It’s Old ‘Mariner Horse’ Play

Seattle Mariner left fielder Al Martin told the Seattle Times a great story about the time he tried to tackle Michigan’s Leroy Hoard in 1986 while playing for USC.

“For some reason, probably because I was young and dumb, I decided I could make a head-on stop of Leroy Hoard,” Martin told the newspaper in May.

“I hit him, or rather he hit me. You remember those big tree-trunk legs Hoard had? That’s what hit me.”

There are only a couple of problems with the story.

USC didn’t play Michigan in 1986--or in any other year during the decade until the 1989 Rose Bowl.

And Martin never played football for USC.

The Mariners’ media guide reports that Martin “attended the University of Southern California on a football scholarship” and “played two seasons at strong safety for the Trojans.”

But coaches and players at USC and at Martin’s high school, Rowland High in Rowland Heights, said they have no knowledge of Martin attending or playing at the university, the Seattle Times reported this week in a follow-up to its original story.

USC has no record that Martin ever enrolled, received scholarship money or played in a game, the newspaper said.

Martin said in a 1993 interview with the Los Angeles Times that he was recruited during his senior year in high school in 1985 to play football at USC but chose instead to play baseball professionally.

He was drafted in the eighth round of the 1985 free-agent draft by Atlanta and reported that summer to the Braves’ Gulf Coast League affiliate.

Martin is the nephew of former USC and Oakland/Los Angeles Raider linebacker Rod Martin.

Mariner spokesman Tim Hevly said the erroneous information would be removed from the guide’s next edition.

The issue was raised when Martin told the Seattle Times this spring that crashing into teammate Carlos Guillen during a Mariner game reminded him of his attempt to tackle Hoard.

When asked about the discrepancy last month, Martin told the newspaper he would provide proof the next day. That hasn’t happened, the paper said, and Martin has declined to comment further on the record.