Pedro Martinez
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- This article is about the multiple All-Star/Cy Young right-handed pitcher. For the left-handed reliever, see Pedro A. Martínez. For the Spanish community of the same name, see Pedro Martínez, Granada.
Martínez is unusual for a power pitcher as he is listed as 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) and 170 pounds (77 kg), small by modern-day standards and indeed, he is believed to be somewhat shorter and lighter than his official height and weight. http://halife.com/news/sports/short_pitchers.html Whitey Ford is currently the only post-World War II era pitcher in the Baseball Hall of Fame to have stood under 6 feet tall.
Martinez is also atypical in that he has many "out" pitches upon which he can rely. These include a sharp tailing fastball, a sharp breaking curveball and his best pitch, the circle changeup,. Martínez throws from a low three-quarter position that hides the ball very well from batters, who have remarked on the difficulty of picking up Martínez's delivery. Throughout his career, his arm angle has dropped increasingly lower; he presently throws from the "low 3/4" slot.
Earlier in his career, his fastball was consistently clocked in the 95 mph (153 km/h) range, used in combination with his devastating changeup and mixing in occasionally with his excellent curveball he was as dominant a pitcher the game has ever seen. In recent years as injuries has taken its toll, Martinez has made the adjustment to rely more on guile than power. His fastball now is usually in the 88-89 mph (142-144 km/h) range, although he is still able to throw a mid-90s fastball when the need arises. He now uses his curveball, changeup, and a newly-developed cut fastball along with his fastball with excellent control to get batters out. He continues to be a top strikeout pitcher even though he does not throw as hard as he once did. Baseball historian Bill James describes Martinez as being exponentially more effective than his pitching peers due to his variety of pitches, arm angles, pitch speeds, pinpoint control, and numerous modes of deception.
Early Years
Martínez's career started with Los Angeles Dodgers in 1992 as a relief pitcher. Tommy Lasorda stated that Pedro Martinez would never be a good starting pitcher at the Major League level. So before the 1994 season, he was traded to the Montreal Expos for Delino DeShields, and became one of the top starters in baseball history. In 1997 he posted a 17-8 record for the Expos, and led the league in half a dozen pitching categories, including a 1.90 ERA, 305 strikeouts and 13 complete games pitched, and won the National League Cy Young Award. Pedro Martinez was also the first right-handed pitcher to reach 300 strikeouts with an ERA under 2.00 since Walter Johnson in 1912.The 13 complete games were tied for the second-highest single-season total in all of baseball since Martinez's own career began (Curt Schilling had 15 in 1998; Chuck Finley and Jack McDowell also reached 13 in a year). However, this 1997 total is by far the highest in Martinez's career, as he has only compiled more than 5 complete games in one other season (7, in 2000).
Red Sox Years
Approaching free agency, Martínez was traded to the Boston Red Sox in November 1997 for Carl Pavano and Tony Armas, Jr., and was soon signed to a six-year, $75,000,000 contract (with an option for a seventh at $17 million) by the Sox general manager Dan Duquette, at the time the largest ever awarded to a pitcher. In 1999 he enjoyed one of the greatest pitching seasons of all time, finishing 23-4 with a 2.07 ERA and 313 strikeouts (earning the pitching Triple Crown), unanimously winning his second Cy Young Award (this time in the American League), and coming in second in the Most Valuable Player ballot.
The MVP vote was controversial, as Martínez received the most first-place votes (8 of 28), but was totally omitted from the ballot of two sportswriters who believed pitchers were not sufficiently all-around players to be considered. Pedro Martínez finished second to Texas Rangers catcher Ivan Rodriguez, 252 points to 239. Rodriguez had been included on all 28 ballots.
With his second 300-strikeout season, Martinez became just the 8th modern pitcher to have two such seasons (along with Nolan Ryan (6 times), Randy Johnson (3 as of 2002, 6 to date), Sandy Koufax (3), Rube Waddell, Walter Johnson, Sam McDowell, and J.R. Richard. (Curt Schilling also achieved the feat in 2002). An anomaly in power pitching annals, Martinez is the only 20th-century pitcher to notch 300 strikeouts in a season without being at least six feet tall.
