After another disappointing playoff finish last June, Melvin Martinez gathered his team together in the stands at MCU Park. There, shocking everyone – from longtime players to assistant coaches he has known all his life – Martinez announced his plans to retire.
“I felt like they needed a new coach,” Martinez said on the eve of leading second-seeded Grand Street into its first baseball final against No. 4 George Washington Friday at 7 p.m. in Coney Island. “I’ve had some great talent for so many years. Not to ever make the championship, maybe it’s the coaching. I was beginning to feel like someone else should take over.”
The response shocked Martinez. Virtually the entire team, fresh off a humbling sweep at the hands of Tottenville, reacted with anger and disbelief. In the coming days and weeks, he was borderline harassed by players to stay, ace left-hander Gerry Gonzalez, Maryland-bound shortstop Jose Cuas and catcher/third baseman Ernesto Lopez leading the charge.
Lopez, in fact, threatened to quit and Cuas said he and his younger brother Alex came to Grand Street because of Martinez.
“We wanted to win a ring with him,” Lopez said. “We told him, next year, our last year, don’t do that to us. We were trying to do anything to make him stay.”
The team went to Martinez’s wife, Lori, too, begging her to convince him. Over the summer, he mulled over the decision, weighing the positives and negatives. In August, at Lori’s urging, he relented and decided to return.
“She knew I would be depressed if I wasn’t coaching,” said the 43-year-old Martinez, an assistant principal at P.S. 257 in Brooklyn.
Early in September, he sent out a text to the team for fall practice. There, the team’s leaders promised Martinez a title, which they are one win away from. Martinez, in his 17th season, has been reinvigorated this spring, coaching this loaded team that has won 20 straight games against PSAL foes after a surprising league-opening loss to Midwood.
“Right now, the way the season has gone, [retiring] is not even a thought,” he said. “I’m glad I didn’t retire. I’m having so much fun.
George Washington coach Steve Mandl didn’t think of retiring last June, but he was miserable just the same. The legendary coach, who has won two city championships and over 900 games, was forced to watch his team win without him after the PSAL suspended him for recruiting violations.
Mandl attended the championship game, sitting in the front row to the side of the dugout and came on the field to celebrate with his players afterward. Friday night, obviously, will be different.
“It’s like the first game back [this season], it will be the same way,” he said.
Mandl’s players dedicated last year’s title run to him. They wanted to win again this year with him on the field and to become the first team since Tottenville in 1986-87 to repeat as PSAL champions. It, however, won’t be easy.
The two teams are mirror images of one another, featuring potent, deep and powerful lineups and stellar starting pitching.
George Washington’s Nelson Rodriguez (catcher) and Fernelys Sanchez (center fielder) went in the 15th and 16th rounds, respectively, in the MLB First-Year Player Draft, Rodriguez to the Cleveland Indians and Sanchez to the Atlanta Braves. Grand Street shortstop Jose Cuas was selected in the fourth round by the Toronto Blue Jays, but he and catcher Kevin Martir, who have both signed with Maryland, had high financial demands that hurt them, Martinez said.
Both teams, who played to a 3-all tie during the preseason, have had a rather easy go of it in the playoffs, GW winning its five games by a combined 49-8 and Grand Street nearly matching it with a 36-14 edge.
“I had a feeling it was going to be us and Grand Street in the finals,” Rodriguez said.
Friday, Martinez will be back at MCU Park, where he nearly ended his coaching career. That will be far from his mind on Friday. He has just one goal: to bring a city title to Grand Street.
“It means everything to me – everything,” Martinez said. “This has always been our goal, for the last 17 years.”