Date of birth: 25 October 1971
Primary position: Pitcher
Elected to Red Sox Hall of Fame: 2014
Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame: 2015
After posting a 17-8 record with 13 complete games, a 1.90 ERA, and 305 strikeouts for Montreal in 1997, Pedro Martinez earned his first Cy Young award; the following season, the young pitcher was wearing a Boston uniform and making an immediate impact with his new club. In his first season with the Red Sox, Martinez won 19 games, posted a 2.89 ERA, and struck out 251 batters to help the Red Sox reach the playoffs as the wild card.
Unbelievably, he did even better the following season, earning 23 wins, amassing a 2.07 ERA, and striking out a club-record 313 batters, a strikeout ratio per nine innings pitched of 13.20, while walking just 37 batters, a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 8.46, to win his second Cy Young award. One other highlight that season was the honor of starting the All-Star game, hosted at Fenway Park, for the American League and he responded with five strikeouts in two innings of work, earning MVP honors for the game.
2000 was another great season for Martinez as he posted an 18-6 record with an eye-popping 1.74 ERA and struck out 284 batters while walking just 32. He also pitched seven complete games and threw four of them for shutouts, earning him his third Cy Young. After a shoulder injury early in the 2001 season limited him to just 18 appearances, Martinez returned in 2002 and went 20-4 with a 2.26 ERA to finish second in the Cy Young vote behind Barry Zito of Oakland.
Over his final two seasons with Boston, he won 30 more games and helped the team reach the playoffs both times. In his final game with Boston and his only World Series appearance, he tossed shutout baseball for seven innings to help the Red Sox win Game Three of the 2004 World Series in St. Louis and eventually the club’s first title in 86 years. Following the season, Martinez left Boston as a free agent and signed with the New York Mets, having won 117 games for the Red Sox while posting a .760 winning percentage and 1683 strikeouts in his seven seasons with the club.
Career Pitching Statistics through 2018 Season
Season | W | L | SV | IP | H | ER | SO | ERA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1998 | 19 | 7 | 0 | 233.7 | 188 | 75 | 251 | 2.89 |
1999 | 23 | 4 | 0 | 213.3 | 160 | 49 | 313 | 2.07 |
2000 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 217.0 | 128 | 42 | 284 | 1.74 |
2001 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 116.7 | 84 | 31 | 163 | 2.39 |
2002 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 199.3 | 144 | 50 | 239 | 2.26 |
2003 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 186.7 | 147 | 46 | 206 | 2.22 |
2004 | 16 | 9 | 0 | 217.0 | 193 | 94 | 227 | 3.90 |
TOTAL | 117 | 37 | 0 | 1383.7 | 1044 | 387 | 1683 | 2.52 |
Awards and Recognition with Boston
AL The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year, 1999
AL The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year, 2000
All-Star Game MVP Award, 1999
Cy Young Award, 1999
Cy Young Award, 2000
ERA Leader (2.07), 1999
ERA Leader (1.74), 2000
ERA Leader (2.26), 2002
ERA Leader (2.22), 2003
Pitching Triple Crown (23 W, 212 K, 2.07 ERA), 1999
Strikeouts Leader (313), 1999
Strikeouts Leader (284), 2000
Strikeouts Leader (239), 2002
Winning Games Leader (23), 1999
Memorable Moments for Pedro Martinez
- 18 November 1997 - Boston trades Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr. to the Expos for pitcher Pedro Martinez.
- 1 April 1998 - Pitcher Pedro Martinez makes his debut with Boston and strikes out 11 while allowing just three hits in seven shutout innings; the Red Sox go on to win 2-0 in Oakland against the Athletics.
- 12 April 1998 - In his Fenway Park debut, Pedro Martinez strikes out 12 and yields just two hits over eight innings as Boston blanks Seattle 5-0.
- 29 September 1998 - Boston breaks a stretch of 13 consecutive playoff loses as the Red Sox thump the Indians 11-3 in Cleveland behind the pitching of Pedro Martinez and seven RBI from Mo Vaughn.
- 13 July 1999 - In front of a packed house at Fenway Park, Pedro Martinez strikes out five and faces the minimum number of batters over two innings as the American League goes on to defeat the National League 4-1 in the All-Star Game. Martinez is also named MVP of the mid-summer classic, the first Sox player since Roger Clemens to earn that distinction.
- 10 September 1999 - Pedro Martinez allows just two batters to reach base while striking out 17 in a complete game effort at Yankee Stadium as Boston defeats New York 3-1. Martinez retires the last 22 batters he faces and strikes out the final five.
- 11 October 1999 - Boston becomes the first team to rally from an 0-2 division series deficit, winning 12-8 in Cleveland thanks to Troy O'Leary's two home runs and seven RBI; both home runs came after the Indians elected to walk Nomar Garciaparra to get to O'Leary. Pedro Martinez pitched the final six innings in relief, holding the opposition hitless and striking out eight.
- 16 October 1999 - A much-anticipated match up between former Boston pitcher Roger Clemens and current Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez turns into a laugher as Boston shells Clemens for five runs and six hits in an eventual 13-1 Red Sox win over the Yankees; Martinez, for his part, strikes out 12 and allows just two hits over seven innings of work.
- 15 March 2000 - In spring training action, Red Sox star Pedro Martinez and five relievers combined on a perfect exhibition game beating the Blue Jays, 5-0.
- 12 May 2000 - Pedro Martinez strikes out 15 batters and shuts out the Orioles 2-0 in Baltimore, allowing just two singles in the fifth inning. Martinez also ties the record for strikeouts in consecutive games at 32, having struck out 17 in a 1-0 loss to Tampa Bay six days earlier.
- 28 May 2000 - In a duel between two great pitchers, Pedro Martinez out-duels Roger Clemens 2-0 as both pitchers go the distance at Yankee Stadium. Trot Nixon accounts for the only runs with a ninth inning, two-out, two-run home run with Jeff Fyre at first.
- 13 November 2000 - Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez wins his second consecutive Cy Young Award with Boston and his third in four seasons.
- 18 May 2002 - Pedro Martinez strikes out the side on nine pitches in the first inning of a 4-1 Red Sox win over the Mariners at Fenway Park.
- 22 September 2002 - With Pedro Martinez notching win number 20, he and Derek Lowe become the first pair of Red Sox pitchers to win 20 or more games in a single season since 1949.
- 11 October 2003 - The Yankees take Game Three of the 2003 American League Championship Series with a 4-3 win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park. The game is marked by a altercation between Pedro Martinez and former Sox skipper Don Zimmer as well as a fight in the bullpen between a groundskeeper and two Yankees players, Karim Garcia and Jeff Nelson.
- 16 October 2003 - New York takes Game Seven and the American League pennant with a 6-5, 11-inning win over Boston at Yankee Stadium. Up 5-2 with one out in the eighth, manager Grady Little leaves what appears to be an exhausted Pedro Martinez on the mound despite the bullpen having given up just two runs in the series. The Yankees score three runs on four straight hits to tie the score and win in the bottom of the 11th when Aaron Boone hits the first pitch he sees from Tim Wakefield into the left field bleachers to send New York to the World Series.
- 26 October 2004 - Pedro Martinez pitches seven strong innings, allowing just three hits, and Manny Ramirez homers and throws out a runner at home in the first as Boston wins 4-1 over St. Louis to put the Red Sox one win from a world championship for the first time since 1918.
- 28 June 2006 - Former Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez gives up eight runs on seven hits and two walks in three innings of work as Boston thumps the visiting New York Mets, 10-2. In contrast, Josh Beckett earns his tenth win, going 7-2/3 innings at allowing just two runs on five hits and one walk.
- 28 July 2015 - Exactly six years after the last number retirement ceremony, the Red Sox retire Pedro Martinez's number 45 at Fenway Park ahead of a 9-4 loss to the White Sox. The former staff ace played seven seasons with the Red Sox and was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame six months earlier.
- 20 September 2017 - With Ryan Flaherty being called out on strikes for the last out of the eighth inning, Chris Sale becomes just the second pitcher in franchise history and the 16th in MLB history to strike out at least 300 batters in a single season. The mark punctuates a 9-0 win for the Red Sox over the Orioles in Baltimore. Previously, the only other Red Sox player to strike out at least 300 in a season had been Pedro Martinez in 1999 (313).
- 11 May 2018 - Chris Sale becomes the third pitcher in club history to have a start that features 15 strikeouts and no walks, but the Blue Jays best the Red Sox 5-3 on a walk-off two run home run in the 12th inning from Luke Maile. Sale joins Roger Clemens (three times) and Pedro Martinez (four times) as the only Boston pitchers to accomplish the feat.