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On Wednesday, I talked with Fernando Martinez while in Binghamton for the team’s open workouts.
To watch the full three-minute interview, complete with clips of Martinez taking batting practice, click here: 
Jordan Zakarin: So you’re now fully healthy; are you excited for this season?
Fernando Martinez: Yeah, you know, I feel very, very, very good, because, really, I want to be healthy, I want to work right here, maybe work for the next level.
Jordan Zakarin: What was it like being in Major League spring training, meeting the guys; what did you learn?
Fernando Martinez: Wow, I learned everything. You know, I see everyday, the guys – Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Pedro Martinez, Johan Santana -everybody talked to me, you know, about how it’s different there and staying in the minor leagues. I was very happy for that.
Jordan Zakarin: Did seeing guys like Jose Reyes, David Wright, young guys, does that make you excited that you can have a chance to be on the Mets too?
Fernando Martinez: I don’t know, man, [laughing], I don’t know. Like I told you, I’m gonna try to make it to the next level – but you never know.
Jordan Zakarin: What are you working on, over the winter and now, to get better?
Fernando Martinez: In the off-season, I worked on everything. I worked on the outfield, baserunning, hitting. You know, because, that’s my game. If I don’t play baseball, you know, this is the only thing I know: playing baseball.
Jordan Zakarin: What would you say the things you’re best at, your strengths, and what things do you need to get better at?
Fernando Martinez: To be better, I need to work on everything. I work on hitting in the cage, on the field, I work in the outfield, the baserunning. I work on everything.
Jordan Zakarin: In New York, you have a lot of fans already. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but they call you the Teenage Hitting Machine. Do you have anything to say about that?
Fernando Martinez: I don’t know, man, [laughing]. I try, you know, I try.
…fernando is obviously the star in binghamton… during the open workouts, all the media were requesting to talk to him much more than anyone else, and he handled it very well, getting his hitting and fielding in, and then gracefully giving time to whomever needed it… he’s already a seasoned pro in this regard… photographers were asking him to pose for pictures in pseudo mid-swing, and he knew exactly what to do…
…he’s a very, very impressive kid, whose english is incredible for someone who has only spent a handful of years here in the summer concentrating on baseball…he took classes at SUNY Binghamton, which is really impressive…
…for age 19, he is huge, with a strong handshake and body you know is meant to punish baseballs, which is exactly what he did throughout the batting practice sessions…i really look forward to seeing him more in binghamton, but more importantly, in new york as soon as he’s ready…
Again, to watch the full three-minute interview, complete with clips of Martinez taking batting practice, click here:
…added to by Matthew Cerrone…
…nice work, jordan…i look forward to more and more of these interviews throughout the year…
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The crack off the bat was incredible, and on just about every ball. I know it’s just BP, but he’s just 19……incredible
I think as a journalist you are expected to make exact quotes, otherwise you have to distinguish the quote as being corrected. This is dumb, but im bored at work.
he didnt do anything wrong, in fact i think he is bound to make exact quotes. I know it doesnt seem major but if he makes up a quote and it is taken in the wrong context he can be liable for slander and fraud.
and if this makes no sense it is because they pulled quotes discussing the interviewer’s exact use of FMarts grammar during the interview.
I no understand why my other message is no here no more. I do my best to try to be fair and no criticize to much.
It look like part of interview that show Fernando speaking in no to good eengleesh is no there no more too.
Ay, dios mio.
You actually spent time putting this together, and probably reading it over to make sure you got it JUST right.
Good for you
I appreciate all the work put in and think it’s awesome….but wouldn’t it have made a bit more sense to conduct the interview inside….theres so much background noice (Wind Gusting, ect) and Fernando isn’t particuarly loud making it a hard watch on the video.
But this is just constructive criticism, so don’t take it the wrong way. I thought it was awesome to get that kind of access to the players and am looking forward to more.
Lay persons should be careful before opining on defamation.
There is a reason you never read quotes in the newspaper that look like that did (before being edited and all the comments being deleted), if you do not make a material change to the statement the change will not be actionable. In this instance it would probably be appreciated. For more on this see Masson v. NewYorker 501 US 496.
This comment will most likely be deleted as well but in spite of the stellar commentary that this blog provides, I feel that what was posted (and much of what remains) was disrespectful to Martinez. You would think that with SNY now running the show, mistakes like this would not occur. The Mets should be doing everything they can to shield their young stars from this type of stuff.
Most likely inadvertent but still disrespectful.
If I was really in the mood to bring up Westlaw and search I can find another slew of cases which say the exact opposite. But obviously this “lay person” also knows that there is no liability that can come to a journalist from exact quotes. What I said was that you are opening yourself up to liability by changing quotes.
Its ignorant people that read that quote and thought someone was being disrespectful. It was just an interview and normal people understand that English is the kids second language and he might not have the proper grammar but is still doing well with the language and no one needs to change the interview to make it sound like your english teacher was giving the interview.
No, its people that read it and identify with it because of the rampant racism that exists in the world (and many times on this site). Matt runs a great show here so I will not clog up the thread any further.
And liability has very little to do with respect. There are many things that can be done to a person or a group that will not subject you to anything.
Los Mets en el 2008!
I see your point in the respect aspect, I guess not everyone has an open mind and sees it with a positive outlook. There are people that will take those remarks and use it for racist purposes.
However the second you label someone a ‘lay person” and start quoting case law, your argument takes on less of the “respect” aspect and brings in the legality of the issue.
Truce. I can’t wait to see Martinez in Queens.
(You did however mention slander (when in fact it would be libel if anything) and fraud before anyone brought up any legal issues).
