What years did Buck Martinez play?

Buck Martinez played in Major League Baseball from 1969 to 1986.

Was Buck Martinez a pitcher?

No. Buck Martinez was a position player (Catcher), though he did pitch in 1 career game.

How many home runs did Buck Martinez hit?

Buck Martinez hit 58 career home runs with 618 hits.

Buck Martinez

Catcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1969-1986)

AVG .225

HR 58

RBI 321

H 618

OPS .627

PIV -5,100

Position: Catcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 5'10" / 190 lb
Born: 11/7/1948 in Redding, CA, USA
MLB Debut: 1969-06-18
Last Game: 1986-10-03

Full name: John Albert Martinez

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Career Batting Statistics

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
1,049	2,743	245	618	128	10	58	321	5	230	419	.225	.284	.343	.627	-5,100

Career AVG .225 vs. league average .258 across their career seasons — 12.7% below league average.

Career OBP .284 vs. league average .324 across their career seasons — 12.5% below league average.

Career SLG .343 vs. league average .382 across their career seasons — 10.3% below league average.

Career OPS .627 vs. league average .706 across their career seasons — 11.3% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1969	KCA	AL	72	205	14	47	6	1	4	23	0	8	25	.229	.248 (-8%)	.320 (-19%)	.369 (-11%)	.689 (-15%)	-518.5
1970	KCA	AL	6	9	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	.111	—	—	—	—	0.0
1971	KCA	AL	22	46	3	7	2	0	0	1	0	5	9	.152	—	—	—	—	-266.7
1973	KCA	AL	14	32	2	8	1	0	1	6	0	4	5	.250	—	—	—	—	0.0
1974	KCA	AL	43	107	10	23	3	1	1	8	0	14	19	.215	.256 (-16%)	.324 (-2%)	.369 (-22%)	.693 (-12%)	-167.4
1975	KCA	AL	80	226	15	51	9	2	3	23	1	21	28	.226	.257 (-12%)	.327 (-10%)	.374 (-14%)	.701 (-12%)	-437.4
1976	KCA	AL	95	267	24	61	13	3	5	34	0	16	45	.228	.255 (-11%)	.320 (-16%)	.360 (-1%)	.681 (-8%)	-427.7
1977	KCA	AL	29	80	3	18	4	0	1	9	0	3	12	.225	.264 (-15%)	.329 (-23%)	.401 (-22%)	.730 (-23%)	-297.9
1978	ML4	AL	89	256	26	56	10	1	1	20	1	14	42	.219	.257 (-15%)	.323 (-21%)	.378 (-27%)	.702 (-24%)	-1007.3
1979	ML4	AL	69	196	17	53	8	0	4	26	0	8	25	.270	.265 (+2%)	.329 (-10%)	.397 (-6%)	.727 (-8%)	-286.8
1980	ML4	AL	76	219	16	49	9	0	3	17	1	12	33	.224	.264 (-15%)	.326 (-18%)	.387 (-21%)	.714 (-20%)	-698.4
1981	TOR	AL	45	128	13	29	8	1	4	21	1	11	16	.227	.255 (-11%)	.320 (-10%)	.368 (+8%)	.688 (-1%)	-59.3
1982	TOR	AL	96	260	26	63	17	0	10	37	1	24	34	.242	.261 (-7%)	.324 (-7%)	.388 (+9%)	.712 (+2%)	-8.4
1983	TOR	AL	88	221	27	56	14	0	10	33	0	29	39	.253	.260 (-3%)	.324 (+4%)	.389 (+16%)	.714 (+11%)	432.7
1984	TOR	AL	102	232	24	51	13	1	5	37	0	29	49	.220	.259 (-15%)	.322 (-7%)	.384 (-9%)	.707 (-8%)	-336.7
1985	TOR	AL	42	99	11	16	3	0	4	14	0	10	12	.162	.257 (-37%)	.323 (-26%)	.390 (-20%)	.714 (-23%)	-390.0
1986	TOR	AL	81	160	13	29	8	0	2	12	0	20	25	.181	.257 (-30%)	.325 (-17%)	.395 (-32%)	.720 (-25%)	-630.5
Career · 17 seasons			1,049	2,743	245	618	128	10	58	321	5	230	419	.225	—	—	—	—	-5,100

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Pitching Statistics

W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1.0	1	1	0	1	0	9.00	0.0

Career ERA 9.00 vs. league average 4.00 across their career seasons — 124.8% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1979	ML4	AL	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1.0	1	1	1	0	9.00	—	0.0
Career · 1 season			0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1.0	1	1	1	0	9.00	—	0

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
5	15	0	5	0	0	0	4	1	3	.333

Playoff Batting by Year

Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1976	ALCS	KCA	5	15	0	5	0	0	0	4	1	3	.333

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1050 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	516	1345	126	325	27	171	.242
Away	533	1398	119	293	31	150	.210

Pitching — Home / Away

Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Away	1	1.0	1	1	1	0	9.00

Last 10 Games — Batting

Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	H	RBI	BB	SO
1986-10-03	TOR	MIL	L	2	0	0	0	0
1986-10-01	TOR	NYY	W	3	1	1	0	1
1986-09-29	TOR	NYY	L	2	0	0	1	0
1986-09-27	TOR	BOS	L	3	0	0	0	1
1986-09-25	TOR	DET	W	4	0	0	0	1
1986-09-14	TOR	MIL	L	2	0	0	1	0
1986-09-12	TOR	MIL	L	0	0	0	0	0
1986-09-11	TOR	NYY	L	1	1	0	0	0
1986-09-09	TOR	NYY	L	2	0	0	1	0
1986-09-07	TOR	CHW	L	2	0	0	0	1

Last 1 Games — Pitching

Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1979-08-29	MIL	KCR	—	1.0	1	1	1	1	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
C	1008	845	4038	396	70	59
OF	1	1	2	1	0	1
P	1	0	0	0	0	0

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1969	KCA	C	55	46	290	25	9	7
1969	KCA	OF	1	1	2	1	0	1
1970	KCA	C	5	3	20	3	1	0
1971	KCA	C	21	14	84	6	3	0
1973	KCA	C	14	10	52	4	2	1
1974	KCA	C	38	31	151	16	4	1
1975	KCA	C	79	70	361	39	8	4
1976	KCA	C	94	86	420	40	4	4
1977	KCA	C	28	22	133	8	1	0
1978	ML4	C	89	85	327	32	8	7
1979	ML4	C	68	67	198	39	8	2
1979	ML4	P	1	0	0	0	0	0
1980	ML4	C	76	75	293	33	5	3
1981	TOR	C	45	43	192	22	2	3
1982	TOR	C	93	79	382	35	5	8
1983	TOR	C	85	69	331	25	4	3
1984	TOR	C	98	66	360	34	2	5
1985	TOR	C	42	32	155	16	2	5
1986	TOR	C	78	47	289	19	2	6

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position	Games
Pitcher	1
Catcher	1009
Right Field	1
Designated Hitter	2

Salary History

Year	Team	League	Salary
1986	TOR	AL	$347,096
1985	TOR	AL	$356,300
Total Career Earnings			$703,396

College History

School Name	City	State	Years Attended
Sacramento City College	Sacramento	CA	1967

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Buck Martinez (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Frequently Asked Questions about Buck Martinez

What years did Buck Martinez play?: Buck Martinez played in Major League Baseball from 1969 to 1986.
Was Buck Martinez a pitcher?: No. Buck Martinez was a position player (Catcher), though he did pitch in 1 career game.
How many home runs did Buck Martinez hit?: Buck Martinez hit 58 career home runs with 618 hits.