Much of the reason was because he really didn't stop.
Martinez would finish the major league season with the Seattle Mariners, take a little time off, then play the rest of the winter in his native Puerto Rico. Those were in his younger years, of course, when the body didn't need a full offseason of rest.
"When you play pretty much all year, you might get a little tired but your swing doesn't need that much work," he said.
So how does that explain what's happening this week, when he has pummeled pitchers from Korea to Anaheim right out of the box?
Martinez went 3-for-3 with a two-run home run Friday against the Anaheim Angels, continuing three days of hot hitting. Including a B game against a Korean team and Thursday's non-counting exhibition against the San Diego Padres, Martinez is 6-for-8 with two walks.
"My swing is the best it can be at this time of the season," Martinez said. "I hope I feel like this for the rest of spring training and that it can carry over to the season."
Martinez has consistently hit for a high average during spring training, but rarely this well this early.
"Very few times," he said. "That last time it was like this was early in my career, probably because I played in Puerto Rico in the winter and played almost year-round. For this early in spring training, I feel pretty good.
"It's a good sign."
- DOUBLE TROUBLE: The Mariners lost both of their split-squad games -- 6-4 to the Angels in Tempe and 16-4 to the Padres in Peoria -- with a healthy dose of highlights and lowlights from both.
Against the Angels, starting pitcher Jamey Wright took his altered mechanics into a game for the first time and threw three innings with wobbly control that improved as he worked.
Wright, who signed a minor league contract with hopes of winning a spot in the starting rotation, allowed one earned run on two hits and two walks. He struggled to control his sinker and found himself in three-ball counts to six of the first seven hitters he faced.
"My best sinker only moves about five or six inches, and it moves late," he said. "Today, it seemed like they were moving two or three feet, right out of my hand. A hitter can see that right away and he's going to lay off it every time."
Wright abandoned the sinker in his final inning and turned to a four-seam fastball with better control. He gave up a long home run to Brad Fullmer on a cut fastball, a pitch he says he rarely throws.
"I feel strong, I feel great," Wright said. "I'm trying to work with some new mechanics and it felt like finally in the last inning it started to click."
After Wright, four of the Mariners' young pitching prospects finished the game, three with impressive stuff.
Clint Nageotte allowed one hit in two scoreless innings; left-hander Steve Kent pitched a perfect inning, including a strikeout of Angels left-handed slugger Brad Fullmer; and Aaron Looper didn't allow a baserunner in the final 1 1/3 innings.
Before Looper, however, Allan Simpson was hammered for five hits and four runs while getting only two outs in the seventh, when the Angels turned around a 4-2 Mariners lead.
At Peoria, Ryan Franklin got out of his sick bed and gave up seven hits and five earned runs in 2 1/3 innings, when the defense didn't help him. Jeff Cirillo and Ichiro Suzuki each committed an error and the Mariners made five in the game.
It only got worse after Franklin left.
Rett Johnson, one of the organization's young pitching prospects, hit three batters and allowed three walks, three hits and six runs in the third inning as the game got out of hand.
- EATON'S DEBUT: Snohomish resident Adam Eaton made his first spring training start for the Padres and pitched well in his two innings. He gave up a run on three hits with one strikeout.
- SHAKY MOMENTS: Before Bobby Madritsch could get the feel for his breaking pitch, he had to get the feeling back in his legs.
The M's left-hander made his first appearance on the mound Thursday and performed well, pitching a scoreless inning against the Padres despite a severe bout of nervousness.
"My legs wouldn't stop shaking," said Madritsch, who was signed by the Mariners as a minor-league free agent last September. "I was more or less aiming the ball instead of throwing it. I was nervous and I didn't want to throw the ball to the backstop by overthrowing."
Catcher Ben Davis came to the mound to settle Madritsch with words that worked.
"He told me to visualize something good and throw the ball over the plate," Madritsch said. "That was a big help to me."
Madritsch gave up a leadoff single, then struck out two of the next three hitters to end a successful debut as a Mariner.
Madritsch suffered a shoulder injury early in his career and pitched last season with Winnipeg in the independent Northern League, where his mid-90 mph fastball produced a league-record 153 strikeouts in just 125 1/3 innings.
The Mariners are looking at him for the bullpen in case Norm Charlton can't recover from a shoulder injury, although Madritsch must develop a curveball to be seriously considered.
"He basically pitches fastball-changeup, which works against right-handers," manager Bob Melvin said. "But if he's going to pitch out of the bullpen he needs a breaking ball for the left-handers because that's who we're going to need him to pitch against."
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• Peoria Sports Complex Spring Training 2003