Pedro Martinez- a Dominican Pitching Legend
Pedro Jaime Martinez was born in the Dominican Republic on October 25th, 1971. His father had pitched for years in the Dominican leagues, sometimes as many as two games a day. He had been a teammate of the baseball playing Alou brothers, Matty, Jesus, and Felipe, but because he was so poor that he could not afford baseball cleats he skipped a chance to impress Giants scouts at a scheduled tryout. Pedro’s father and mother divorced when he was only eight years old, and Pedro Martinez began to look up to older brother Ramon for guidance. When Ramon was fifteen, he was being paid to pitch in games on the Caribbean island nation. He was so good that he made the Dominican Olympic team as a pitcher in 1984.
The Dodgers signed Ramon and sent him to their baseball academy in the Dominican. When Pedro would tag along to watch, Dodgers scout Ralph Avila clocked him on the radar gun to see if the thirteen year old Pedro Martinez was also a prospect. He hit eighty miles an hour on the gun and was told to keep working on his pitching. This encouragement made Pedro even more enthusiastic about the sport; three years later the Dodgers signed him as well. In two years of pitching in the Dominican Summer League against other Dodger prospects, Pedro Martinez went 12-3, gaining velocity and pitching savvy. He learned English fairly easily, as he was a bright student; one who his family felt for sure was going to become a doctor. Instead he became a legend.
The Dodgers shipped Pedro to the Pioneer League in 1990, where he went 8-3 for Great Falls, Montana. Ramon meanwhile was already a twenty game winner for the Dodgers, so rapid was his ascent into the bigs. However, the Dodgers were worried that Pedro was too skinny at 135 pounds and forbid him to even jog. He had a ninety mile an hour fastball by now, but his small body caused the Dodgers concern whether he could stand up to the rigors of a long season. PedroHe began to dispel any doubt in 1991, as he posted an 18-8 record while playing at all three minor league levels. He was named The Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year and spent all of 1992 with AAA Albuquerque. He posted a 7-6 record and got a late season call up by Los Angeles.
The following spring Pedro Martinez was the last man cut by the Dodgers, ticketed back to AAA. Pedro had to be talked out of quitting baseball by his brother Ramon, who finally convinced Pedro to stick it out. A week later, the Dodgers recalled him and he went on to pitch in relief for the remainder of the season. He excelled, striking out more than a batter an inning and baffling hitters with an assortment of pitches from different arm angles. He had an overpowering fastball, a 12 to 6 curveball, and a terrific change-up that he threw any time in the count. After the season, the Dodgers, desperate for a leadoff hitter, decided to deal Pedro martinez to Montreal for Delino DeSheilds. Pedro was shocked at the news, but Dodger skipper Tommy Lasorda didn’t think that Pedro’s size {he still only weighed 170 pounds} would allow him to become a full time starter. Pedro showed Lasorda what he really had had in Martinez when he went 11-5 as a starter, including a near perfect game, which eluded him when he hit the Reds’ Reggie Sanders on an 0-2 count in the eighth inning. He gave up only a ninth inning single, but it was clear that Pedro Martinez was on the verge of breaking out.
The loss of some key players to free agency made Montreal a non-contender in 1995, but Pedro continued to pitch well. He went 14-10 with a 3.51 ERA in over 190 innings. He pitched another near perfect game; this time he retired the first 27 Padres he faced only to give up a double in the tenth inning. He posted a 13-10 record in 1996, but Pedro Martinez had come to be known as a pitcher who would not hesitate to hit a batter that was crowding the plate and the umpires were watching him intently. He had hit twenty-two batters the previous two seasons; in 1996 he only hit three as he became fearful of pitching too close. Realizing that he had to come up with something to counter opposing batters not being afraid of being aggressive at the plate he perfected his change-up. With a new grip and delivery, Pedro Martinez went out and became a star. He was 17-8, a victim of poor run support that cost him a few wins, but with a 1.90 ERA and over 300 strikeouts! The Expos were paying him $3.5 million a year, the best bargain in baseball, as Martinez won the National League Cy Young Award. At a post-season banquet, Pedro called former Giants great Juan Marichal to the podium and gave him his Cy Young, saying he was righting a great wrong. The overwhelmed Marichal, who had never won the honor despite all his great years during the Sixties, returned the award to Pedro Martinez later on.
The economics of baseball being what they were in Montreal, the Expos knew that they could not afford to resign Pedro when his deal was up. They traded him to Boston in exchange for Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr, figuring it was better than him just walking away at the end of 1998. Pedro was quickly embraced by Boston’s large Dominican population and he responded with a quick start. He threw a twelve strikeout shutout in his home debut in front of Marichal and Luis Tiant, whom Pedro Martinez considered the best Latin pitchers ever. He finished with a 19-7 mark and an ERA under 3.00. Boston lost to the Indians in the playoffs, getting swept after Pedro won the first game of the series.
1999 was Pedro Martinez’s best year in the majors, as he was dominant throughout the season. He wound up with a 23-4 record and a 2.07 ERA, striking out 313 batters in 213 innings. He struck out 17 Yankees in a September game and his brother Ramon, who had injured his arm after a solid career, had joined the team. Ramon would finish with over 130 major league wins, but he was recovering from surgery and would never be the same pitcher. He was solid enough to win a pair of games in the last month of the season and sport a 10-8 record for the year. The Red Sox took the wild card, but Martinez strained his back while pitching in the first round series against the Indians. He valiantly came out of the bullpen to pitch six hitless innings in the series clincher after Ramon had won Game Four. The Yankees were up next in the League Championship Series. Pedro won Game Three 12-1 with a dozen strikeouts, but it was the only game of the series that Boston won. After the season, Pedro Martinez was awarded his second Cy Young; he had also won pitching’s version of the Triple Crown with the best ERA, most wins, and most strikeouts.
The Sox slumped in 2000, but not Pedro Martinez. He was 18-6 with a miniscule ERA of 1.74 and easily took his third Cy Young. A partially torn rotator cuff sidelined him for much of 2001, as he made only 18 starts, but he won twenty again the next year and should have won his fourth Cy Young. He was 20-4 with a 2.26 ERA, now pitching with more finesse than power. He used his fastball to set up his masterful breaking pitches, and seldom had to reach back to try to overpower hitters. The Red Sox once again met the Yankees in the ALCS the next year, one that saw Martinez with a 14-4 record. In a memorable seventh game, Martinez tired late but stayed in to try to quell a New York rally. Jorge’s Posada bloop double finished him and the Red Sox lost in extra innings on Aaron Boone’s walk off homer. The series had seen heightened emotions go out of control in Game Three when Pedro had hit Yankee outfielder Karim Garcia with a pitch and then had a run in with New York bench coach Don Zimmer.
The Red Sox finally won a World Series in 2004, but Pedro Martinez, now age 32, was not at his best. He still was good enough to go 16-9 and contribute in the post-season, and after the year ended, his contract was up. He became a free agent and finally signed with the Mets for four years at $13 million a season. He had a solid year for the Mets in 2005 at 15-8, striking out more than 200 batters in a season for the ninth time in his career. A sore big toe has not seemed to have an effect on him in 2006, as he has gotten off to a good start at 2-0. The slightly built right hander will never be the same power pitcher he was, but his guile and ability to throw any pitch in his huge arsenal for a strike still make him one of baseball’s best. His career record now stands at 199-84, not bad for a kid that the Dodgers didn’t think had the stamina to start in the big leagues.