Martínez was named the AL Pitcher of the Month in April, May, June, and September of 1999, an unprecedented feat for a single season. Martinez punctuated his dominance in the 1999 All-Star Game start at Fenway Park, when he struck out Barry Larkin, Larry Walker, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Jeff Bagwell in two electrifying innings, earning the All-Star Game MVP award.
Martinez was a focal point of the 1999 playoffs against the Cleveland Indians. Starting the series opener, he was forced out of the game after 4 shutout innings due to a strained back with the Red Sox up 2-0. The Red Sox, however, lost the game 3-2 because of relief pitching shortcomings. When the Indians also won the second game, it appeared that Martinez had thrown the last pitch of his wondrous 1999 season. Boston won the next two games to tie the series, but Martinez was still too injured to start the fifth and final game. However, neither team's starters were effective, and the game became a slugfest, tied at 8-8 at the end of 3 innings. Pedro dramatically entered the game in relief with the Red Sox hopes lying on his thin shoulders. Pedro delivered, neutralizing the Cleveland line-up with six no-hit innings for the win. In the American League Championship Series, he pitched seven shutout innings to beat Red Sox nemesis Roger Clemens and the New York Yankees in Game 3, handing the world champions their only loss of the 1999 postseason.
Following up 1999, Martinez had perhaps his best year in 2000. Martínez posted an exceptional 1.74 ERA, the AL's lowest since 1978, while winning his third Cy Young award. His ERA was about a third of the park-adjusted league ERA (4.97). No other single season by a starting pitcher has had such a large differential. Roger Clemens was the AL's runnerup in the category, with a 3.70 ERA, more than double that of Martinez. Martinez's record was only 18-6. However in his 6 losses, Martinez had a 2.44 ERA and an 0.79 WHIP, while averaging 8 innings per start. Martinez's ERA in his losing games was less than the leading ERA total in the lower-scoring National League (Kevin Brown's 2.58). Martinez also set a record in the lesser known sabermetric statistic of Weighted Runs allowed per 9 innings pitched (Wtd. RA/9). Martinez posted a remarkably low 1.55 Wtd. RA/9. Martinez's WHIP was 0.74, breaking a 77-year-old record set by Walter Johnson. The American League slugged just .259 against him. They also had a .167 batting average and .213 on base percentage both establishing major league records in the modern era. Martinez became the only starting pitcher in history to have more than twice as many strikeouts in a season (284) as hits allowed (128).
In 1999 and 2000 Martinez allowed 288 hits, 597 strikeouts, 69 walks, a 1.90 ERA, and a 0.83 WHIP in 430 innings. Some statisticians believe that in the circumstances—with lefty-friendly Fenway Park as his home field, in a league with a DH, during the highest offensive period in baseball history—this performance represents the peak for any pitcher in baseball history.
Though he continued his dominance when healthy, carrying a sub-2.00 ERA to the midpoint of the season, Martínez spent much of 2001 on disabled list with a rotator cuff injury as the Red Sox slumped to a poor finish. Martinez finished with a 7-3 record, a 2.39 ERA, and 163 strikeouts, but only threw 116 innings. Healthy in 2002, he rebounded to lead the league with a 2.26 ERA and 239 strikeouts, while going 20-4. However, that season's American League Cy Young award narrowly went to 23-game winner Barry Zito of the Oakland A's, despite Zito's higher ERA, fewer strikeouts, and lower winning percentage. Martínez became the first pitcher since the introduction of the Cy Young Award to lead his league in each of those three statistics, yet not win the award.
Martinez's record was 14-4 in 2003 with a league-leading 2.22 ERA, and 16-9 in 2004. He finished second in AL strikeouts both seasons. The seven-year contract he received from the Red Sox was considered a huge risk in the 1997 offseason, but Martinez had rewarded the team's hopes with two Cy Young Awards, and six Top-4 finishes.
After Boston's World Series triumph in 2004, Martínez again became a free agent and signed a 4-year, $53 million contract with the New York Mets. In 2005, his first season as a Met, Martinez posted a 15-8 record with a 2.82 ERA, 208 strikeouts, and a league-leading 0.95 WHIP. Opponents batted .204 against him. As in 2002, he was again shut down before the end of the season because of nagging injury.
Martinez finished his Red Sox career with a 117-37 record, the highest winning percentage any pitcher has had with any team in baseball history.
