Wednesday, September 23, 2009

The Real Dodgertown: Russell Martin

Moving along on the Militant's "The Real Dodgertown" series, this week he highlights Dodger catcher Russell Martin:
Our Afro-Franco-Canadian behind-the-plate-kinda guy was born in suburban Toronto and raised in Paris, France and suburban Montreal, having attended the same high school as some dude named Gagné (no, not that one).

Often pointed out for his resemblance to Turtle from the HBO series Entourage, Martin was instantly promoted to the big leagues after then-catcher Dioner Navarro suffered an owie early in the 2006 season. Since then, Martin became a two-time All-Star (2007, 2008) and also earned Golden Glove and Silver Slugger accolades in 2007.

This season, his uniform bears the name "J. MARTIN" which led fans to scratch their heads and either wonder "WTF?" or assume he changed his first name to "Jussell" or is trying to do some J. Crew kinda thang. But he was only trying to give props to the surname of his mother, Suzanne Jeanson (pronounced "Johnson" or "Jenson," depending on how you parlez-vous français).

The Militant traveled to Los Feliz (which is incorrectly referred to as "The Eastside") to snap the photo of "Russell Ave.," which was taken at its intersection with Vermont Avenue. Nearby is the infamous late-night chow stop House of Pies, which serves up Canadian maple syrup in its pancakes and waffles.

The "Martin St." sign was taken in El Sereno (which is actually in The Eastside), where it crosses Budau Ave. - a name which is French in origin.

No comments: