Johnny Leonard Roosevelt "Pepper" Martin (February 29, 1904 – March 5, 1965) was an American professional baseball player and minor league manager.

[11] In 1925, he posted a .340 batting average in 98 games for the Hunters[12] and his contract was acquired by the St. Louis Cardinals to play for their Western Association affiliate, the Fort Smith Twins.

[1] Martin made one appearance as a pinch runner in the 1928 World Series, when the Cardinals lost in four straight games to the New York Yankees.

Led by Connie Mack, the Athletics had won the previous two World Series and were heavily favored to win for a third consecutive year.

[2] They featured a lineup that included five future National Baseball Hall of Fame members in Mickey Cochrane, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove, Waite Hoyt and Al Simmons.

In Game 1 held at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, Martin had three hits, including a double, a stolen base and drove in one run in a 6–2 loss to the ace of the Athletics staff, 31-game winning pitcher Lefty Grove.

[19] Martin proved to be the difference in Game 2 in what was otherwise a tight pitching duel between Bill Hallahan of the Cardinals and George Earnshaw for the Athletics.

[13] The series then moved to Shibe Park in Philadelphia for Game 3, where Martin had two hits, including a double and scored twice in a 5–2 Cardinals' victory over Grove.

[2] During the series, Martin was asked how he had learned to run so fast; he replied, "I grew up in Oklahoma, and once you start runnin' out there there ain't nothin' to stop you".

[28][29] In August, Cardinals manager Gabby Street converted Martin into a third baseman in an attempt to fill the gap left by the injured Sparky Adams.

[37] The disturbance wasn't quelled until the umpires appealed to Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who had Medwick removed from the game.

[38][39] While in a St. Louis hospital in December 1934, for a minor operation on his left arm, Martin insisted that he be entertained by a cowboy musical group that he had hired.

[40] Martin, along with Cardinals teammates such as Leo Durocher, Dizzy Dean and Joe Medwick among others, became known as the 1934 Gashouse Gang due to their boisterous activities on and off the field.

Already well known as a hunting and fishing enthusiast, Martin had taken up the hobby of midget car racing and was also playing in football and basketball games during the winter months.

[2][7] At the beginning of the 1939 season, he was named as the Cardinals' team captain, taking the job from Leo Durocher, who had been traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers.

[48] He experienced a resurgence, leading the team with a .340 batting average in June before a sprained wrist put him out of action for two weeks.

[1] Martin hit for a respectable .316 average in 1940 before the Cardinals named him as the player-manager of the Sacramento Solons of the Pacific Coast League in October.

[50] When professional baseball experienced a shortage of players during World War II, Martin returned to the major leagues in 1944 with the Cardinals at the age of 40.

[53] While managing the Miami Sun Sox of the Florida International League in 1949, he was fined and suspended for the remainder of the season for choking an umpire.

[54] In August 1951, he made news again when he was arrested after a Sun Sox game when he went into the stands to punch a spectator in Lakeland, Florida.