Pedro Martinez was a starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in the ’90s. He pitched the greatest season ever, then went on to have quite literally, a hall of fame career. Why was it the greatest pitching season ever? Let me explain.
A Star is Born
Pedro Martinez was originally signed as an amateur free agent by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He slowly worked up in the Dodgers farm system and made his debut on September 24th, 1992. He was soon traded to the Montreal Expos on November 19th, 1993. Pedro then had his first successful season in 1995, posting a 3.45 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. He then repeated that season next year, as well as making his first all-star appearance. He then started getting better and better. His best season with the Expos came in 1997 when he posted a whopping 1.90 ERA. With that, he won his first Cy Young award. He then was traded to the Boston Red Sox in 1998, coming second in Cy Young Award behind Roger Clemens. The year following, he would then pitch what I call, “The greatest pitching season ever.”
El Grande
During his time in Boston, Martinez perfected his repertoire. He had a four-seam fastball that had movement that went in the upper 90s, a ridiculous curveball, and a circle changeup, that in my non-official opinion, is the greatest changeup ever. He also mixed in a 2 seam fastball and a cutter from time to time.
The first month of the season was spectacular for Pedro, going 4-1 with a 2.21 ERA. Then he went to the all-star game, and that was when he shined. He started the all-star game in Fenway park. He faced the leadoff man for the National League, Barry Larkin. Larkin was a very disciplined hitter throughout his career. His highest season for strikeouts was only 69. Pedro fed him fastball after fastball after fastball, and then he threw his changeup, and he was gone. 96mph, 97mph, 98mph, and it’s the 85mph changeup that gets him to miss.
Then comes Larry Walker, who is only hitting .382 in about 80 games, which is no big deal at all. And again, Martinez finishes him off with a fastball.
Last up in the inning, is Sammy Sosa, who was leading the National League in home runs. And he strikes out Sosa, which strikes out the side. Martinez just struck out 3 Hall of Famers with ease. But he isn’t done yet.
Next inning, he strikes out Mark McGwire. Pedro feeds the next batter, Matt Williams, a curveball which he chops to second base, but an error by future Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar errors, and now there is a runner on first.
Martinez strikes out Jeff Bagwell, and Matt Williams attempts to steal but is caught stealing by that year’s MVP Ivan Rodriguez. And just like that, Pedro’s all-star appearance is over.
But that doesn’t stop Martinez. He would then finish the 1999 season going 23-4 with a 2.07 ERA and a .923 WHIP. He had one bad start against the Florida Marlins, where he surrendered 8 runs. The most memorable start, however, came against the Yankees, his final stat line being, 9 innings pitched, one hit allowed, 17 strikeouts. Up against a dominating team, with a complete lineup, he completely shut them down in a hitter-friendly ballpark. But Pedro’s dominance would extend past the regular season, into the postseason, where he continued being Pedro.
Senor October
The regular season ended, and because of Martinez’s brilliant pitching, the Red Sox made the playoffs, where he still shined. The last two postseasons for Pedro weren’t bad, but not as good as they could be, where he posted a 4.15 ERA in 1997, and a 3.41 ERA in 1998. What about 1999? Pedro had 0.88 ERA! In the playoffs!
The most important appearance in the playoffs was actually not as a starter. It was in relief. Game 5 of the 1999 ALDS, against the Cleveland Indians. Fun fact about the 1999 Cleveland Indians: they scored over 1000 runs that season. Anyways, the game was tied 8-8 in the bottom of the 4th, when Pedro Martinez entered the game, facing the herculean task of pitching to the heart of Cleveland’s order.
First came Sandy Alomar, who grounded out. Kenny Lofton was next, and he did the same thing. Two down in the inning and Omar Vizquel came up to the dish, and he lined out to first base. Next inning, it would be even harder.
Leading off in the 5th was Roberto Alomar, who grounded out to shortstop. That’s revenge for the error he had in the all-star game that year. Next up was Manny Ramirez, who actually became Pedro’s teammate in a few years. He drew a walk, putting a runner on base for the most dangerous man in the American League, Jim Thome, who has already hit 4 home runs in the 5 game series. And he struck out, in the most awkward way possible, a blown foul tip call that sent him back to the dugout unsuccessful. And yet another Hall of Famer came up to face Pedro, this one being Harold Baines. And Pedro struck him out too!
Pedro would continue to mow batters down and get the save, no hitting the best offense in the American League. The Red Sox would then be defeated by the New York Yankees, who went on to win the World Series. However, on the bright side Pedro would win his second Cy Young in 3 years, and came 2nd in MVP voting, falling to Ivan Rodriguez in a very close race. And after the season ended, and he got his awards, the greatest season ever pitched, was over.
