It wouldn't be hyperbole to say that Victor Martinez' career was altered forever thanks to one bit advice on one single day back in 2001.

Martinez was playing for Single A Kinston, and having a tough time of it finding his swing from the right side. A switch-hitter, the catcher had been able to swing from both sides of the plate for as long as he could remember, but suddenly, in his mind, the righty stroke had left him.

"I was having a hard time getting my hands inside the ball," Martinez remembered. "I was just trying to do the same thing I was left side but couldn't. It was frustrating."

Finally, the uneasiness got the best of Martinez. He turned to Cleveland coach Luis Rivera and proclaimed that he wanted give up on switch-hitting. The 22-year-old was going to do something he had never tried in his baseball-playing life, hit solely from the left side.

Fortunately for Martinez, Rivera was having none of it.

"I was pretty close," Martinez said. "I was pretty frustrated one day. I told my coach I was going to quit hitting right-handed. He told me, 'Your crazy. Keep working.' So I did."

To say it worked out is an understatement.

Heading into the Red Sox' game Tuesday in Colorado, Martinez is on pace to turn in a historic season against left-handed pitching. The catcher is currently hitting .463 against lefties, which is not only best among major leaguers this season but is the tops since 1974.

Right now, the best season turned in by a big leaguer against left-handers during that time span is Jeff Bagwell's 1994 campaign, in which he not only hit .457 vs. southpaws, but also walloped 18 home runs in just 105 at-bats.

"I remember Bagwell, the year he won the MVP, hit all those home runs against left-handers. I played with him the next year and when I saw that I couldn't believe it," said Red Sox hitting coach Dave Magadan. "That's the one thing I can compare [Martinez] to in terms of dominating left-handed pitching."

Ironically, for his career Martinez is actually a better hitter (batting average-wise) from the left side (.299) than he is from the right (.297). Last season he managed a .316 clip against right-handed pitching, compared to his .273 average against left-handers.

The year before, in 2008, however, Martinez was more along the lines of this season, hitting .339 against lefties and just .260 vs. right-handers. It marked the only full season the switch-hitter has hit better as a right-handed hitter.

Martinez currently stands at .291 after having dipped down to as low as .227 following the Red Sox' last game at Yankee Stadium, May 18. It could have been worse -- a lot worse -- if he hadn't heeded Rivera's advice nine years before. During the stretch, through May 18, Martinez was hitting just .168 against right-handed pitching compared to his .375 average vs. lefties.

"When he was really in the depths swinging left-handed it was totally opposite," observed Magadan. "Left-handed he was swinging early in the count, making a lot of soft outs early in the count. But right-handed he could go up there, spot the pitcher two strikes and still hit the ball somewhere. It kept him afloat until he figured things out from the left side."

Since leaving the Bronx, Martinez has amped up his effectiveness from the right side, hitting .593 (16-for-27). It is by far the best production during in the majors during that stretch, out-distancing Detroit's Magglio Ordonez (.545) and teammate Adrian Beltre (.483).

But what has been truly encouraging for Martinez has been his ability to find his stroke from the left side, where he is hitting .305 (18-for-59) since the Yankees series.

"I wish I could say we tweaked something and he was off and running, but I think just fell back into the kind of hitter he is," Magadan said. "I think left-handed one thing he was doing was his stride was nine inches longer than it normally is, he was getting really spread out and he wasn't using his hands at all. He's a little more consistent from the left side in that respect. But, I'll tell you, right-handed he has been as good as I've seen him.

"It's hard not to be (streaky) being a switch-hitter. It's always a constant battle. One side feels good when the other doesn't. It's kind of conducive to that."

It's a lesson Martinez learned on that day in Kinston, and has come to grips with since … thankfully for the Red Sox.