Victor Martinez won’t wait until the end of the season to call it quits, the longtime designated hitter will do just that this weekend.
V-Mart: "It's just thanking the Detroit Tigers fans and thanking everybody here. After tomorrow, it's going to be it. That will be my last game. This is one way to thank everybody." https://t.co/tb16H6ny7f
— Evan Woodbery (@evanwoodbery) September 21, 2018
The 39-year-old Tigers DH made the announcement Friday stating that tomorrow’s game against the Kansas City Royals at Comerica Park will be his last game as an MLB player.
Via Mlive.com:
“It’s just thanking the Detroit Tigers fans and thanking everybody here. After tomorrow, it’s going to be it. That will be my last game. This is one way to thank everybody,” he said.
Martinez, 39, has spent 16 years in the big leagues as a catcher, first baseman and now designated hitter. He has 2,151 career hits, the eighth-most by a native of Venezuela in baseball history.
“I enjoyed every single moment,” he said. “I remember like yesterday when I came into the league and now I have two games to go. It goes by quick.”
The Tigers plan to honor Martinez who’ll play the 1,973rd of his MLB career and the 969th in a Detroit uniform prior to tomorrow night’s game.
V-Mart added:
“We had some good teams. Unfortunately we didn’t accomplish the final goal, which was winning the championship,” he said. “I had the best year of my career here in Detroit. I’ll take a lot from this city and keep it with me.
“It is what it is. When I say I’m leaving this game with no regrets, I’m going to leave the game with no regrets. I’m going to go home happy because I know I left everything. I wouldn’t do anything else. I’m going to be at home sitting on that couch, saying that I left everything in this game.”
It seemed pretty certain that Martinez would be playing out the final games of his career as his contract with the Tigers would be coming to an end at the conclusion of the season. So today’s announcement really doesn’t come as much of a surprise. V-Mart also indicated tor reporters last month that this season would likely be his last.
Prior to tonight’s game, Martinez was slashing with a career .295/.360/.455 line and will go down as one of the more productive switch-hitting DH’s in Major League history. Signed as an amateur free agent out of Venezuela in 1996 by Cleveland, V-Mart stayed now with the Tribe until he was dealt to Boston in 2009 before signing with Detroit as a free agent in November of 2010.
