Marty Janzen

Marty Janzen
Pitcher
Born: (1973-05-31) May 31, 1973 (age 50)
Homestead, Florida
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 12, 1996, for the Toronto Blue Jays
Last MLB appearance
September 27, 1997, for the Toronto Blue Jays
MLB statistics
Win–loss record6–7
Earned run average6.39
Strikeouts64
KBO statistics
Win–loss record0–1
Earned run average8.53
Strikeouts10
CPBL statistics
Win–loss record0–0
Earned run average18.00
Strikeouts1
Teams

Martin Thomas Janzen (born May 31, 1973) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Janzen played in Major League Baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays, in the KBO League for the Kia Tigers, and in the Chinese Professional Baseball League for the Macoto Cobras.

Playing career

Janzen played baseball at Gainesville High School in Gainesville, Florida[1] but did not plan to play baseball after high school and was considering, instead, pursuing a career as a professional bowler. However, after graduating, Janzen spent a summer playing American Legion Baseball with coach Kevin Maris, the son of Roger Maris, and added 10 mph (16 km/h) to his fastball.[2] He signed with the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent on August 8, 1991.[3]

Janzen was assigned to the Gulf Coast League to start his professional career.[4] By 1994, he had reached the South Atlantic League with the Greensboro Bats and was described in the Greensboro News & Record as one of the "Yankees' prized pitching prospects."[5]

During the 1995 season, Janzen was considered one of the best prospects in the Yankees' system and was the centerpiece of a trade deadline deal to the Toronto Blue Jays for reigning American League Cy Young Award winner David Cone.[6] The trade has been retrospectively regarded one of the most lopsided trade deadline swaps in league history.[7][8][9][10]

Janzen made his Major League debut with the Blue Jays on May 12 of the following season, pitching three scoreless innings in relief of Tony Castillo and picking up the win at the SkyDome against the Boston Red Sox.[3][11] Janzen made the first start of his Major League career on May 27 against the Chicago White Sox. He allowed three runs over seven innings pitched.[12] Janzen pitched 98.2 innings over 27 games in parts of the 1996 and 1997 seasons with the Blue Jays. He did not appear in the Major Leagues again after the 1997 season.[3]

After the 1997 season, Janzen was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks from the Blue Jays in the 1997 MLB expansion draft. Before the start of the 1998 season, he was traded by the Diamondbacks with Todd Erdos to the Yankees for Andy Fox.[3] Between 1998 and 2004, Janzen played in five different countries for 18 different teams in the Korea Baseball Organization, Chinese Professional Baseball League, Mexican League, various independent leagues and in affiliated Minor League Baseball.[4]

Coaching career

In 2008, Janzen coached a travel baseball team in Gainesville.[1] In 2010, he was a pitching coach for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. From 2011 to 2013, Janzen coached with the Lancaster Barnstormers. In 2015, he was hired as a pitching coach with the Long Island Ducks.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b Brockway, Kevin (July 5, 2008). "LeVon Washington showcases skills". Gainesville Sun. Archived from the original on June 2, 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  2. ^ Stone, Christian (March 12, 1996). "4 Toronto Blue Jays". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d "Marty Janzen Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Marty Janzen Minor, Mexican, Independent, Korean & CPBL Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  5. ^ Atkinson, Charlie (July 23, 1994). "Bats' Janzen in Quest of Perfection". Greensboro News and Record. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  6. ^ Pennington, Bill (2019). Chumps to Champs: How the Worst Teams in Yankees History Led to the '90s Dynasty. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 244. ISBN 978-1-328-84985-4. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  7. ^ "MLB trade deadline disasters". CBS News. July 26, 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  8. ^ "10 worst deadline deals in MLB history". FOX Sports. October 20, 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  9. ^ Fagan, Ryan (August 26, 2020). "The 15 worst MLB trade deadline deals in history, ranked". Sporting News. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  10. ^ Schoenfield, David (July 25, 2019). "30 teams, 30 bad deals: Revisiting the worst deadline trade your team ever made". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  11. ^ "Boston Red Sox at Toronto Blue Jays Box Score, May 12, 1996". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  12. ^ "Marty Janzen 1996 Pitching Game Logs". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  13. ^ Giaconelli, Gregory (May 26, 2015). "New Ducks pitching coach Marty Janzen guides the Flock". LIB Magazine. Retrieved 2 June 2021.

External links