Happy Birthday to Pedro Martinez! In an 18-year career that took place during the Steroid Era, Martinez established himself as one the greatest Starting Pitchers who ever lived. His best seasons saw him with the Boston Red Sox and the Montreal Expos, as well as spending time with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the New York Mets, and the Philadelphia Phillies. When you look at the numbers and accolades, Martinez isn’t a Hall of Famer; he’s in the Hall of Fame Exclusive.

Career Statistics/Accolades (1992-2009):

219-100 W-L 2.93 ERA 2,827.1 IP 3,154 K 1.054 WHIP

  • 8x All-Star
  • 3x Cy Young Award Winner (1997, 1999, 2000)
  • 1999 Pitching Triple Crown Winner
  • 2004 World Series Champion

What made Martinez great was having five pitches that were above average: Four Seam Fastball, Power Curveball, Cutter, Sinker, and a Circle Changeup. Having excellent control, as well as throwing from a three-quarters position, which hid the ball from batters, made him unstoppable. Martinez led the league in WHIP six times, five times leading the majors in ERA, as well as three times leading the league in Strikeouts. Besides the three years he won the Cy Young, he was a runner-up in 1998 & 2002, as well as finishing in the top-5 in 2003-04. 

When it comes to guys like Martinez, Maddux, and Johnson, they were dominant in the Steroid Era, when at a point at least 2/3 of the players were on it. Now, in the case of Pedro, who pitched half of his games at Fenway Park, a hitter-friendly ballpark, his peak years are even more impressive. I don’t know what is more impressive: Only losing 100 games in 18 seasons or Winning five ERA titles with an ERA of 2.26 or under? While Martinez won the Pitching Triple Crown in 1999, I’d argue that his 2000 season was just as good. While he made two fewer appearances than the year prior, he put up an ERA of 1.74 and a WHIP of 0.737. Personally, I would put Pedro’s’ five best season up against Koufax’s’ five best seasons, considering it was in the Steroid Era.

In 2015, Martinez was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot. Pedro Martinez went into the Hall of Fame wearing a Red Sox hat on his plaque. Martinez is a Red Sox, winning two of his Cy Youngs, a Triple Crown, having most of his best seasons, as well as a World Series ring in 2004. Two days after his induction, the Red Sox retired his #45 uniform. When your number is retired by the Red Sox with all the other ones, it’s a bigger deal than as opposed to having your number retired by another team.

References:

  1. Pedro Martinez via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Mart%C3%ADnez#
  2. Pedro Martinez Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/martipe02.shtml