SAN FRANCISCO • During his time in the minors, and there was plenty of it, teammates would see the “3” at the start of Jose Martinez’s batting average, the years of production he had, and ask him how he had yet to reach the major leagues.
Martinez would point to their own statistics or those of a farmhand nearby and counter with a question.
“How are you not in the big leagues?”
Their shared answer was a statistic that isn’t kept, but everybody knows: opportunities.
“I spent 10 years in the minors waiting for a chance,” Martinez said Sunday.