Tim Brown Sees Right Through Russell Martin

From "Martin’s demise with Dodgers came from within" by Tim Brown at Yahoo! Sports:

Martin, for his part, explained that he is “passionate about being out there,” that he feels “a lot more positive” than he did in his final months or years as a Dodger, and that, you know, “Not that I got complacent, but it almost got to the point I wasn’t having fun.”

He amended that, adding, “I was grinding, man. I wasn’t having any fun.”

He’d lost the faith of his employers, and then a couple months to the hip injury, and finally his job. Now he’s fortunate to be where he is.

“All I want to do,” he said, “is go out there and prove, ‘Look, you guys made a mistake.’ ”

Those guys didn’t make the mistake, however.

Martin will wear a knee brace in the short term, which is much less obtrusive than a crutch, but not as sturdy either. The brotherhood is gone. There is only Russell Martin and what – and who – he plans on being.

“I need to prove myself to myself,” he finally said, and that sounds a lot closer to the truth.

Not to rehash the whole catcher-who-got-away argument (a seemingly annual debate among Dodger fans) but it's nice to see a non-partisan voice call out Martin on his waffling. The more Martin refuses to accept responsibility for his decline with the Dodgers, the less credible he becomes as a player.