Richie Martin’s maternal grandfather, Cornelius Thomas, played in the Negro Leagues.
Chet Lemon, Martin’s coach since he was 11, played in the big leagues for 16 seasons, split between the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers.
- Timothy Gallwey, the San Francisco-born author of “The Inner Game of Tennis,’’ never played much baseball at all.
But the three of them, together with Richard Martin Sr., have been instrumental in the development of University of Florida product Martin, the A’s first-round pick in the June draft.
Oakland made one other pick on the first day of the three-day draft, picking another shortstop, Mikey White from the University of Alabama with the 63 pick.