Pedro Martínez
From BR Bullpen
Note: This page links to Pedro Martinez, the Cy Young Award winning pitcher. For the pitcher who played in 1993 to 1997, click here.
Pedro Jaime Martinez
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 5' 11", Weight 195 lb.
- Debut September 24, 1992
- Born October 25, 1971 in Manoguayabo, D.R.
Contents |
[edit] Biographical Information
Pedro Jaime Martínez has won three Cy Young Awards and is perhaps the best starting pitcher of all time. If one goes by ERA+, he ranks above every other starting pitcher.
Martínez's career started with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1992 as a relief pitcher. Before the 1994 season, he was traded to the Montreal Expos for Delino DeShields, and became one of the top starters in baseball. 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 righthanded 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, while Chuck Finley and Jack McDowell also reached 13 in a year). However, this 1997 total marks an anomaly in Martinez's career, as he has only compiled as many as 5 complete games in any other season on two other occasions. In recent years, Martinez has gotten a reputation as a starting pitcher who cannot finish what he begins. This reputation is not backed up by the statistics, but has gained currency through Martinez's comparatively frail and slight build, his emotional and sometimes prickly personality, and a series of high-profile no-decisions (mostly versus the New York Yankees).
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 by the Sox, 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, 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, but was totally omitted from the ballot of two sportswriters who believed pitchers were not sufficiently all-around players to be considered. Martínez was named the AL Pitcher of the Month in April, May, June, and September of 1999, an unprecedented feat for a single season.
In the 1999 playoffs against the Cleveland Indians, though hampered by an injury, Martínez dominated the final game of the series. Entering the game in relief with an 8-8 score, Martínez pitched six no-hit innings for the win. In the American League Championship Series, he pitched seven shutout innings to beat the New York Yankees in Game 3, handing them their only loss of the postseason.
Martínez's strikeouts and win count were slightly down in 2000, but he posted an exceptional 1.74 ERA, the AL's lowest since 1978, winning his third Cy Young award. This is believed by some to be the greatest year ever by a pitcher, as 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 gigantic differential. Even more amazing about his 2000 season was his all-time record in one of the lesser known sabermetric statistics, Weighted Runs allowed per 9 innings pitched (Wtd. RA/9). It is considered by many to be the most accurate way to compare baseball players from different seasons and eras. To calculate the ratio, one takes the RA/9 by a player and multiplies this number by the ratio of the historical average for RA/9 divided by the league average RA/9 for that season. Martinez posted a remarkably low 1.55 Wtd. RA/9, a mind-boggling statistic.
In 2000, Pedro Martinez's WHIP (the number of hits and walks allowed per inning) was 0.74, breaking a 77-year-old record set by Walter Johnson. The American League slugged just .259 against him. Martinez became the only starting pitcher to have more than twice as many strikeouts in a season (284) than hits allowed (128).
In 1999 and 2000 Martinez allowed 288 hits, 597 strikeouts, 69 walks and a 1.90 ERA in 430 innings. Some statisticians believe that under 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 pitched brilliantly while healthy, carrying a sub-2.00 ERA to the midpoint of the season, Martínez was injured for much of 2001 with a rotator cuff injury as the Red Sox slumped to a poor finish. He rebounded in 2002 to lead the league with a 2.26 ERA and 237 strikeouts, going 20-4. However, that season's American League Cy Young Award went to Barry Zito of the Oakland A's who had three more wins, despite a higher ERA, fewer strikeouts, and a lower winning percentage. Martínez became the first pitcher in history to lead his respective league in these categories and not win the Cy Young Award.
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 to sail through nine innings of perfect pitching. However, the score was still tied 0-0 at that point and the game went into extra innings; Martínez surrendered a double to the 28th batter. According to Major League Baseball rules, that meant that Martínez accomplished neither a perfect game nor a no-hitter. his was actually the second time this happened in Major League history, as Harvey Haddix accomplished a similar feat in 1959.
Martínez may have been more overpowering on September 10, 1999, when he beat the New York Yankees 3-1. He faced just 28 batters while striking out 17 and walking none; only a solo home run by Chili Davis separated Martínez from a no-hitter (He had also hit leadoff hitter Chuck Knoblauch with a pitch, but he was then erased on a double play). Martínez had previously thrown a one-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds in 1997.
Martínez is unusual for a power pitcher as he is 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) and 195 pounds (88 kg), small by modern-day standards. Martínez's pitches include a tailing fastball, an outstanding changeup that moves away from left handed hitters, and a hard curveball. His fastball and curveball are considered to be among the premier pitches of their type, and his changeup is believed to be among the very best of all-time. Martínez also 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, but in recent years, his fastball has slowed. In many games, his fastball now tops out in the 88-89 mph (142-144 km/h) range, although he is still occasionally able to throw a mid-90s fastball. As the speed of his fastball has slowed, he has come to rely more on his changeup as his "out" pitch.
