José Dennis Martínez Ortiz (born May 14, 1955), nicknamed "El Presidente" (lit.

[2] Martínez played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Montreal Expos, Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners, and Atlanta Braves from 1976 to 1998.

[3] The following year, he spent time with Miami, Asheville, and the Rochester Red Wings, going 12-4 with the former and 4-1 with the middle while having no wins and losses with the latter.

He finished in the top ten for numerous categories in the AL, such as innings pitched (6th), strikeouts (9th), walks (6th), and hits (9th with 257).

Martínez made his postseason debut in Game 3 of the ALCS against the California Angels, pitching 8+1⁄3 innings while allowing three runs on eight hits while striking out four, although he did not receive a decision in the 4–3 loss.

He was put into the lineup as a designated hitter on September 29, 1980, although he was pinch hit for by Terry Crowley prior to batting.

For the 1982 season, Martínez was selected to pitch the Opening Day game against the Kansas City Royals at Memorial Stadium on April 5, 1982.

It was this problem that led him to not be included in the 1983 postseason roster by Joe Altobelli, although he did receive a championship ring.

He still ranks in the top ten of numerous categories for the Orioles, such as wins (10th), innings (9th), strikeouts (10th), walks (8th), losses (8th), and earned runs (6th).

[14] Although his sluggish start did not improve with the Expos, he went 3–6 with a 4.59 ERA in 19 appearances, with a complete game and a save in 98 innings of work.

He made 19 putouts, 39 assists, six errors (a league high) and three double plays for a .906 fielding percentage.

He finished in the top ten of numerous categories, such as ERA (9th), innings (9th), complete games (6th), home runs (5th with 21), hits (9th with 215) along with batters faced (10th with 968), and adjusted ERA+ (8th with 133).

Pitching against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Olympic Stadium, he threw seven innings while allowing three runs on eight hits while having three strikeouts, with the Expos rallying to win in the ninth 6–5.

Facing the 4–5–6 order of Cal Ripken Jr., Ken Griffey Jr. and Mark McGwire, Martínez had one strikeout while allowing no hits.

For the fourth year in a row, he was the Opening Day starter, pitching against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium.

He threw seven innings of work while allowing one hit and no runs with five strikeouts and two walks as the Expos won 7–0.

Pitching in Montreal against the Atlanta Braves, he threw eight innings while allowing one run of four hits with three walks and seven strikeouts as the Expos won 2–1.

[27] On September 28, Martínez won his 100th game for the Expos, doing so against the Florida Marlins at Joe Robbie Stadium.

[29] With the win, he became the seventh pitcher with at least 100 wins in both the American and National leagues, joining Jim Bunning, Ferguson Jenkins, Al Orth, Gaylord Perry, Nolan Ryan and Cy Young; since Martínez, Kevin Brown and Randy Johnson have joined him on the list.

Martínez entered free agency after the 1993 season ended, and he signed with the Cleveland Indians in the winter.

Although the season was cancelled midway through August, the Indians had won 60 games and were on track for a playoff spot.

He started the Opening Day game for the team once again, this time allowing two runs off four hits while striking out three in six innings of work, although the Indians prevailed over the Texas Rangers 11–6.

He made 15 putouts, three double plays, 46 assists and four errors, the latter being league highs while having a .938 fielding percentage.

On September 28, 1995, a wild pitch by Martínez broke the jaw of Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett.

This would be Puckett's last official game of his career, as he retired in 1996 due to glaucoma in his right eye.

Martínez pitched in five games for the Indians during their run to the American League pennant, his first postseason action since 1979 with the Orioles.

He retired having the most wins by a Latin American pitcher, holding that record until Bartolo Colón surpassed him in 2018.

Mark Buehrle, Milt Pappas, Jerry Reuss, Frank Tanana, Charlie Hough, Chuck Finley, Kenny Rogers, and Tim Wakefield are the only other pitchers with at least 200 career victories who have done so.

Martínez has worked as a spring training instructor for the Baltimore Orioles in 2005 and 2006,[36] and pitching coach for the Palm Beach Cardinals in the Florida State League.

Martínez was selected as the manager of the National League Futures Team as part of the 2019 All-Star Game.