Obituary: Robert (Bob) Gordon Martyn
1930 – 2015
Robert (Bob) Gordon Martyn was born
August 15, 1930, in Weiser, Idaho, and passed away December 2, 2015, at his
home in Pacific City, Oregon. He was 85.
When he was 4 years old, his parents
moved to Twin Falls, Idaho, to live on the family homestead. During his childhood
years, he learned to play sports on school teams, as well as to fish and hunt.
He became a member of First Baptist
Church in Twin Falls and graduated from Twin Falls High School in 1948. He
chose to attend Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon, because it was
affiliated with the Baptist Church and his father was an alumni.
It didn’t take long for Bob to be
recognized as an outstanding baseball player while playing outfield on the
Linfield team. The athletic director said, “The graceful way he played the
outfield reminded me of Joe DiMaggio. He would glide to the ball.” Bob was
chosen to the Northwest Conference all-star outfield in 1950, ’51 and ’52, and
he helped the Wildcats win conference championships in 1950 and ’51. He
graduated cum laude with a double major in mathematics and sociology in 1952.
While attending Linfield College, he
met his wife, Dolores Sorenson. They married in November of 1950 and had three
daughters. Bob continued a life-long friendship with his college roommates,
Bill Swift and Bob Lunt.
He signed a professional baseball
contract with the New York Yankees in the summer of 1952. His first
professional game was played July 4, 1952, in Twin Falls, Idaho. He batted
5-for-6 during the game while playing for the Boise Yankees. After three
impressive years in the minor leagues and serving in the United States Army for
two years, Bob was traded to the Kansas City Athletics in June of 1957. He
played for the Athletics as an outfielder until his last game, April 10, 1959.
He was traded back to the Yankees and then ended his baseball career in 1960.
Overall, he played in 154 major league games, and his batting average was .263.
Bob was the first Linfield alumnus
to play professional baseball and was inducted into the Linfield Hall of Fame
in 2000.
He served twice on the Linfield
Alumni Board and was president in 1973. Shortly after his baseball career
ended, he held positions including employment manager, compensation manager and
personnel manager at Tektronix in Beaverton, Oregon. After 23 years at
Tektronix, he helped found a human resources consultant service, from which he
retired after 13 years.
He married his current wife, Donna Harwood-Martyn on December 9, 1978, whom has
three daughters, Sue Galt (David), Jeannine Harwood and Cathleen Anderson
(Joe). Bob and Donna moved to Pacific City after their retirements. Bob’s love
of the outdoors was only challenged by his love of baseball. He was very active
in his community and was always willing and ready to take anyone fishing.
Bob is survived by his wife, Donna; one sister, Sally Molyneux (Marvin) of
Kimberly, ID; one brother, Jerry Martyn (Daphne) of Ukiah, CA; daughters,
Kathryn Martyn Smith (Chuck) of Vancouver, WA and Tami Young (Craig) of Post
Falls, ID; 10 grandchildren and 12 great- grandchildren. He was preceded in
death by his oldest daughter, Linda Lee Brown. A celebration of Bob Martyn’s
life will be held on Saturday, February 13, 2016 at 1:00 pm at Linfield
College, 900 SE Baker St., McMinnville, Oregon in Melrose Hall. Remembrances
may be made in his memory to Linfield College, McMinnville, OR 97128.
Obituary
3482051 in 1/22/2016 McMinnville N-R/News-Register
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Martyn
Bob Martyn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert
Gordon Martyn (August 15, 1930 in Weiser, Idaho) is a former Major
League Baseball outfielder who played from 1957 to 1959 for the Kansas
City Athletics.
COLLEGE CAREER
Martyn is an alumnus of
Linfield College. His father Bernard Martyn, aunt Lillian Turner Millsap
and uncle Bill Turner also attended Linfield. Bob’s first year at
Linfield was 1948. He attended the college not only because much of his
family went there, but also because it was affiliated with the Baptist
church he went to. Although he played shortstop at high school in Twin
Falls, Idaho, baseball coach Henry Lever immediately changed his
position to outfielder. Martyn once said of the change, “That was
probably a major break for my future.”
Bob was a Northwest
Conference All-Star in 1950, 1951 and 1952, and he helped lead the
Linfield Wildcats to conference championship victories in 1950 and 1951.
While
serving as Linfield athletic director, Paul Durham said of Bob's
baseball playing ability, "The graceful way he played the outfield
reminded me of Joe Dimaggio. He glided to the ball."
Academically,
Martyn double-majored in mathematics and sociology and he graduated cum
laude. While playing professional baseball, he earned his masters
degree in education in 1959, studying between seasons.
In 2000, Martyn was elected to the Linfield College Athletics Hall of Fame.
http://www.linfield.edu/sports/hof-member.html?m=33&y=8
His father, Bernard Martyn was elected in 1999.
http://www.linfield.edu/sports/hof-member.html?m=14&y=7
They are one of two father-son combinations in the Linfield College Athletics Hall of Fame.
PLAYING CAREER
Minor leagues
Originally
signed by the New York Yankees in 1952, Martyn, in his first
professional baseball game on July 4 of that year, went 5-for-6 while
playing for the Boise Yankees.
An impressive minor league player,
he was named to three All-Star teams while in the minors. In the 1956
American Association All-Star Game, he hit two home runs, winning the
MVP Award for the game.
MAJOR LEAGUES
He was sent to the
Athletics in a trade that took place on June 15, 1957. The Yankees sent
Martyn, Woodie Held, Billy Martin and Ralph Terry to the Athletics for
Ryne Duren, Jim Pisoni and Harry Simpson.
Just three days after
the trade, Martyn made his big league debut, on June 18, 1957. Facing
the Washington Senators, Martyn – playing in right field – went 1–4 with
a walk in his first big league game. Overall in his first big league
season, he hit .267 in 58 games. In 131 at-bats, he hit one home run and
drove in 12 RBI.
The following year, Martyn appeared in 95
games, hitting .261 in 226 at-bats. That year, he was sixth in the
league with seven triples and ninth in the league with five intentional
walks.
Despite having two respectable seasons in a row prior to
1959, 1959 would end up being his final year in the majors. He appeared
in only one game, getting only one at-bat. In his final big league
at-bat, pinch-hitting for Bob Grim, he grounded out.
On April 12, 1959, he was traded back to the Yankees with Mike Baxes for Russ Snyder and Tom Carroll.
His playing career was interrupted by two years in military service.
Overall,
Martyn played in 154 big league games. In 358 at-bats, he hit .263 with
three home runs and 35 RBI. He hit 12 doubles and 11 triples, scoring
35 runs and stealing two bases (while being caught stealing seven
times).
POST-BASEBALL CAREER
After his professional
baseball career ended in 1960, Martyn worked for Tektronix for 23 years.
He served twice on the Linfield Alumni Board and was president in 1973.
Article “Big
Leagues” about Linfielders Bob Martyn (Twin Falls, Idaho) and Del Coursey (Elmira,
Ore.) by Linfielder Jerry Dennon and Pat Frizzell appeared in Northwest Rotogravure Magazine
of Sunday Oregonian - April 15, 1956. Note that Linfielder Roy Helser is also mentioned.