Martínez is also a very controversial pitcher, both on and off the field. He refuses to yield the inside part of the plate, and has a high numbers of batters hit as a result. His career rate for hitting batters is historically high. Some people believe he is a headhunter, similar to Bob Gibson. On the Red Sox - Yankees rivalry, he was quoted as saying: "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, Martinez pointed to his head, which Yankee catcher Jorge Posada interpreted as "I'll hit you in the head", angering 72-year-old Yankee bench coach Don Zimmer. Zimmer lunged at Martínez during a bench-clearing incident and Martinez threw the coach to the ground. 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 ALCS, fans chanted "Who's Your Daddy?"
The 2004 season ended happily for Pedro Martinez and the Boston Red Sox, who won their first World Series title in 86 years. Martinez pitched Game 3 of the sweep, permitting the opposing Cardinals just 3 hits in 7 scoreless innings. After the 2004 season, Martínez became a free agent and signed a 4 year, $53 million contract with the New York Mets.
Martinez underwent major shoulder surgery which caused him to miss almost all of 2007. He did not pitch in a professional game until August. That month, he allowed 3 runs in 4 innings for the GCL Mets and had a 1-1, 3.21 record in three outings with the St. Lucie Mets. He returned to New York on September 3 and quickly became the 15th pitcher in MLB history with 3,000 strikeouts, ringing out Aaron Harang in his second inning back.
Martínez was then injured in his first game of 2008, straining his left hamstring. He was expected to miss 4-6 weeks.
In the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Pedro allowed one hit and no runs in six shutout innings, fanning six. The only hit he gave up was a bunt single to Gene Kingsale. Despite his success, the Dominican squad dropped two of three games and was quickly eliminated.
[edit] Facts
- Martínez's brother Ramón Martínez was also a Major League pitcher and the brothers have twice been teammates, with the Dodgers (1992-1993) and Red Sox (1999-2000). Their younger brother, Jesus Martinez, also pitched in the Dodgers farm system for several years. Jesus reached the major leagues as a September callup for the Dodgers but never got into a game.
- Martínez's first cousin, Denny Bautista, is a Major League pitcher for the Colorado Rockies.
- 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, despite Martinez arguably having better statistics. Zito was 23-5 (.821) in 229 innings, with 182 hits, 78 walks, 182 strikeouts, and a 2.75 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. Martinez was 20-4 (.833) in 199 innings, with 144 hits, 40 walks, 239 strikeouts, and a 2.26 ERA and 0.92 WHIP.
[edit] Notable Achievements
- 1991 The Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year, Albuquerque Dukes, Pacific Coast League
- 8-time All-Star (1996-2000, 2002, 2005 & 2006)
- 3-time League Cy Young Award Winner (1997/NL, 1999/AL & 2000/AL)
- AL Pitcher's Triple Crown (1999)
- 1999 All-Star Game MVP
- 5-time League ERA Leader (1997/NL, 1999/AL, 2000/AL, 2002/AL & 2003/AL)
- AL Wins Leader (1999)
- 2-time AL Winning Percentage Leader (1999 & 2002)
- 3-time AL Strikeouts Leader (1999, 2000 & 2002)
- NL Complete Games Leader (1997)
- AL Shutouts Leader (2000)
- 15 Wins Seasons: 7 (1997-2000, 2002, 2004 & 2005)
- 20 Wins Seasons: 2 (1999 & 2002)
- 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 7 (1996-2000, 2004 & 2005)
- 200 Strikeouts Seasons: 9 (1996-2000 & 2002-2005)
- 300 Strikeouts Seasons: 2 (1997 & 1999)
- Won a World Series with the Boston Red Sox in 2004
| NL Cy Young Award | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 1997 | 1998 |
| John Smoltz | Pedro Martinez | Tom Glavine |
| AL Cy Young Award | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
| Roger Clemens | Pedro Martinez | Pedro Martinez |
| 1999 | 2000 | 2001 |
| Pedro Martinez | Pedro Martinez | Roger Clemens |
[edit] Records Held
- Strikeouts per 9 innings, right-hander, career (minimum 1500 innings), 10.20
- Fewest baserunners per 9 innings, season, 7.22, 2000
- Fewest baserunners per 9 innings, right-hander, season, 7.22, 2000
[edit] Related Sites
- Jon Weisman's explanation of the trade that sent Martinez to the Expos, arguably the worst in Dodger history, "Buttercup".
- [1] Article on Strike Zone Dominance in The Hardball Times.
