Victor Martinez picks up hit No. 2,000 in his old home

Victor Martinez picked up career hit No. 2,000 against the Cleveland Indians in the ballpark he called home at the start of his career.

Victor Martinez was drafted by the Cleveland Indians when he was only a teenager. He cried when the team traded him back in 2009. And now he has reached a career milestone back in the place he used to call home.

Martinez picked up career hit No. 2,000 Friday night at Progressive Field and received a proper ovation from the Cleveland crowd who used to cheer him on at the beginning of the century.

He did with Omar Vizquel standing in the first base coach’s box, keeping the Cleveland connection alive for his career milestone.

More from Away Back Gone

• Cleveland Guardians tantalizingly close to locking up AL Central tiebreakers
• Cleveland Guardians: Terry Francona becomes meme in profanity-laced ejection
• Say goodbye to defensive shifts and hello to bigger bases, pitch clock in 2023
• Cleveland Guardians: Shane Bieber second-fastest to 800 strikeouts in major-league history
• The next week will make or break the Cleveland Guardians’ season

Martinez was traded to the Boston Red Sox in 2009 when the Indians were going through a minor rebuild and were looking to Carlos Santana as the catcher of the future.

It was a move right at the deadline that may have caught some fans off guard, but it was the way of things during that period when the Indians were selling off top talent in order to pick up prospects. Things are much different now.

Even if Indians fans no longer root for Martinez because he plays for the Tigers, it is hard not to respect who he is not only as a player, but as an individual.

He would likely have remained in Cleveland for many more years if the team was willing to pay him his market value, and could have slotted in at first base once Santana was called up. This would have avoided getting excited about the signings of Russell Branyan and Casey Kotchman, but life isn’t always so simple.

Next: 5 players to target at the trade deadline

But that is all in the past, and all we can do now as fans is appreciate Martinez for what he did during his time in Cleveland, and applaud him for the player he has become. It also becomes much easier to do this now that the Tigers are not at the top of the division.