AL MVP. Perhaps due to the high standards that he himself had set, Martin was not recognized for his Season 8 production, which blasted through the roof to 67 HR and an incredible 155 RBI. The Spartans, however, did not overlook what he was doing, locking up the 21-year-old to a five-year deal worth almost $39 million. That continues to look like a wise move, as he currently leads the league in HR, RBI, SLG, and OPS.

While dispute remains over how much a first baseman's defense contributes to a team's success, there can be no debate over Martin's effortless command of the position. Despite playing under the pressure of major league baseball beginning at age 18 in a country where he understood few to no words, Chin-Hui sports a career .996 fielding percentage, and has made only 21 errors in more than 5,600 chances at first. With his prime still stretching out before him, the question is not whether he will be enshrined in Cooperstown one day, but whether they will have to build him his own separate wing.

Stashed away on a perennial cellar-dweller in the Pacific Northwest, Martin has never received the full accolades his performance merits. This season, however, the Spartans are off to a 23-22 start and are in the hunt for the franchise's first ever playoff appearance. Rookie RF Rex Rhodes credits Martin with keeping the club loose: "I've never been around a group of guys who are so professional, but still stay relaxed and seem to be having a good time. It really makes it easy to go out and just focus on baseball."

Veteran closer Vic Riley, an offseason trade acquisition, agrees. "This is my first year with this team," says Riley. "You look around the locker room and you see these kids who are 22, 23 years old, and you figure they must be ready to piss themselves. But they all look at Chin, who was here when he was 18. He's their age, but he's seen all this before, and he never gets rattled. I think it calms 'em down."

Journeyman SS Roberto DeRojas marvels at Martin's ability to overcome the language gap (Martin speaks only broken English; his Korean interpreter helps him communicate to the media, coaches, and even teammates): "I didn't know it was possible to be funny in two languages, but that guy will just open his mouth and fire out a bunch of nonsense," chuckles DeRojas. "I don't know what the hell he's talking about, but everybody busts out laughing. It's easy to be teammates with a guy like that."

Certainly the production he puts up does not hurt his popularity, either among fans or in the clubhouse. "Yeah, it sure helps when you go out to the mound, and you look over and see that big Korean at first," mused recently called-up SP Alexander Smart. "You know that even if you get in some trouble, that big bat can bail you out."

Seattle pitchers can rest, confident in that fact for many seasons to come. Opposing AL pitchers, on the other hand, will continue taking it on the Chin.