Mike Martin, Charlotte native and legendary baseball coach at Florida State, dies at 79

Mike Martin, a two-sport star at Garinger High School before going on to become the winningest coach in college baseball history, died Thursday.

Martin, 79, who coached for 40 seasons at Florida State, died after a three-year battle with Lewy body dementia, according to Florida State officials.

He compiled a record of 2,029-736-4 with the Seminoles and guided Florida State to eight ACC championships and 17 College World Series appearances. His final Florida State team, in 2019, reached the College World Series.

“For as decorated as he was for his accomplishments as a coach, I will always remember Mike’s passion and devotion to his players, his faith, and most importantly, his treasured family,” ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said in a statement Thursday.

Phillips described Martin as “an incredible man who had a profound impact on countless individuals throughout his amazing life.”

Tributes poured in Thursday from current and past Florida State coaches and from the players and others who knew him.

His players at Florida State included Deion Sanders, J.D. Drew and Buster Posey.

But it all started in Charlotte. Martin grew up in an east Charlotte neighborhood not far from where Bojangles Coliseum stands. He played basketball and baseball at Garinger High, where he was noted for his speed the basepaths.

Throughout the years, Martin remained in touch with his friends in Charlotte, including his high school coach, Al Widenhouse.

“There are many great memories from my time in that great state,” Martin said several years ago, referring to his time in North Carolina.

After high school, he attended Wingate University, then a two-year junior college. He played center field for Wingate and earned junior college Aall America honors in 1964.

“He was fast,” his college coach, the late Ron Christopher, told the Observer in an interview 25 years ago. “He was an excellent fielder, and he really understood the game.”

Martin returned to the Wingate campus nearly 20 years ago, when he was honored with the university’s Distinguished Alumnus Award. At the time, he joked about his days on the baseball team, when the team traveled to road games in a bus they nicknamed the “Blue Goose.”

After playing at Wingate, Martin transferred to Florida State, where he batted .354 in his two seasons. He spent three years playing in the minor leagues, then moved to coaching in 1970.

His first coaching job was in basketball, though. He took a job at Godby High in Tallahassee, Fla.

“The baseball coach at Godby, Rick Smith, went on to have a long career coaching football, and Mike Martin went on to coach baseball,” said Wayne Hogan, an attorney in Tallahassee, former executive director of the Florida Sports Hall of Fame, and a one-time student at Godby High.

Martin returned to his alma mater in 1974, as an assistant coach. When then-head coach Dick Howser left Florida State to become New York Yankees’ manager in 1980, Martin replaced him.

In 2004, when the driver of the team bus at the San Francisco airport suffered what turned out to be a fatal heart attack, Martin and assistant coach Chip Baker jumped from their seats and took control of the bus, avoiding a wreck.

Martin’s Seminoles never won a national championship, but he told ESPN in a 2019 interview that he got much more from coaching.

Citing his family, his friends, and relationships with the players he coach, he said, “You have just about anything a man needs, and you’re griping about never winning a national championship?” he asked.

But Martin also was competitive.

Hogan remembers a story from the 1970s, when Woody Woodward, then FSU’s head coach, invited Martin and his wife Carol to dinner. Woodward showed Martin a horseshoe pit he’d built in his backyard, and Martin mentioned that he’d played the game “a bit” as a youth in Charlotte.

“An hour or two later, Woodward owed his assistant — who was far more accomplished in the sport than he’d let on — a tidy sum of money,” Hogan said.

A few weeks later, when Martin was invited to Woodward’s house again, he was surprised when he went into the backyard and found the horseshoe pit gone. Woodward had replaced it with a flower garden.

Martin is survived by Carol, his wife of 59 years, and by three children.

Florida State officials said Thursday they will honor Martin with a special ceremony sometime in the coming weeks at their baseball field, which is named for the former coach.