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Entering his 29th season as Florida State's head coach, Mike Martin continues to cement his legacy as one of collegiate baseball's most prolific coaches. Over the last two years, the legendary Seminole coach won his 1,400th game and was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. The Florida State graduate is one of just eight baseball coaches in the history of the NCAA to win 1,400 games and needs just 16 more victories to become just one of four coaches with 1,500 wins.
Mike Martin has become the face of Florida State baseball having been associated with the Seminoles for 36 of FSU's 61 seasons. He is by far the winningest coach in the history of the program. Of the 3,271 baseball games played in program history, Martin has been involved in 2,378 as a player, assistant coach and head coach. What is even more impressive is Martin's involvement in 1,751 of the 2,384 all-time victories at Florida State. In one way or another Martin has been a part of more than 73% of FSU's victories.
Martin has led the Seminoles to the College World Series 12 times and to 30 consecutive NCAA Regional Appearances, including each of his 28 seasons as head coach. He has won 15 conference championships since taking over as the field general in 1980 with 11 from the Metro Conference and four as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. He is a six-time Metro Conference Coach of the Year and has been awarded ACC Coach of the Year five times. Seventy Florida State players have earned All-America honors under Martin, while 86 players have garnered first and second team All-ACC recognition. He has coached five players, Mike Fuentes, Mike Loynd, J.D. Drew, Shane Robinson and Tony Thomas, Jr., who were named National Players of the Year.
For the past 28 seasons, Martin hasn't just produced great players he has developed great teams. Florida State has grown into one of the most prestigious collegiate baseball programs in the NCAA under Martin's guidance. FSU baseball is the second-winningest program all-time but since 2000 no school has won more games than Martin's Seminoles. No other Division I school has finished in the top 10 more times, compiled more 50+ win seasons or gone to more NCAA Regionals since 2000 as well. Florida State is also one of just two programs to win 73% of its all-time games and what Martin has done in Tallahassee since 1990 may be one of the most impressive runs of consistent success in all of collegiate sports.
FSU's regular season success has translated into postseason success under Martin as well. Since 1990, the Seminoles are fourth in College World Series appearances with eight and Martin has led his teams to Omaha 12 times in his career including seven trips in the last 16 seasons. Florida State extended its NCAA Tournament streak in 2007 as Martin once again led his Seminole squad to the postseason as FSU played host to a regional for the 25th time in school history.
Last season was one for the record books as Florida State claimed its first ACC Atlantic Division title with a league record of 24-6. The Seminoles set the school record for the most conference wins in a season surpassing the previous record of 22 set in 1999. The 24 victories also tied the league mark for the most wins recorded in ACC history.
Under the tutelage of Martin, the 2007 Seminoles were the best hitting and fielding team in school history setting single-season records with a .350 team batting average and a .975 fielding percentage. Florida State was recognized for its outstanding season as seven Seminoles earned All-ACC recognition including a school record six student-athletes named to the first team. FSU also captured three of the four individual accolades including Tony Thomas, Jr. as ACC Player of the Year, Bryan Henry as ACC Pitcher of the Year and Martin as ACC Coach of the Year. Seminole players garnered four more All-America honors and Martin saw Thomas become the fifth player to earn National Player of the Year honors and sixth consensus All-American in school history.
The 2007 squad also set a record for the best start in school history as the Seminoles won their first 23 games to start the season. It was the seventh time in the program's 60-year history that a team started a season with at least a 10-0 record. The 23-0 start was eight games better than the previous school record of 15-0 established by Woody Woodward's 1975 team. All this followed the 2006 season which saw Martin's squad set a new school record with 32 consecutive home wins.
Finally in 2007, a pair of milestones was set by the Hall of Fame head coach. With a 14-6 victory over Florida on February 20, Martin moved passed former High Point and Virginia Tech head skipper Chuck Hartman and into sole possession of fifth place on the NCAA all-time wins list. Then with FSU's 17-1 win over Stetson in the NCAA Tallahassee Regional, Martin vaulted ahead of current Texas Tech field general Larry Hays for fourth place all-time.
The 2005 season was a special one for Martin as he was not only inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame but he also had his alma mater name their baseball diamond in his honor. Mike Martin Field at Dick Howser Stadium was officially dedicated April 2 in typical Martin fashion as he picked up his 1,366th win with a 3-1 victory over Clemson. In 2005, Martin set yet another career milestone. With the Seminoles victory over VMI on February 6, Martin recorded his 1,344th win passing Southern California legend Rod Dedeaux and moving into sixth place all-time for wins by a Division I coach.
Martin not only led his squad to team success in 2005, he once again proved he is one of the top shapers of talent in the game. Shane Robinson's selection as Collegiate Baseball's National Player of the Year marked the fourth time one of Martin's players was named collegiate baseball's top player. Robinson was also the fifth consensus first team All-American to play for Martin. In the last four seasons alone, Martin has coached two sophomores (Eddy Martinez-Esteve and Robinson) who have garnered consensus first team All-America honors. With Robinson's inclusion on the Team USA roster in 2005, the Seminole coach has now tutored 12 players that have gone on to wear the Red, White & Blue.
