Pedro Martinez

From SoSH

Pedro Jaime Martinez (born October 25, 1971 in Manoguayabo, Dominican Republic) was perhaps the greatest and most electrifying pitcher in Boston Red Sox history.

He was signed as an amateur free agent by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988 at the age of 16. In 1991, Pedro was named Minor League Player of the Year. Martinez spent his first full season in the major leagues in 1993, becoming one of the most dominating relievers in baseball. Deemed too fragile by the Dodgers to ever become a legitimate starting pitcher, he was traded to the Montreal Expos for Delino DeShields on November 19, 1993. Many in the game viewed the move as a steal for the Dodgers. Over the next four seasons, Pedro proved his critics wrong, establishing himself as the best young starter in baseball. Pedro's stay in Montreal culminated in a 17-8 season in 1997, with his major league leading 1.90 ERA earning him his first Cy Young award. He was the first Dominican-born pitcher ever to win a Cy Young.

On November 18, 1997, he was traded by the Montreal Expos to the Boston Red Sox for Carl Pavano and Tony Armas, Jr. Shortly afterward, the Red Sox signed him to a six-year, $75 million contract with a club option for a seventh year for $17.5 million or a $2.5 million buyout. He debuted for the Red Sox on opening day April 1, 1998, working seven scoreless innings against the Oakland Athletics at Network Associates Coliseum, allowing three hits while walking two and striking out 11. Pedro and Red Sox won the game 2-0.

Pedro finished the 1998 season with a 19-7 record and a 2.89 ERA. He finished second in the AL Cy Young voting to Roger Clemens of the Toronto Blue Jays. On September 29, 1998, Pedro made the first postseason start of his career in Game 1 of the ALDS vs. the Cleveland Indians. He went seven innings, earning the victory. The win ended Boston's 13 game playoff losing streak, dating back to Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.

While 1998 was certainly a successful debut, Pedro's 1999 season is the one which forever cemented him among the greatest players to ever wear a Red Sox uniform. Martinez won the pitching Triple Crown, leading the American League in wins, ERA, and strikeouts by considerable margins. This performance clearly established him as the best pitcher in all of baseball. He was unanimously selected as the AL Cy Young winner, his first Cy Young as a member of the Red Sox and second overall. At the time, he became one of only 3 pitchers to win a Cy Young in each league, alongside Gaylord Perry and Randy Johnson.

During spring training 2003, the beginning of the final guaranteed season on his contract, the Red Sox exercised their club option for 2004 at Pedro's request, even though the official deadline for such a decision wasn't until the end of the 2003 season.

Pedro's final appearance as a member of the Red Sox was his start in game 3 of the 2004 World Series (cf. Memorable Games). On December 17, 2004, he signed a four-year, $53 million contract with the New York Mets as a free agent. On April 17, 2006, Pedro earned the 200th victory of his career. He currently owns the highest winning percentage (.700) of any pitcher in major league history with at least 200 decisions.

Martinez is universally recognized as one of 10 greatest pitchers ever, and is widely considered the greatest foreign-born pitcher of all-time.

Contents 1 Career Accomplishments With the Red Sox 2 Memorable Games 2.1 July 13, 1999 2.2 September 10, 1999 2.3 October 11, 1999 2.4 October 16, 1999 2.5 August 29, 2000 2.6 October 26, 2004 3 Quotes 4 Trivia 5 Transactions 6 External Links

Career Accomplishments With the Red Sox

Year	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	HBP	ERA	ERA+	VORP	H/BIP	AVG	OBP	SLG
1998	19	7	33	33	3	2	233.2	188	82	75	26	67	251	8	2.89	160	80.6	.276	.217	.278	.347
1999	23	4	31	29	5	1	213.1	84	56	49	9	37	313	9	2.07	245	102.3	.330	.205	.248	.288
2000	18	6	29	29	7	4	217	128	44	42	17	32	284	14	1.74	285	116.7	.238	.167	.213	.259
2001	7	3	18	18	1	0	116.2	160	33	31	5	25	163	6	2.39	189	46.6	.310	.199	.253	.274
2002	20	4	30	30	2	0	199.1	144	62	50	13	40	239	15	2.26	196	70.1	.276	.198	.254	.309
2003	14	4	29	29	3	0	186.2	147	52	46	7	47	206	9	2.22	212	74.6	.297	.215	.272	.314
2004	16	9	33	33	1	1	217	193	99	94	26	61	227	16	3.90	125	54.4	.299	.238	.301	.399
Total	117	37	202	200	22	8	1383.2	1044	428	387	103	279	1683	77	2.52	189	545.3	.288	.206	.261	.317

Bold means Pedro led the league, red signifies a modern major league record.

