RIP JOSE MARTINEZ
What no one has talked about -- except for a tweet from former AJC writer Carroll Rogers -- is that a big loss in the front office occurred October 2nd with the death of Special Assistant to the GM Jose Martinez.
MArtinez, 72, was in his 21st year as a special assistant in player development and, since 2008, assistant director of international scouting. He began his professional baseball career in 1960, and after a brief playing career, was a coach for 15 seasons. He was a coach on the Royals' World Series champ staff of 1985. As a manager, he won three winter league championships in Venezuela. He came to the Braves along with GM John Schuerholz and remained with the organization until his death on October 2.
His jon, as one blogger put it, was "Jose’s job was to help acclimate the team’s Latin prospects to Major League Baseball and life in the U.S., and he was perfectly suited for it. We attended a Winter League game and visited both clubhouses. Jose seemed to know every player in there, from Pedro Feliz to Edwin Encarnacion. It was obvious they all liked, and respected, Jose."
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