In 2004, FSU captured its fourth ACC Championship under Martin in what is widely considered the best baseball conference in America. Martin also saw five more of his players drafted including the 14th first round pick of his career as FSU's head coach when Stephen Drew was taken 15th by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Consensus All-American Martinez-Esteve was a second round pick of the San Francisco Giants as well and he also garnered the 27th first team All-American honor under Martin's watch.
Martin's 2003 Seminoles added another 50-win season to the record books and advanced to NCAA Super Regional play before falling to defending national champion Texas. The team featured eight players that were selected in the MLB Draft, including All-American catcher Tony Richie who was a fourth round pick of the Chicago Cubs. The squad also extended FSU's streak of top 10 finishes to 10 seasons, the longest current run in the nation. The Seminoles finished as the ACC regular season champs for the third straight year.
Despite losing in the final game of the Super Regional to Notre Dame, Martin's 2002 squad will always be one of his all-time favorites. Led by All-American Ryan Barthelemy, that team put together a list of accomplishments that had never before been reached. The Seminoles swept three games at Miami and did the same later in the year at Clemson. Both sweeps were firsts for the FSU program. The three-game sweep over then-No. 1 Clemson at the end of the regular season gave the Seminoles the ACC regular season title and the top seed in the ACC Tournament. The 2002 club did not stop there, winning all five games in St. Petersburg to take home the ACC Tournament Championship. The school record winning streak would reach 25 games as the team swept through NCAA Regional play.
The 2001 squad finished the year one game short of a fourth straight College World Series appearance. Martin was named ACC Coach of the Year for the fourth time since FSU joined the league in 1992 after leading the team to the regular season title. Slugging outfielder John-Ford Griffin was a Golden Spikes Award finalist, a consensus All-American, the ACC Player of the Year, and Martin's 11th first round draft pick.
Martin seems to out do his accomplishments every season. His 2000 club was the 19th to reach the 50-win plateau in his 22nd season. After defeating Miami in the NCAA Super Regional to earn a College World Series berth, the 2000 Seminoles rallied from an opening round loss to advance to the final four in Omaha before losing to eventual national champion LSU.
Martin was named ACC Coach of the Year in 1999 after his team won the ACC regular season with a 22-2 mark, the best regular season record in conference history. The Seminoles went on to finish second in the country with an impressive CWS showing. Marshall McDougall, who earlier in the season set the NCAA record with six home runs in single game, was named the CWS Most Outstanding Player.
The Seminole skipper earned his 1,000th victory in a 4-3 decision over Jacksonville on April 9th, 1998. He became the second-fastest head coach to reach the 1,000-win mark in NCAA Division I baseball history. Former FSU players, friends and Bullpen Club members honored Martin for his 1,000th win with a special ceremony and diamond-studded gold Rolex watch. Martin also garnered ACC Coach of the Year distinction from his peers for his efforts that season.
Martin guided his 1997 squad to the Seminoles' second Atlantic Coast Conference Championship. That team was led by a pitching staff that hurled four complete games in a five-game ACC Tournament sweep.
In 1996, FSU's 19-5 ACC record and first-ever first place conference finish in the regular season earned Martin his first ACC Coach of the Year honor. His squad made history as they put together a then-FSU record 22-game wining streak and traveled to the College World Series for the third consecutive season, the first three-year streak in school history.
Martin's brilliant career has meant more than just wins on the baseball diamond. The 2001 team got a first-hand reminder of that prior to a series at Stanford. Leaving the San Francisco airport, Martin and then-assistant coach Chip Baker gained control of the team's charter bus after the driver suffered a fatal heart attack and safely guided the bust to the side of a busy highway. Martin and Baker were presented with the university's prestigious Westcott Award for their bravery in saving the lives of players and staff. There's no question that the Seminoles' outstanding character in the most difficult of times stems directly from their head coach.
When Martin transferred to FSU from Wingate Junior College in 1965 to play center field for the Seminoles, it was the beginning of a love affair that has never ended. His love for the game of baseball is matched only by the success he has had teaching it to aspiring players. He teaches the game with a fire and drive that has given Florida State perhaps the nation's very best all-around college baseball program.
From the new facilities to the coaching staff to the unequaled community support, Martin has improved an already strong Seminole baseball tradition with every season. Just when it seems that the program can reach no higher plane, something bigger and better comes along. When Martin took over in 1980, it was taboo to mention the word Omaha around the ball club. No one wanted to jinx an FSU team that had made it to the College World Series only three times in the previous 16 seasons. After taking the Seminoles to that hallowed ground in his very first season, Martin would eventually make Omaha not only a household word, but a second home to the Seminoles. Martin has led the Tribe to the CWS 12 times in his career.