• 4 AL ERA titles (1999-2000, 2002-2003)
• 3 AL strikeout titles (1999-2000, 2002)
• 2 AL Cy Young awards (1999-2000)
• 4-time National League All-Star (1996-1997, 2005-2006)
• 4-time American League All-Star (1998-2000, 2002)
• 1 All-Star game MVP (1999)
• 6 postseason wins
• 1 World Series championship (2004)

Memorable Games

July 13, 1999

After posting a 15-3 first-half record, Pedro was named the American League's starting pitcher for the 1999 All-Star Game, held at Fenway Park. He began the game by striking out Barry Larkin, Larry Walker, and Sammy Sosa, becoming the only pitcher in All-Star game history to strike out the side in the 1st inning. Pedro continued his dominance in the 2nd inning, striking out Mark McGwire and Jeff Bagwell. His five strikeout victims amassed a total of 2158 homeruns, 4 MVP awards, and 32 All-Star appearances during their careers. Pedro's two inning performance earned him All-Star MVP honors.

September 10, 1999

Pedro pitched a complete game one-hitter at Yankee Stadium, with no walks and 17 strikeouts. The only baserunners he allowed were a home run to Chili Davis and a HBP to Chuck Knoblauch, who was caught stealing. The Yankees failed to hit a fair ball off any of Pedro's final 52 pitches. Pedro is still the only pitcher in major league history to strike out 17 Yankees in a single game. This game is often cited as the most dominant single game performance of his Red Sox career.

October 11, 1999

With the 1999 ALDS against the Cleveland Indians tied 2-2 at Jacobs Field, manager Jimy Williams deemed Pedro not healthy enough to start the game due to a back injury. He was sent to the bullpen for emergency relief work. The game was a slugfest early, and Pedro was brought into an 8-8 ballgame to start the fourth inning in relief of Bret Saberhagen. He proceeded to finish the game with six no-hit innings while walking three and striking out eight. During the entire outing, Pedro pitched without anything close to the usual velocity on his fastball and had clearly dropped his arm angle to avoid aggravating his injury. The Red Sox won the game 12-8, capping a remarkable comeback from a 0-2 deficit in the series.

October 16, 1999

Only five days after his heroic performance in Cleveland, Pedro took the mound in another must-win situation, this time against the New York Yankees in Game 3 of the 1999 ALCS. Despite being severely limited by his shoulder injury, Martinez pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing only two singles. Pedro struck out 12 Yankees, setting a Red Sox record for most strikeouts in a postseason game. During the 1998 and 1999 postseasons, the Yankees sandwiched 18 consecutive victories around this one loss to Martinez.

August 29, 2000

Pedro hit the first batter he faced, Gerald Williams of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who charged the mound and threw a punch at Pedro before he was tackled by Jason Varitek. This set off a game-long beanball quest by the Devil Rays, including several bench-clearing incidents and causing the ejections of five Tampa Bay players, two coaches, and their manager. Meanwhile, Pedro retired the next 24 batters in order, taking a no-hitter into the ninth inning. While pitching to the leadoff batter John Flaherty in the ninth, Pedro's gold necklace broke. He put the broken necklace in his pocket and proceeded to give up a line-drive single to center field to Flaherty. Pedro ended the game with a complete game one-hit shutout, with 13 strikeouts and no walks.

October 26, 2004

Pedro's final game in a Red Sox uniform was Game 3 of the 2004 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. It was not his most dominant performance for sure, as he was in and out of trouble often in the early innings. He was helped greatly by opposing pitcher Jeff Suppan's inability to score from third base on a grounder to second with the infield back, getting thrown out dancing around the bag after the groundout. Pedro settled down and pitched seven scoreless innings, giving up only three hits while walking two and striking out six. Keith Foulke picked up the save, and the Red Sox won the World Series the next night.

Quotes

• "I don't believe in curses...wake up the damn Bambino, I'll drill him in the ass."

• "Who is Karim Garcia? I have no respect for that guy. He needs to be forcing himself to come up to where I am, to my level."

