Ramapo Magazine

Eugene Marshall, director of Ramapo College Athletics, welcomes Rich Martin as the College’s baseball coach and gives him his Roadrunner shirt and hat.

Martin Goes to Bat for Ramapo

When Rich Martin was ten years old, his mother took him to his first professional baseball game at Ebbits Field. That day, Jackie Robinson stole home plate. It was a day Martin will never forget, and one that cemented the love of baseball in a man who would dedicate his life to the sport.

Baseball is his life, and Rich Martin, the newest full-time member of the Ramapo College coaching staff looks forward to taking his team to new heights. Next to the game of baseball, winning is Coach Martin’s second passion. He plans to instill his winning attitude in his new team and make Ramapo College baseball a nationally recognizable name, both academically and athletically.

“I have an outstanding staff, outstanding support, and outstanding players. They welcomed me into their family,” said Martin at a press conference in the Mansion’s York Room announcing his appointment to the Roadrunner coaching lineup. “Former head coach Dan Palumbo did an outstanding job in bringing Ramapo baseball to its present position, and I hope to move the program forward to be a top contender in the NJAC.”

Martin holds an impressive 245-209 overall coaching record (.539 winning percentage) and, for seven years, served as head baseball coach at Division I Hofstra University. In 1993 he led his team to the East Coast Conference Championship and in 1995 recorded a school-best twenty-seven victories and notched his 200th career victory. The following year, his team led the North Atlantic Conference in batting, home runs, and runs scored. He also coached twenty-nine players who signed professional baseball contracts and graduated 93 percent of his players at the university.

Prior to his time at Hofstra, Martin spent five years as head coach at Dominican College in Orangeburg, NY. At Dominican, he developed the program from its inception to the point where it was a NAIA District 31 champion and Region 8 runner-up for four straight years. For his efforts and achievements, Martin was named the NAIA District 31 Coach of the Year in 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1989. While at Dominican, Martin produced four NAIA All-Americans, twenty-one NAIA Honorable Mention All-Americans, and thirty-six All-District 31 and All-Region 8 players.

Martin, who holds a bachelor’s degree from Brooklyn College, also served as youth services coordinator for the Office of the Mayor of the City of New York from 1980 to 1990. He is also the owner and director of the Rich Martin All-Star Baseball Camp, which he started in 1980. In the summer of 2001, Ramapo College will host the camp. “

Coach Martin is an outstanding baseball coach,” says Eugene Marshall, director of Ramapo College Athletics. “He has a wealth of baseball knowledge and experience and we are extremely lucky to have him join our staff as Ramapo’s first full-time baseball coach.”

“It’s a new era here at Ramapo—I can feel the excitement. Great things will come our way,” adds Martin. Halfway through the season the team averaged over .500.