(photos by Craig Jackson)
All too often in sports, coaches and players are judged by the championships they win. Or more damning to a legacy, the championships they don’t win.
Seventeen times, Mike Martin guided Florida State to the College World Series. And 17 times, his Seminoles left Omaha without the ultimate prize.
It shouldn’t matter, a stance I’m sure will elicit all kinds of snickers. It’s a blemish, or a blight, on an otherwise extraordinary career, folks will continue to write and say. Couldn’t get it done when it mattered most, hardcore college baseball fans might say. Choked.
I get it, it’s what we do these days. We live in an age of exaggerations and overstatements. We live in an era of Mount Rushmores. Is this the best team ever? Is that the best performance ever? That was the greatest game of all time. That is if you forget the last three times that was tweeted or written about in the past five years alone.
This is no exaggeration. Mike Martin is one of the best coaches ever. In any sport. Pro, college or any level.
Forty straight years with no fewer than 40 wins (including 24 50-win seasons and two 60-win seasons). Forty straight Regional appearances. Seventeen trips to college baseball’s promised land (not including a couple more as an assistant coach). The most wins in college baseball – and college athletics – with 2,029, and a career winning percentage of 73 percent.
Known as 11, the number he’s worn for all these years, Martin matched mastery and a passion for winning with good old Southern charm, class and grace. Whether it was being shut out by Bucknell’s Mathew Wilson in FSU’s opener of the 2008 Tallahassee Regional or walking off the field in Omaha for the final time after a loss to Texas Tech, Martin tipped his proverbial cap to his opponents. And he did so genuinely.
After a Saturday night, 15-2 drubbing at the hands of upstart Virginia, Martin didn’t shy away from the media. One of the things he said that night always stood out: “It’s exciting for me to see baseball in this atmosphere in Charlottesville. This is great for the league, it’s great for college baseball.” He didn’t have to say that, particularly after the pounding his team just took. But he did. And he was sincere.
As John Manuel, the former Baseball America editor/college baseball aficionado and current member of the Minnesota Twins scouting department, tweeted: “Kind of amazing that the old school is now all gone in college baseball.” The likes of Augie Garrido, Mark Marquess, Wayne Graham, Mike Gillespie and others have retired.
Another legend left the building last night. In Omaha, as it should be. And yes, without a national title – twice, the Seminoles fell just short, losing in the title game.
No coach has won more than 11. That should be remembered far more than the wins that got away.