Memorable games
Martínez has come about as close to throwing a perfect game as possible without actually getting credit for it. On June 3, 1995, while pitching for Montreal, he retired the first 27 Padres hitters he faced. However, the score was still tied 0-0 at that point and the game went into extra innings. The Expos scored a run in the top of the 10th, but Martínez surrendered a double to the 28th batter he faced, Bip Roberts. Expos manager Felipe Alou then removed Martínez from the game, bringing in reliever Mel Rojas, who retired the next three batters; this made Martínez the winning pitcher in a 1-0 victory. However, according to Major League Baseball rules, that meant that Martínez accomplished neither a perfect game nor a no-hitter. (Until 1993, the rules would have adjudged it differently, however a rule change specifying that perfect games, regardless of their perfect-ness through nine, must remain perfect until the game is over for them to be considered perfect. This retroactively decertified many no-hit games, including Ernie Shore's perfect relief stint and Harvey Haddix's legendary 12 perfect innings from 1959 (lost in the 13th).Martínez also came close to the feat on September 10, 1999, when he beat the New York Yankees 3-1. He faced just 28 batters while striking out 17 and walking just one (Chuck Knoblauch with a hit by pitch - later caught stealing); only a solo home run by Chili Davis separated Martínez from a no-hitter. The Davis home run came in the second inning, eliminating any suspense as to a no-hitter, but this may have been Martinez's most dominant day on the mound. Martínez had previously thrown a 1-hitter against the Reds in 1997.
Pedro Martinez was selected as the starting pitcher for the American League All-Star team in 1999. The game, on July 13, 1999, was at Fenway Park, Martinez's home field. Martinez struck out Barry Larkin, Larry Walker, and Sammy Sosa consecutively in the first inning. He then struck out Mark McGwire leading off the 2nd, becoming the first pitcher to begin an All-Star game by striking out the first four batters. (The National League's Brad Penny matched the feat in 2006.)
On October 11, 1999 the Red Sox were playing the Cleveland Indians in the 5th and final game of the ALCS. Martinez had started game 1 and thrown 4 scoreless innings, but had to leave the game with a strained back. Still too injured to start the deciding game, the Red Sox started Bret Saberhagen instead. When the game was tied 8-8 in the bottom of the 4th, Martinez came in to pitch-- for how long, not even the Red Sox could guess. He finished the game, going 6 innings without allowing a hit, striking out 8 and walking 3 despite not being able to throw his fastball or changeup with any command. Relying on his curve, Martinez and the Red Sox won 12-8. Other than the 9 perfect innings in 1995, this performance is often cited as Martinez's greatest.
On May 28, 2000, Martinez and Roger Clemens had a dramatic duel on ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" telecast. The two pitchers both shone, combining to allow only 9 hits and 1 walk while striking out 22. A 0-0 game was finally broken up in the 9th inning by Trot Nixon's home run off Clemens. In the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees loaded the bases against a tiring Martinez, but New York could not score, as Pedro completed the shutout.
On August 29, 2000, Martinez took a no-hitter into the 9th against the Devil Rays, losing it on a single by John Flaherty. Martinez had begun the night by hitting the leadoff batter, Gerald Williams, in the hand. Williams charged the mound, managing to punch Martinez in the face before being tackled by the catcher, Jason Varitek. Martinez then retired the next 24 hitters in a row, and after Flaherty's single, finished with a one-hitter.
Martínez was also on the mound for Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS versus the Yankees. With the Red Sox ahead 5-2 at the start of the 8th inning, a tiring Martinez pitched his way into trouble. He was visited on the mound by manager Grady Little, but was left in to pitch, in a controversial non-move. The Yankees tied the score against Martinez in that inning, leading to a dramatic extra-inning, series-ending victory for New York.
After a comparatively lackluster season in 2004 (though still a solid season by general standards), Pedro Martinez pitched one of his most memorable games in Game 3 of the World Series. He shut out the St. Louis Cardinals through seven innings, recording his final 14 outs consecutively.
With the Mets on August 14, 2005, against the Dodgers, Pedro pitched 7 1/3 hitless innings.
In June 2006, the Mets played an interleague series against the Red Sox, which was Martinez's first appearance at Fenway Park since leaving the team. The Red Sox gave their former ace a two minute video tribute on June 27, but showed no courtesies to Martinez the following night. In his June 28, 2006 start, Martinez lasted only 3 innings, and was rocked for 8 runs (6 earned) on 7 hits, losing his worst game as a Met. The Red Sox are the only Major League team against which Martinez does not have a victory.
