Oh man, have you heard? The legendary Mike Martin, the titan of Florida State baseball, has left us. He was 79. The university dropped this sad news on Thursday. Now, they didn’t spell out exactly how he passed, but whispers around Tallahassee last month hinted at Lewy body dementia.
Mike Martin wasn’t just any coach. From 1980 to 2019, he was the big boss at FSU. And get this – his 2,029 victories are untouchable in college baseball. That’s a record, folks. Plus, his winning percentage? A staggering .733, only second to… well, it’s so high, does the exact rank even matter?
Under his watch, FSU’s record was something out of a storybook: 2,029-736-4. Yeah, you read that right. And those trips to the College World Series? Seventeen of them, with two heartbreakingly close shots at the title in ’86 and ’99. The man was a legend, through and through.
Oh, and the accolades? They just kept coming. Seven times he snagged the Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year. Baseball America thought he was top-notch too, naming him Coach of the Year twice. And, as if all that wasn’t enough, 2019 saw him waltz right into the College Baseball Hall of Fame. FSU even named their field after him in 2005 – Mike Martin Field at Dick Howser Stadium. Talk about leaving a legacy.
But wait, there’s more. The players he coached? Icons like Deion Sanders, J.D. Drew, Stephen Drew, and Buster Posey. Over 70 of his players were All-Americans. Four even snagged the Golden Spikes Award. That’s the baseball Heisman, in case you were wondering.
Before he was the FSU legend, Martin was just a guy playing for the team in ’65 and ’66. Had a stint in the minors with the Mets and the Tigers. Even coached basketball at Tallahassee Community College. But baseball called him back, and in 1975, he returned to FSU as an assistant coach. Five years later, he took over the reins. And the rest, as they say, is history.
