Andy Manuel Marté (October 21, 1983 – January 22, 2017) was a third baseman in Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians.
Career[]
Marté signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves in 2000, and succeeded at every level of the farm system. In 2005 Marté hit .275 with 20 home runs and 74 RBI in 109 games in Triple-A, but hit only .140 in 57 at bats with the Braves. As the Braves chose to sign third baseman Chipper Jones to a contract extension, and lost shortstop Rafael Furcal in free agency, Marté was traded by the Atlanta Braves on December 8, 2005, to the Boston Red Sox for shortstop Edgar Rentería and cash considerations. Later that off-season, on January 27, 2006, the Red Sox traded him to the Cleveland Indians along with relief pitcher Guillermo Mota, catcher Kelly Shoppach, Randy Newsom, and cash considerations for center fielder Coco Crisp, catcher Josh Bard, and relief pitcher David Riske.
Marté initially received little playing time with the Cleveland Indians, but after the Indians traded Casey Blake on July 26, 2008, he had the third base job to himself. Seemingly in response to his mediocre performance, the Indians traded for Mark DeRosa to play that position in 2009.
On February 19, 2009, Marté was designated for assignment by the Cleveland Indians to make room for newly-acquired relief pitcher Juan Salas. Marte cleared waivers and was sent outright to the Indians AAA affiliate Columbus Clippers on February 25.[1]
Marté had a strong performance for the Clippers. In 82 games, he batted .327 with 18 home runs. Following the trade of Ryan Garko on July 27, Marté was recalled to the Indians.
On July 29th, 2010, Marte made his first pitching appearance for the Cleveland Indians, pitching a perfect inning with one strikeout. Marte's strikeout victim, Nick Swisher, had found himself in a similar situation to Marté in 2009 when he himself pitched an inning in relief in a game against Tampa Bay Rays.
Death[]
Marte died in a car crash on January 22, 2017 at the age of 33.
Trivia[]
Andy Marte and Yordano Ventura both died in car crashes in the Dominican Republic on the same day.
References[]
External links[]
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube