Thinking About Pedro Martinez and Why I Follow Baseball

You know what?  I grew up in Red Sox Nation and I didn’t really like baseball.  Or the Red Sox.  It’s true.

Not that I rooted for another team, but in terms of my allegiances, the Sox trailed the Celtics and Patriots, and maybe even professional wrestling.

It wasn’t always that way.  When I was really young, I followed the Sox just like I did the other teams.  Dwight Evans was my favorite player.  

But I also played little league, and I was terrible—embarrassingly bad.  So bad that I was much happier on the bench than when I was playing my league-mandated two innings in the field.  And even though what went on at Fenway had no correlation to my experiences on the field, being as bad as I was made me want to stay far away from nearly all aspects of the sport.

Now, however, I do love baseball.  There are a few reasons for the change, but really one primary factor—a factor that now is no where to be found as the 2009 season gets under way: Pedro Martinez.  

Martinez came to the Red Sox before the 1998 season.  He made a name for himself pitching four seasons in baseball Siberia, Montreal.  In 1995 he threw a perfect game for nine innings, only to finally give up a hit in the tenth.  Then in 1997, his last in Montreal, he won the Cy Young, going 17-8 with a microscopic 1.90 ERA, 305 strikeouts, 13 complete games, and four shutouts. 

The Sox began Pedro's first season with the team, 1998, on the road.  In his first two starts, Martinez allowed only one earned run and struck out 20, all prior to making his Fenway debut on April 11.  The home crowd was not dissapointed either - Pedro pitched a complete game, two-hit shutout with 12 K's in a 5-0 win against the Seattle Mariners. 

Martinez finished that year with 19 wins, a 2.89 ERA, 251 K’s, and a second-place showing to Roger Clemens in the Cy Young voting (would any of you voters like a do-over now?).

Over seven seasons in Boston, Martinez won a pair of Cy Youngs and put together numbers that can stand side by side with the greats of all time.  He pitched in 203 games, compiling a 117-37 record (.760 winning %), 2.52 ERA, 1,683 strikeouts, 22 complete games, and eight shutouts. 

But with Pedro, it was about much more than simply numbers.  Baseball can be slow paced, a time for a fan to sit back, relax and enjoy.  Conversely, there was nothing relaxing about Pedro Martinez.  He brought excitement and energy to Fenway Park that I don’t think had ever been seen in Boston, and will be difficult for one player to ever again duplicate.

When Pedro was at the top of his game, there was nothing like a Martinez start at Fenway.  As game-time approached, there would be a buzz felt around the park, all along Yawkey Way and Lansdowne Street. If you had a ticket, you wouldn’t say you were going to the Sox game; you would say you were going to see Pedro.

By first pitch, the packed crowd would all be in their seats in anticipation of what would be coming.  You would wonder, how many strikeouts, how few hits, how many innings?  You knew anything was possible.  On every single two-strike count, the fans would stand. Everyone would marvel at seeing this 5’10"/170 pound man send dejected batter after batter back to the dugout.  In his Red Sox career, 800 times the Fenway fans went crazy when Pedro got that third strike.  

He had a 95-plus mile per hour fastball and an array of breaking pitches that made even baseball novices say wow.  In 35 of 95 home starts playing for Boston, Martinez registered double-digit strikeouts.  On those occasions when Pedro really got going, you would have thought from the Fenway atmosphere that you were in the middle of Game Seven of the World Series.   

It wasn’t just the strikeouts either.  Although he never threw a no-hitter, fans in the park almost expected it to happen.  When the opposing team got that first hit, there was a collective exhale throughout, as fans essentially said, “Ok, not today, but maybe next time.”  This would happen whether the hit came from the first batter or much later in the game.  

In 1999, Martinez treated Red Sox fans to a truly unforgettable season.  His eye-popping numbers consisted of a 23-4 record, 2.07 ERA, 313 strikeouts and only 37 walks.  He won the All-Star game MVP, the Cy Young, and if it wasn’t for two voters who should have had the privilege of voting taken away from them, he would have won the MVP, too.

The country got to see Pedro start the All-Star game at Fenway in July.  In the first inning, he struck out Barry Larkin, Larry Walker, and Sammy Sosa in order.  He opened the second inning by striking out Mark McGuire, who a night earlier put on a memorable display in the home run derby.  Matt Williams then reached on an error, followed by Martinez striking out Jeff Bagwell with Williams being thrown out stealing after the swinging third strike. 

On to September, when Martinez pitched the Sox into the postseason.   In five starts, he was 4-0, with a 0.88 ERA, and 70 K’s in 41 innings, striking out at least 12 batters in each outing. 

