In the past, he has played for teams such as the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates. Martin is the winner of the 2007 Gold Glove Award and Silver Slugger Award and is also a four-time MLB All-Star.
Russell Martin was born on February 15, 1983, in East York, Ontario, Canada. He was born to parents were Suzanne Jeanson and Russell Martin Sr. who named him Russell Nathan Coltrane Jeanson Martin Jr.
For his high school education, Martin attended Polyvalente Edouard-Montpetit High School. He attended the Chipola College for his education after rejecting to sign with Montreal Expos in the 2000 Major League Baseball. He met future teammate Jose Bautista during his college years.
Russell Martin was drafted in the 2000 MLB draft where he was picked by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 17th round. For the first season of his professional career, he played for the Gulf Coast Dodgers in the minor league as their third baseman. He had .286 hits and 10 RBI in 41 games with the team. His position was shifted from the third baseman to a catcher in the offseason.
Martin spent his 2003 season with the Ogden Raptors but was later promoted to the Class-A South Georgia Waves. He was selected as the Florida State League All-Star catcher during the 2004 season playing for the Vero Beach Dodgers. He played 122 games, batting .250, 15 home runs and 64 RBI. In 2006, Marting played for the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s which was his last team in the minor league.
Russell Martin was promoted to Los Angeles Dodgers of the major league baseball in 2006. His debut game with the team came on May 5, 2006, when he came to fill in for Dioner Navarro who sustained a wrist injury. He was able to make two hits including a double in the game. His first hit in the MLB was against Chris Capuano. Martin and Eric Gagne became a battery on June 26, 2006, becoming the first French Canadian battery in the majors.
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The 2007 season was a very good season for Russell Martin. He was able to hit the first grand slam of his career against the Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Shawn Chacon on April 21, 2007. He also set the franchise record for single-season steals by a catcher. He came in first at the All-Star game voting and was followed by Paul Lo Duca in the second place. He won the 2007 National League Gold Glove Award and the Silver Slugger Award.
Martin was also selected for the 2008 All-Star Game. The American League won the game 4 to 3 with Martin catching 10 innings of the 15 inning game. He signed a one-year, $3.9 million contract to avoid Salary arbitration in January of 2009. For the 2009 World Baseball Classic, he represented the Canadian team.
Russell Martin began to have an offensive slump in the 2009 season. He was only able to hit .250 and 7 home runs in 143 games of the season. The slump continued on to his 2010 season as well. He hit .248 and 5 home runs and 26 RBI in 97 games that he played in. He suffered a torn labrum injury in his right hip which resulted in him sitting out the rest of the season for injury.
Martin became a free agent in 2011 as Dodgers did not tender him a contract but instead got catcher Rod Barajas in his place. In place of Dodgers, Martin signed a $6 million guaranteed one-year contract with the New York Yankees for the 2011 season. He became the everyday catcher for the Yankees for the 2011 season and was also selected for the 2011 American League All-Star team as a Yankee.
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Russell Martin, Robinson Cano, and Curtis Granderson became the three batters who hit an MLB record three grand slams in a single game. He signed a $7.5 million one-year contract with the Yankees for the 2012 season. He was the starting catcher for the 2012 season for the Yankees with Chris Stewart as his backup. He ended the season with .211 hit, 21 home runs, and 53 RBI.
Martin signed a two year $17 million contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates for the 2013 season. He helped the team win the NL Wild Card Game against the Cincinnati Reds hitting two home runs. He also helped the team win their first postseason victory in 21 years.
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In November of 2014, the Toronto Blue Jays signed Martin to a five-year, $82 million contract. He formed the first all-Canadian battery in franchise history catching for Jeff Francis. At the end of the 2015 regular season, Martin had a .240 batting average, 23 home runs, and 77 RBI in 129 games. He was the finalist for the catcher Gold Glove award along with Salvador Perez and Jason Castro.
Russell Martin has previously seen to be in a relationship with Elisabeth Chicoine who is a researcher graduated who graduated from the University of Quebec in Montreal. There have not been any updates about his relationship with his girlfriend. Martin has not been married to date as such does not have a wife or children.
Russell Martin is estimated to have a $65 million net worth. His $82 million contract with Blue Jays suggests that he has an annual salary of $16.5 million. He is one of the highest paid catchers in MLB.
His net worth includes his personal assets such as his luxury house located in Lake Michigan, Illinois Chicago which has the real estate property of $2.5 million and his luxury accessories such as his gold Girard-Perregaux
