Over four seasons in the Phillies' farm system, Martin batted .303 with 43 home runs and 290 RBIs to earn a September call-up to the majors in 1974.

Making his major league debut as a late inning defensive replacement for Greg Luzinski on September 7, Martin did not log an at-bat.

He, Barry Foote, Ted Sizemore and minor leaguers Derek Botelho and Henry Mack went to the Cubs for Greg Gross, Dave Rader and Manny Trillo.

After a contract dispute, Martin asked to be traded, and was sent to the San Francisco Giants with Jesús Figueroa and a player to be named later for Phil Nastu and Joe Strain at the 1980 Winter meetings.

[8] Martin signed a five-year deal shortly after arriving in San Francisco, however, his tenure with the Giants ended up being shorter than expected.

After just one season with the Giants, Martin was dealt to the Kansas City Royals for pitchers Rich Gale and Bill Laskey.

[10] Toward the end of the 1983 season, Martin and several of his Royals teammates were questioned by U.S. Attorney Jim Marquez in connection with a federal cocaine probe.

[12] Martin was released early from prison on February 23, 1984,[13] however, Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn subsequently suspended all four players for the entire 1984 season.

He spent the first six weeks of the 2008 season as interim first base coach for the eventual World Champion Phillies while Davey Lopes was undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.