Too bad he doesn’t hit RH though, that would solve a few issues for us right now.
Definlty, still too young however, no need to rush him up here
(yea i saw that later, put slander figuring it was a spoken interview then realized he wrote the quotes)
so, the criticism got pulled? lame.
yea they pulled it, comments were pointless anyway.
…initially, i posted the interview as was, but then edited it properly…thank you to those who pointed out this error in the comment’s section…i appreciate it…as such, the initial comments were deleted, because they now make no sense, given the revised interview…thanks for understanding…
Interestingly enough, I made a comment to Delcos on his blog when he exactly quoted El Duque “I No Go to bullpen” and not many people agreed with me there, so, who knows what the proper thing is to do there
I assume that they would put what the player meant to say (considering their bad grammar). So wouldn’t they use Duque’s comments as “I’m not going to the bullpen”?
Thin line
In journalism, you’re taught to quote exactly as long as it supports the overall meaning of the article. In that case, it might have been to display the defiance in his statement. who knows…maybe there is a double standard.
There was no reason to edit it. Ignorance stated that the interview needed to be changed.
I went to school at Binghamton and got to meet Jose Reyes and Angel Pagan, but they never took classes at Binghamton. That must have been cool, if any Met fans met Fernando while going to school.
he’s 19. i hope he’s not rushed as others have been for the mets especially since the fan-base can’t handle being patient.
yeah, that would suck if they ruined him like reyes and wright.
hehe.
wright had 1,419ab’s in the minors and played in the majors his 2nd half of the season as a 21 year old
reyes had 1,303 ab’s in the minors and played in the majors his 2nd half of the season as a 21 year old
martinez is 19 and has 563ab’s. same thing!!! as long as we wait 21/2 years i’ll be fine with it
well, almost. Reyes was called up a few days (1 or two) before his 20th birthday.
Wright went to High School. If the machine had gone to high school instead of AA last year at age 18, this would be a different conversation. Let his talent dictate his path, not his birth certificate.
okay. reyes still had 3 times the ab’s that f-mart had. f-mart was hurt and has barely played.
reyes started at 17 and played in the minors for 3+ years. f-mart has even been good in the minors yet
not trying to start a debate here because I think I agree with you… but reyes wasn’t very good in the minors either.
I am not saying that minor league at bats aren’t important, but they aren’t the end-all be-all. If he is going to be ripping gappers this year and next, I would rather it be with the big club instead of the b-mets and zephers just due to minor league inexperience. ya know?
fair enough, but mets fans already think he’s ted williams. i believe in the kid, but what’s the rush? if he’s great this year then 2009 is a consideration.
reyes helps a major league team even if he doesn’t hit as a good defensive player at a tough position. plus he had speed at a time the mets didn’t have a lead-off hitter.
wait, I though the machine was cloned using the DNA from Ted Williams’ frozen head…
lol. i hope so…
Shhh… Bush might send him to Iraq if he becomes aware of his other skills
Luckily for us, Bush can’t read.
haha
Of the guys who were “rushed”, you’ve got Pena, and Pelfrey, as well as Wright and Reyes….Some players can handle it, and Fernando seems to be in that mold.
exactly… well, let’s not throw pena away just yet. They wanted him to get a taste of catching a full season in pro ball. Let’s see how he rebounds this year.
Was pelfrey rushed? tough to say.
Some times people can be rushed and perform great (reyes, wright) or poorly (ochoa, milledge).
Some times people can be brought along slowly and perform great (Heilman) or poorly (Victor Diaz).
Some people are players and some people aren’t. I don’t think being rushed ruins someone’s talent.
I thought Milledge did great considering the circumstances (sitting on the bench a lot, getting minimal at bats, adjusting to major league pitching, etc.) and produced when called upon for the most part.
yeah, tough to say. Just looking at his numbers when he was first called upon after playing well in AAA for half the year he batted .241.
I didn’t really want to start a whole new milledge sucks/millege is griffey jr debate.
Pelfrey absolutely was rushed—less than 100IP in the minors before being called up..He did well enough at lower levels to earn the promotion to the high minors, but not as much afterwards…
As for MIlledge, the kid was batting .330+ in AA, and did well in AAA…Given the results of his first taste, the case can be made that he was rushed, but I don’t think he was.
I wasn’t listing Pena as a failure, my point was that he didn’t respond to being pushed as well as Martinez, Wright, Reyes and Milledge
There is just such a double standard when a prospect fails. Either they were rushed or they weren’t given a chance to to blossom. Everyone always try to put the blame on someone else when about 95% of the time it is the players fault for either not working as hard as he could, or just not being as talented as we thought/hoped that he would be.
Does FM continue to say absolutely nothing, or is there some meat?
no meat, but he was probably taught to do that by the vets. I mean, would you rather have somebody known for never saying anything (beltran) or someone that will say anything (wagner)?
As a 19 year old, I am more than happy that his quotes are typically boring.
Nothing can be more boring than an Oliver Perez interview.
yeah, but I sort of feel bad for him… If I had to give an interview in spanish, all I would be able to say is, “hi, how are you? I am good. The weather is warm. I play baseball. New York is very big. goodbye”
El Duque is a pretty bad one too. Not sure who is worse.
I wouldn’t be able to get out that much. I think I could manage “hi, how are you. Where is the bathroom? I’m hungry. How much does water cost? Thank you. Goodbye.”
now that is some interview.
i thought he was fairly shy and humble when I brushed into him in Jupiter in the spring. which i think is good for a kid this young and talented. i’m glad that he’s not reading to much of his own press, or at least not admitting it.
carlos gomez 1-1 1r (mlb-leading 5th sb)
sounds like a good kid