Content provided in partnership with

Glad hand

Sporting News, The, May 6, 2005 by Stan McNeal

Indians catcher Victor Martinez comes in from the bullpen, where he has been warming up the starting pitcher, steps into the dugout and brings his team to attention. First pitch is mere minutes away, and it's Victor Time. Martinez immediately begins working his teammates with the zeal of a politician at a campaign rally, sharing handshakes, hand slaps and hand signals from one end of the dugout to the other. Some exchanges last several seconds and include so many movements that you'd think they took hours to choreograph (they don't, typically). In just a couple of minutes, Martinez has looked into the eyes of each teammate with whom he's about to take the field. He wants them to see that he is ready to play so he, in turn, can make sure they are fired up, too. "I know the position players are looking to me. If they see me being lazy behind the plate, they may follow me," Martinez says. "If they see me being aggressive, they are going to play with the same kind of emotion."

Most Popular Articles in Sports: The first family: Archie, Peyton and Eli are incredibly famous, immensely ...; The growing gap: driving distances are skyrocketing on the PGA Tour. So why ...; Which pistol caliber for self defense? Four different people come to four ...; Drag racing - National Hot Rod Association; The world's most popular .22: the Marlin Model 60 just keeps on ticking; More »

In an era when routine plays in April sometimes are celebrated as if they happened in the World Series, players everywhere have created their own elaborate handshakes and high-fives. (Yes, baseball players do have a lot of time on their hands.) But no player's ritual is quite like Martinez's. He says he doesn't spend much time thinking about different handshakes. There's no planning and little practicing. There is one rule: Once the handshake is set, it doesn't change (unless, of course, there are extenuating circumstances, such as someone forgetting his part). "Everyone has different handshakes with different guys, but for him to remember all the ones he has is amazing," Indians right fielder Casey Blake says.

TOUCHING TWO

Jhonny Peralta, the Indians' offense-minded young shortstop, and Martinez finish their exchange with a two-finger touch as a way of connecting their Latin roots: one finger for Peralta's hometown of Santiago, Dominican Republic, another for Martinez's hometown of Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela.

HEY, THEY'RE BASEBALL PLAYERS

Right fielder Casey Blake, one of the club's top sluggers, and Martinez are not imitating Rodin's The Thinker because they're philosophers. They conclude their ritual this way in honor of Blake's Lenoesque chin. "All of my handshakes end with the chin," says the mighty-chinned one.

NEW GUY

Infielder Alex Cora was aware of Martinez's hand-slapping habits before he came to the Indians--Cora signed as a free agent last January after playing for the Dodgers-but didn't become part of the pregame line until the second week of the season. Feeling a little left out, Cora took the initiative. He designed a rather involved handshake and took it to Martinez, who approved. "I feel like part of the group now," Cora says.

DIRECT APPROACH

Martinez saves manly fist bumps for the coaches, including manager Eric Wedge. "You don't want to do anything too involved with the coaches," Martinez says.

SILLY SLAP

Third baseman Aaron Boone trades a straightforward backhand slap of hands with Martinez. Easy to learn, simple to execute. Only one problem: "I don't like it," says Boone, playing his first season with the Indians after sitting out all of last season with a knee injury. "It's too white. We've got to come up with something that's different."

END OF THE LINE

Martinez wraps up his pregame ritual with an old-school high-five for ace lefthander C.C. Sabathia. Why so basic? "We forgot the one we did last year," Sabathia says. "We're still planning to come up with something different."

Glad hand

Sporting News, The, May 6, 2005 by Stan McNeal

Find Research Guides for:

Find Featured Titles for: Business

Most Popular Articles in Sports

Most Popular Publications in Sports