Nats skipper recalls youth camp that fueled his life in baseball

NEW YORK — Nationals supervisor Dave Martinez has been coping with Major League gamers since he was 12 years outdated. His first publicity to these ballplayers got here throughout the winter of 1976, when he went to the Doyle Baseball School, which was then situated in Winter Haven, Fla. 

The house owners of the camp had been a trio of brothers — former Major Leaguers Denny and Brian Doyle and Brian’s twin brother, Blake. Denny is finest recognized for taking part in second base for the Red Sox within the 1975 World Series, whereas Brian turned a postseason hero three years later with the Yankees. Blake by no means made it to the large leagues, however performed skilled baseball within the Orioles and Reds organizations.        

The Doyle brothers had been impressed by what they noticed from Martinez on the baseball discipline and advised his father, Earnest, that Dave had the “it” issue and would love for him to proceed his baseball training with them. Earnest beloved the thought. Besides, he needed Dave to remain in Florida and reside along with his uncle, Carlos Martinez. Dave was born in New York and spent greater than a decade within the Big Apple, however Earnest didn’t just like the path his son was headed whereas residing within the Tri-state space.

“There were other things for me at that age. He didn’t want me to get caught up, and he loved the game of baseball,” Dave mentioned about his father. “When I went to the Doyle camp, he said, ‘That’s it, you are going. He sent me off to Florida, and my uncle was tough on me. My uncle didn’t let me do much because he didn’t want to let my dad down. So I grew up fast.”

So, from age 12 till he was taken within the third spherical by the Cubs within the 1983 MLB January Draft-Secondary Phase, Martinez discovered his craft from the Doyle household. While doing so, Martinez turned a counselor within the camp and infrequently pulled oranges off timber for the children to eat.    

“The Doyle brothers, the whole family, they helped me out tremendously. They were a huge part of my life. I appreciate that,” Martinez mentioned. “The reason I’ve had so much success is because of them. They were like my uncles, my parents in baseball.”

What was the most important factor he discovered from the Doyle brothers? Discipline. It was about working arduous, making ready earlier than video games and making him notice that baseball wasn’t all the time straightforward.

“They taught me how to balance myself and stay even keel and just go out there and play the game hard,” Martinez mentioned. “They would always tell me, ‘You never know who is watching’ and it was true. I was playing because I loved it. I had fun. I didn’t know scouts were watching me play when I was that young. … I was drafted at an early age. Even after I was drafted, I would go back to the Doyle camp and get ready for Spring Training.”

With assist from the Doyle brothers, Martinez did fairly nicely within the massive leagues, hitting .276  whereas enjoying 16 years with 9 totally different groups, together with the Cubs, Rays and Giants. After his enjoying profession ended, Martinez turned a long-time bench coach with the Rays and Cubs earlier than changing into a supervisor and guiding the Nationals to the World Series title in 2019.

Martinez was closest to Denny Doyle, who handed away in 2022. While he hasn’t been in touch with Brian Doyle, Martinez mentioned he retains in contact with Blake Doyle.

“I talked to Blake about [winning the World Series] and he said, ‘Hey, you deserve everything you get. You worked your butt off.’ It was awesome.”