• "What can I say? I'll just tip my hat and call the Yankees my daddy. I can't find a way to beat them at this point."

• "Whether I'm getting the breaks or not, there's no crying in baseball. Whoever wants to cry, let them cry. [...] Tell them to swallow it." August 2000 after beaning Gerald Williams and holding a no-hitter until the 9th

• "If I didn't pitch inside, I'd be at home, pitching to my nephews."

• "Save Fenway, my ass." -- After a ceiling tile in the locker room nearly hit him following a rainstorm in August of 2001.

• "Georgie Porgie, he might buy the whole league, but he doesn't have enough money to buy fear to put in my heart."

• "I actually realized that I was somebody important, because I caught the attention of 60,000 people, plus the whole world watching a guy that if you reverse time back 15 years ago, I was sitting under a mango tree without 50 cents to pay for a bus."

• "I'll find it eventually. I do things differently. I play with myself up there and eventually I'll find it. The last two innings I had it."

• "I would rather win one ring with Boston than three rings with someone else"

• "I'm not that bad-looking, I'm an average person, an average-looking person. I know some girls send me flowers, so I must be somehow cute to somebody. I'm a cute little-bodied man. I've got an OK body. My uniform fits pretty well -- 33 (waist), 32 length. It's a normal body, 180 pounds. It's nice, man -- Dominican, Latino." -- On whether he's intimidating

• "If you get fresh with me, or if you show me up, I'll drill your ass." -- After beating Cleveland, May 1999.

• "If we win it all, I'll be part of that riot."

• "Is there somebody there called Batman who has lost his phone?" -- Trying to return a lost cell phone

• "It's a combination of both God-given ability and also hard work. I worked my butt off. You would never imagine the things I do, the things I used to do. In the Dominican, I used to run at 10:30 at night in the dark. I wasn't allowed to run in the day. The coach said, 'You are too skinny to run. You need to build on weight.' So I ran in the dark field and there was a guard with a shotgun. I had to give him 20 bucks to let me run and be aware that I was there and not an intruder. Otherwise, in the dark of night you see somebody running and you shoot."

• "How long is [Pedro] planning to stay, three years? ... I'll loan them a contract. Whatever they want. How much do they need? It's for Pedro." -- Manny Ramirez, Red Sox outfielder, on the possibility of Pedro Martinez leaving via free agency

• "If Pedro gives up two or three runs in a game people ask, 'What went wrong?'" -- Former teammate Darrin Fletcher

• "That night I said to someone, 'I think I love Boston already.'"-- on being greeted at Boston's airport by hundreds of fans

• That was better than the Cy Young, better than the new contract. The people mobbed me and hugged me. The priest blessed me. Everyone had tears in their eyes. It was unbelievable." -- on visiting a Dominican Republic church built with Martinez's money

• What do I mean when I say I pitch from my heart? It means something inside me -- a feeling I get. It's in my blood, my body. It's not the money. ... It's my price, my name. My family's name. My reputation. That's worth more than the $75 million they're paying me."(Esquire, 1998)

Trivia

• Has beaten every big league team with the exception of the Boston Red Sox (0-1)
• At the age of 23, pitched 9 perfect innings on June 3, 1995, while a member of the Montreal Expos
• In 2000, Pedro could have allowed 47 ER in his last start without recording a single out, and still won the AL's ERA title
• Is one of only two pitchers to unanimously win consecutive Cy Young awards. Sandy Koufax is the other.
• His son, Pedro Esmeli Martinez (born June 20, 1987), is a minor league pitching prospect in the Mets' Dominican Republic training organization.

Transactions

• June 18, 1988: Signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent.
• November 19, 1993: Traded by the Los Angeles Dodgers to the Montreal Expos for Delino DeShields.
• November 18, 1997: Traded by the Montreal Expos to the Boston Red Sox for a player to be named later and Carl Pavano. The Boston Red Sox sent Tony Armas, Jr (December 18, 1997) to the Montreal Expos to complete the trade.
• November 2, 2004: Granted Free Agency.
• December 17, 2004: Signed as a Free Agent with the New York Mets.

External Links

• Baseball-Reference.com - Career Statistics and Analysis
• Pedro Martinez at ESPN.com
• Statistics from Retrosheet
• Pedro Martinez Biography
• A NESN tribute to Pedro (links to YouTube)