Among those games is perhaps Pedro’s finest moment on the mound, the greatest pitched game I have ever watched.  In the heat of a Pennant Race, on a Friday night at Yankee Stadium, Pedro did surrender one hit and one run on a home run by Chili Davis.  That, however, would be it for the Yankees that night.

In a complete-game, Martinez struck out 17 while walking none, the most ever K's against the Yankees.  Pedro struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth, and recorded eight of the final nine outs of the game via the K. 

That post-season delivered another great Pedro moment. 

Against the Cleveland Indians in the ALDS, Martinez pitched only four innings in Game One due to a back injury.  In the decisive Game Five, Cleveland scored eight runs in the first three innings off of Brett Saberhagen and Derek Lowe.  

With the game tied 8-8, Pedro emerged from the bullpen to start the bottom of the fourth.  The Jacobs Field crowd went silent.  

Pedro proceeded to throw six hitless innings, leading the Sox to the ALCS for the first time in 13 years.  The feat is even more impressive considering the Indians scored over 1000 runs that year and boasted a lineup highlighted by Manny Ramirez, Robert Alomar, and Jim Thome. 

In the ALCS, Pedro took the mound in Game Three, besting former Red Sox turned Yankee, Clemens (7 IP, 2 H, 12 K in a 13-1 win). 

The following season, Pedro would again get the better of Clemens in a memorable duel on May 28 at Yankee Stadium.  Both pitchers threw eight shutout innings before the Sox scored two in the top of the ninth off Clemens.  Pedro would then escape a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the inning to polish off the complete-game shutout.

Remarkably, Pedro’s 2000 nearly matched his ’99 performance.  He lowered his ERA to 1.74, to go with 18 wins, and 284 strikeouts, winning his third Cy Young.

On May 6, 2000, Pedro pitched against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on a cold and rainy Saturday afternoon.  Despite the weather, the park was filled to see Pedro. The Red Sox lost, but that didn’t take away from Pedro’s brilliance—nine innings, one earned run, and his personal Fenway-best 17 strikeouts.  

His next outing was at Baltimore, a two-hit shutout with 15 strikeouts.  Later in the year, Pedro would take a no-hitter into the ninth against the Rays, striking out 13.

Another game in 2000 that really exemplifies Martinez’s skills may not stand out when just looking back at the box score—nine innings pitched, five hits, two runs and seven strikeouts in a Red Sox win. 

Why is this game so memorable? 

It is because of what happened the night before—the Red Sox lost in 19 innings to Seattle. The team was on fumes, the entire bullpen likely unavailable.  Pedro did what had to be done, knowing the team needed him to go the full nine. 

After an injury-shortened 2001, Pedro put together a 20-win season in ’02, with a 2.26 ERA and 239 K’s.  Good for a second-place showing in the Cy Young voting, behind Barry Zito.

While Pedro’s fastball began to slow down towards the end of his time in Boston, the excitement around getting to see him pitch never did.  He would win the decisive game five against the A’s in the 2003 ALDS, and if it wasn’t for Grady Little, he likely would have won Game Seven of the ALCS that year as well. 

A year later, Martinez would make what would turn out to be his final start as a Red Sox in Game Three of the World Series against the Cardinals.  I actually remember reading an article that said St. Louis had the pitching advantage that night with Jeff Suppan.  Pedro would have none of that—throwing seven shutout innings in a Sox victory on their way to the series sweep. 

After ’04, Pedro inked a four-year deal with the Mets.  Just like he did when he came to Boston, Pedro brought an excitement to Shea Stadium that had been lacking.  But after making 31 starts—with four complete games—in his first year for the Mets, Pedro would fail to pitch a complete season again.  He made only five starts in 2007 and a career-low 5.61 ERA in an injury-riddled 2008.

With his Mets contract having run out, the 2009 season is underway and Pedro sits at home.  Perhaps he catches on with a team at some point.  But if he doesn’t, he will retire with a Hall of Fame career in the rearview mirror—214 wins to only 99 losses, a 2.91 ERA, 46 complete games, and 17 shutouts.

In 2,782 innings, he struck out 3,117 batters (tied with Bob Gibson for 13th all-time) to only 752 walks.

Regardless if Pedro ever pitches again, No. 45 will always be remembered for being a once-in-a-lifetime athlete.  In the way Bruins fans of the '70s think about Bobby Orr, Celtics fans of the '80s think about Larry Bird, Pedro Martinez occupies a similar place in the minds of many, many Red Sox fans.

He will be remembered not just because of his numbers, but for his brilliance on the mound, and the personality he brought to the team, the city, and the sport.  Throughout his career, Pedro provided fans with the types of moments and memories that only he was capable of delivering. 

And along the way, he, as much as anyone, was responsible for bringing a fan back to the game of baseball.