Martinez Is Mr. April for Yankees

Tino Martinez had no problem Thursday when he tore April off his calendar. He may have hesitated a bit, not as in years past, when he couldn’t wait for May.

Before this year, April had been cruel for Martinez.

It began the usually quiet way, with a measly single in four at-bats in the season opener April 1 in Seattle, his former big league home. The next night, Martinez got an indication things might be different. He had four hits, three of them home runs, five runs and seven RBI.

“Even after that, I wasn’t completely sure,” Martinez, 29, said. “You think it might be one of those freak games where everything you do is right. What you’re looking for is consistency, and you can’t judge that by one game.”

So the games kept coming, as did the hits, home runs and RBI, to the point that Martinez, once among the legendary slow starters, now holds the distinction of driving in more runs in April than any player in major league history.

Martinez’s major league-leading 34 RBI were accomplished by his hitting .327 with nine home runs--pretty heady stuff for a guy whose average April before this season was .240, two home runs and eight RBI.

A year ago, Martinez hit .244 with three home runs and 13 RBI. His first home run in 1996 didn’t come until his 19th game, April 24 at Yankee Stadium against the Cleveland Indians. Martinez got his 34th RBI June 1 at Oakland and his ninth home run June 8 at Detroit.

“We’re talking about a guy who led our club in RBI last season,” Yankee Manager Joe Torre said. Martinez had 117 RBI in ’96. “You look at what he has done so far and realize he didn’t have 34 RBI in any month last year.”

The most RBI Martinez had in any month last year was 26, in June, when he hit .314 with six home runs. After batting .343 with seven home runs and 24 RBI in August, Martinez went into a down cycle. He hit .227 with three home runs and 15 RBI in September-October, then fell off to .188 with no RBI in 48 at-bats over 15 postseason games.

For that reason, this April was satisfying for Martinez, following as it did a torrid spring training, in which he hit .483 with four home runs and 17 RBI. He was particularly tough on his former teammates, batting .458 with four home runs and 11 RBI in five games against the Seattle Mariners.

“I’m kind of glad it’s over, in a way,” Martinez said while packing a new shipment of bats for the Yankees’ trip to Kansas City this weekend. “It’s not that there was any pressure or anything, but I’m not big on individual stuff. My focus has always been team-oriented. Earlier in the month when I was doing well, we fell five games under .500 (5-10), and it was tough to feel happy about the way I was hitting. I mean, none of this is any good if the team doesn’t benefit from it. That’s what this year is all about for us -- to get back to the World Series again.”

Don’t think Martinez isn’t serious. Playing for a championship team is every major leaguer’s dream, and it came true for Martinez, although his Series experience wasn’t entirely enjoyable. When it was over, sure, he could celebrate and be proud his strong regular season (.292, 25 home runs) got the Yankees into the postseason.

But there also was the memory of being benched in Atlanta while designated hitter Cecil Fielder, stripped of his role because of National League rules, played first base. Martinez still won’t speak publicly about that, but those close to him have said he was embarrassed.

“It was never meant as a slight,” Torre said. “I knew Tino was unhappy about it. The fact is, he was a big reason we got to the postseason, but I had to go with the hot hand in the Series, and quite honestly, Tino was slumping and pressing. When he fights himself, and he does that occasionally, he’s his own worst enemy.”

Said Martinez, “It wasn’t any one thing that motivated me to get off to a better start. It’s something that has held me back my whole career. I went on a weights program in the off-season to help my endurance. I felt strong in spring training and got my swing down early. I just want to keep it going.”