Slowly but surely Victor Martinez is carving out a man-sized niche for himself in the Red Sox clubhouse, and becoming a new legend of the Boston fall in the process. Martinez was looked at as a nice, solid offensive addition to a team that badly needed a more dangerous hitter behind the plate when he was acquired for Justin Masterson and prospects on July 31 – but V-Mart has been so much more than that in a short time.

The numbers are indisputable: Martinez is hitting at a .326/.411/.534 in roughly 150 at bats since arriving on the Sox scene Aug. 1, but what’s been even more notable is the timing of so many of those hits. Nobody is saying that David Ortiz needs to hang up his award as the Greatest Clutch Hitter in Red Sox History, but Martinez is beginning to trend in a Big Papi-like direction with his uncanny timing and steely nerves while the game on the line. 

“It’s all about being a tough out,” said Martinez. “That’s it. I always say that this game is tough enough without putting any pressure on yourself. The pitcher is out there doing his job and you’re up there doing your job. Some days he’s going to get you, and some days you’re going to get him.”

The switch-hitter has flashed a penchant for the clutch hit during that short time, and is quickly becoming Boston’s most dangerous man when the game is on the line in the late innings. He's been doing a lot of the "getting" as of late.

“He’s a professional hitter for starters and it’s a feather in his cap that he can catch as well. You don’t see catchers that can hit like that very often,” said Sox outfielder Jason Bay, who was in the very-same situation as the new kid in Boston when he arrived via trade last season on Aug. 1. “He’s a switch-hitter and an unbelievable clubhouse guy. He’s the loudest guy in the dugout, no question. He’s an easy guy to cheer for.

“He’s come in and – I came into the situation of getting traded over and moving right into a pennant race – he’s done it a few years ago in Cleveland as well, but when you’re new into a situation you want to impress your teammates as well as everybody else. He’s really done that.”

Props to New Bedford Standard Times Sox reporter Jon Couture for unearthing this statistical nugget: In 15 at bats with the Red Sox in the seventh inning or later with a runner in scoring position, Martinez is hitting .467 with three home runs and 12 RBIs with a 1.333 OPS since arriving. 

Those are off-the-charts type numbers in the clutch, and there’s more than enough anecdotal evidence of V-Mart’s burgeoning legend as well. Martinez has already collected 4 game-winning RBIs in less than two months of Sox duty, and still has a few more chapters to write in the middle of a playoff chase with the postseason still looming.

To wit:

--On Aug. 9 Martinez crushed a two-run homer to left field in the eighth inning of a 1-0 ballgame at Yankee Stadium, and finally erases a 31-inning scoreless streak that had reached epic levels. That bomb put the Sox up by a 2-1 score and was huge at the time, but the Sox bullpen gave it up in the bottom of the eighth inning and capped off a four-game sweep at the hands of the Yanks. The home run did begin to flash a glimpse of Martinez’s consistent ability to come through in those key late inning scenarios for Boston.

--On Aug. 14 in the first game of a huge series against the Texas Rangers and down one run against the Texas closer in the ninth inning, Martinez hit a two-out, two-strike, two-run double to right field that scored the tying and go-ahead runs and sparked a six-run ninth inning uprising. That two-out rally led to a key 8-4 win over a Rangers team that still sits only two games back in the AL Wild Card. Without Martinez’s heroics that night, Boston and Texas would be tied in the wild card standings at this point.

--On Aug. 18, Martinez launched a double off Brian Tallet in the top of the eighth inning at the Rogers Centre in a back-and-forth game that ended in a 10-9 win. Martinez’s RBI double that scored Alex Gonzalez ended up being the game-winning RBI in yet another victory for Boston.

--On Aug. 25 against the Chicago White Sox, Martinez pinch hit for Alex Gonzalez and smoked an RBI single to left-center field in the seventh inning that tied up the ballgame, and then added an RBI double in the eighth inning that helped pad the lead in an eventual 6-3 win for the Red Sox.

--On Aug. 29, Martinez drew a bases loaded walk in the sixth inning that ended up being the game-winning run in a 3-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. Not a clutch hit by any means, but another game-winning RBI for V-Mart.

--On Sept. 6, Martinez crushed a three-run homer in the ninth inning of Octavio Dotel in a tight 3-1 ballgame at US Cellular Field, and gave the Sox bullpen all the breathing room they would need in another important victory.

--On Sept. 9, Martinez pinch-hit for Jason Varitek in the bottom of the seventh inning with the bases loaded in a tie ballgame, and jumped all over the first pitch for a three-run double that rolled to the Green Monster in left-centerfield wall. It's just another game-winning RBI for Martinez in what’s quickly becoming a mystical final two months of the baseball season for the offensive backstop.