Martin won 50 or more games his first 12 seasons at the helm, interrupted by 49 and 46-win seasons in 1992 and 1993. He has added 10 more 50-win seasons since to bring the total to 22, including a 60-win season in 2002 that tied the ACC single-season victory record. The numbers Martin and his FSU teams have posted are monumental.
Martin's succeeding of Dick Howser as FSU head coach seemed a perfectly logical step in 1979. As a player in 1965-66, Martin hit .354 in two seasons as the starting center fielder for the Seminoles. He was a part of the 1965 College World Series team and earned All-District honors in his senior season. Martin then went on to play professionally in the New York Mets and Detroit Tigers organizations for three years prior to embarking on his career as a coach.
Martin began his career as a baseball and basketball coach at the junior high level. He served as head basketball coach at Tallahassee Community College before spending four seasons as basketball coach at Tallahassee's Godby High.
When Woody Woodward became FSU head baseball coach in 1975, he quickly called on Martin to assist him. He served as the No. 1 assistant under Woodward for four years and one under Dick Howser. When New York Yankees boss George Steinbrenner called Howser in November 1979, Martin was the obvious replacement. Since that day in 1979, there has been no doubt that Mike Martin and Seminole baseball has been a perfect match.
For Martin, it was a dream come true. He would be the first to tell you his current position is his ultimate thrill. Martin has won more games than all of Florida State's former head baseball coaches combined. Seminole baseball teams have participated in the NCAA Tournament every year under Martin. That run, on the heels of appearances in 1978 and 1979, gives FSU 30 consecutive tournament trips, the second longest streak in the country. Martin has been involved in 14 of the 18 College World Series trips that Florida State has made all-time, as a player, assistant coach and head coach.
Martin says his years around FSU coaches like Fred Hatfield, whom he played for in 1965-66, Woodward and Howser (both of whom he coached under) instilled in him the desire to produce winners on and off the playing field. Stepping out of their shadows, Martin has built his own legacy in Tallahassee.
During his tenure, an incredible 147 players have been selected in the MLB Draft. In 2007, Martin coached his sixth consensus first team All-American in Tony Thomas, Jr. who was also the fifth national player of the year coached by the FSU legend. Thomas, Jr. is the most recent in a long line of award winners developed by Martin. In 1999, second baseman Marshall McDougall was a consensus All-American, a finalist for the Golden Spikes and Dick Howser Awards, and the ACC Player of the Year after winning the conference's triple crown. Centerfielder J.D. Drew took home consensus All-American honors in 1997, as well as player of the year awards from Baseball America, The Sporting News and Collegiate Baseball. Drew also became the first Seminole to win the Dick Howser Award, named after FSU's former All-American and head coach. Three of Martin's Seminoles (Mike Fuentes, Mike Loynd and Drew) have won the Golden Spikes Award, honoring the nation's best amateur baseball player. No school has produced more Golden Spikes Award winners than Florida State.
Martin does not just produce winning teams, All-Americans and major league prospects, he believes in developing a true student-athlete. The most important thing about Mike Martin's teams is that they have won with class, a direct reflection of the man who leads Seminole baseball. In four seasons of presenting The ACC Sportsmanship Award, Martin's Seminoles have won it twice. His team has been in the top three in the ACC for overall GPA and a league-high seven Seminoles were named to the All-ACC Academic Team as they posted a GPA of at least 3.0. Since the inception of the All-ACC Academic Team in 2006, Florida State leads all schools with 13 honorees. In 2007, the Seminole baseball team was honored with the Golden Torch Award for the highest overall GPA of any other men's team at FSU.
A popular speaker, Martin has delivered keynote addresses at several state and national meetings, including gatherings of the Florida High School Coaches Association, Atlanta Braves instructional clinics and Seminole booster clubs throughout the Southeast. He is also in demand as a speaker at churches and is active in national and local Fellowship of Christian Athletes activities.
Martin's success on and off the field have led to the coach being honored by his two former schools in 2004. The legendary FSU baseball coach was named a Distinguished Alumnus at Wingate University where he went to school for two years before coming to Florida State and earning his degree in 1966. Florida State also bestowed an honor on the coach when he was named a recipient of the Bernard F. Sliger Award for Service. The Sliger Award, named for the eleventh president of the University, is the single highest honor accorded by the Alumni Association. It recognizes a member of the University community who has, through their efforts, made a major contribution toward the fulfillment of the mission of the University.
A 1966 graduate of Florida State, Martin earned his master's degree in 1971. He and wife Carol have three children, Mary Beth, Melanie and Mike, Jr., a former starting catcher and current assistant coach at Florida State. Mary Beth and husband Tom Buchanan are the parents of Martin's first grandchild Hannah Elizabeth (9). Mike, Jr. and his wife Litzie are the parents of Martin's second and third grandchildren Tyler (6) and T.J (4).
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