Victor Jesus Martinez was born December 23rd 1978 in Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela. He is catcher and a 1B for the Cleveland Indians. He was signed by the Indians as undrafted free agent in 1996. Victor is one of the most emotional and hardest working Tribe players and is a team leader on the Indians.
He made his MLB debut in 2002 in a short 32 at bat stint.He would follow that up with a slightly longer 159 at bat stay in 2003.
His first full season as a regular came in 2004 when he was an All Star who hit .283/.359/.492 with 23 homeruns and 108 RBI. He was moved into the clean up spot early in the season and in his first game there he hit a homerun off of Curt Schilling.
Through 2005-2007 Victor Martinez became known as not only one of the best offensive catchers in baseball but one of the best pure hitters. He would hit over .300 in all three of the seasons and drive in 80 runs or more each year.
Victor and the Indians came into 2008 with high expectations but Victor would get off to a slow start and eventually need to be placed on the disable list for an elbow which would require surgery.