Quotes
Martínez is a very controversial pitcher, both on and off the field. He refuses to yield the inside part of the plate, and has a high number of batters hit as a result. His career rate for hitting batters is historically high. When asked about the Red Sox - Yankees rivalry, he responded: "I'm starting to hate talking about the Yankees. The questions are so stupid. They're wasting my time. It's getting kind of old ... I don't believe in damn curses. Wake up the damn Bambino and have me face him. Maybe I'll drill him in the ass, pardon me the word." In Game 3 of the 2003 ALCS, some believe that Martinez threatened to hit Yankee catcher Jorge Posada in the head, angering 72-year-old Yankee bench coach Don Zimmer. Zimmer charged towards Martínez during a bench-clearing incident and Martínez, grabbing Zimmer's head, tossed the irate coach to the ground (it could also be said that Martínez simply sidestepped Zimmer and his own momentum toppled him to the ground). Later, Martinez stated that he did not say that he would hit Posada in the head, but that he would remember what Posada was saying to him. 7 months later, he was named the Enemy in New York by 50th Anniversery section in Sports Illustrated. After a Red Sox loss to the Yankees late in the 2004 season, Martínez remarked in a press conference, "They beat me. They're that good right now. They're that hot. I just tip my hat and call the Yankees my daddy". The New York media publicized the quote heavily, and whenever Martínez pitched at Yankee Stadium in the 2004 American League Championship Series, fans chanted "Who's Your Daddy?"Facts
- Martínez is one of ten Red Sox pitchers with 100 or more wins (117). Cy Young (192), Roger Clemens (192), Tim Wakefield (136), Mel Parnell (123), Luis Tiant (122), Smokey Joe Wood (116), Bob Stanley (115), Joe Dobson (106), and Lefty Grove (105) are the others.
- Martínez's brother Ramón Martínez was also a successful Major League pitcher for several years, including one in which he won 20. The brothers have twice been teammates, with the Dodgers (1992-93) and Red Sox (1999-2000). Their younger brother, Jesús, also pitched in the Dodgers farm system for several years.
- Martínez's first cousin, Denny Bautista, is a Major League pitcher for the Kansas City Royals.
- Pedro pulled out of the 2005 All Star Game because of short rest, pitching Sunday July 10th. This was not the first time Martínez had pulled out of an All-Star Game.
- Pedro Martinez also skipped his last start in 2002, after the Red Sox had been eliminated from the postseason; some have suggested that this hurt him in the Cy Young voting that year, when he finished second to Oakland's Barry Zito.
- Pedro has a friend from the Dominican Republic named Nelson de la Rosa who is less than 3 feet tall, and was believed to be the Red Sox good luck charm during the 2004 season.
- Is one of three starting pitchers on Major League Baseball's Latino Legends Team
- Won his 200th game on April 17th, 2006 when the Mets beat the Braves 4-3.
- Since 1900, only Whitey Ford and Lefty Grove have reached 200 wins with fewer losses than Pedro Martinez' 84 losses. He is also among several pitchers to win 200 before losing 100.
- Married ESPN Deportes correspondent Carolina Cruz in winter 2005.
- Resides in Greenwich, Connecticut during the baseball season.
- Has two children from a previous relationship.
- His career WHIP (Walks+Hit average of innings pitched) of 1.0215 is the third lowest in MLB history behind legends Addie Joss and Ed Walsh.
- Pedro Martinez holds the single season WHIP record, with an earth shattering .7373 in the 2000 season, argubly one of his finest seasons ever, and one of the greatest seasons ever in the history of the modern era.
- Has the third highest winning percentage in MLB history, with a dead even 70%.
- His career average of allowing only 6.823 hits per 9 innings is the third lowest in MLB history.
- His adjusted ERA+ of 166 is the best adjusted ERA in MLB history.
- Has the second highest strike out to walk ratio in MLB history.
See also
External links
- [Pedro Martínez] at ESPN.com
- [The Baseball Cube] - Major and Minor League Statistics
- [Baseball-Reference.com] - career statistics and analysis
- [Ultimate Mets Database] - Pedro Martinez as a New York Met
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