| | BRADENTON, Fla. -- Al Martin was one of the Pittsburgh
Pirates' most popular players of the post-Barry Bonds era, buying
tickets for underprivileged children and making countless community
appearances.
|  | | Al Martin after his arrest. |
In their clubhouse, he was the player most likely to counsel a
young player learning his way around the majors or to deliver a
strongly worded message to a rookie he felt was too absorbed in his
own problems.
His teammates genuinely liked the man who bought tickets for
"Al's Army" and, just as importantly, seemed to respect him. When
he decided last year that seven consecutive losing seasons with the
same team were enough and asked to be traded, they accepted his
decision.
That's why they were saddened and troubled by the news of
Martin's arrest in Arizona late Monday night on charges he exchanged punches with a
woman who insists she married Martin in 1998, although Martin was
married to another woman.
The police report contained accusations of domestic abuse, bigamy, threats with a gun and a wedding that Martin admits attending but didn't think was real.
This was an Al Martin the Pirates didn't know. It also was a
Martin that some Pirates, including catcher Jason Kendall -- who once
said Martin was like a brother to him -- and second baseman Warren
Morris didn't want to discuss.
"I really feel bad for 'Bert," pitcher Jason Schmidt said. "I
hope everything works out for him. He's a great guy. You hate to
see bad things happen to good people."
First baseman Kevin Young and Kendall probably were Martin's
closest friends among the Pirates. But, shortly before Martin was
traded by the Pirates to the San Diego Padres for utility player
John Vander Wal and several prospects, he changed his phone number
in Arizona.
As a result, many of his ex-teammates were unable to call him and
wish him well with his new team.
Young, who didn't talk with Martin during the offseason, said he
wished he could call Martin and tell him that his friends with the
Pirates still support him.
"You just pray that God steers him in the right direction,"
said Young, whose spring training locker was adjacent to Martin's
for years. "Something like this makes us take a look at our whole
lives."
Martin would have been the first to reach out to a teammate who
found himself in similar trouble, Young said.
"At a time like this, you see who your friends are," Young
said. "I'd like to get in touch with him and tell him his friends
here are with him and praying for him."
Asked about Martin's baseball career and how this incident might
affect it, Young said, "I'm more concerned about Al as an
individual." | |
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Padres OF Martin arrested after fight with alleged wife
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