As he begins his journey into professional baseball, A’s first-round draft pick Richie Martin has some pretty nice resources to fall back on for advice.
He grew up playing on a traveling baseball team coached by former major league outfielder Chet Lemon. Martin’s father, Richard Sr., played on traveling teams after high school and crossed paths with former Detroit Tigers second baseman Lou Whitaker.
The baseball roots run deep for Martin, the starting shortstop for a University of Florida team preparing to begin play in the College World Series on Saturday. His grandfather played in the Negro Leagues as a member of the Kansas City Monarchs, where he played alongside Jackie Robinson and Satchel Paige.