Pedro Martínez

Lore & Background

Pedro Martínez was born in the Santo Domingo suburb of Manoguayabo, the fifth of six siblings living in a palm wood house with a tin roof and dirt floors. His father worked odd jobs; his mother washed clothes for wealthy families. As a young teenager, Martínez carried his older brother Ramón's bags at a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball camp, where his pitches were clocked at 78–80 miles per hour. He debuted professionally with the Tigres del Licey of the Dominican Winter League during the 1989–90 season.

Martínez was originally signed by the Dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1988. In the minors, he worked with coach Guy Conti to develop a circle changeup. He made his MLB debut on September 24, 1992, for the Dodgers. Manager Tommy Lasorda considered Martínez too small to be an effective starting pitcher and used him almost exclusively as a reliever. Traded to the Montreal Expos before the 1994 season, Martínez developed into a top pitcher after manager Felipe Alou encouraged him to modify his fastball grip from two-seam to four-seam.

In 1997, Martínez won the National League Cy Young Award with a 1.90 ERA and 305 strikeouts. He was traded to the Boston Red Sox in November 1997 and signed a six-year, $75 million contract. He won the American League Cy Young Award in 1999 and 2000, and in 1999 was runner-up for the AL Most Valuable Player Award after winning the pitching Triple Crown. He helped the Red Sox win their first World Series title in 86 years in 2004.

Reader's Guide

Pedro Martínez's career is marked by extraordinary dominance despite his small stature—officially listed at 5 ft 11 in and 170 pounds, believed to be somewhat smaller. As of 2023, his record of 219 wins and 100 losses places him tenth-highest in winning percentage in major league history and fifth-highest among pitchers with more than 2,000 career innings. His career ERA of 2.93 is among the lowest ever by a pitcher with at least 2,500 innings since 1920. He reached 3,000 strikeouts in fewer innings than any pitcher except Randy Johnson and Max Scherzer, and is the only pitcher other than Scherzer or Clayton Kershaw to compile over 3,000 strikeouts with fewer than 3,000 innings pitched. His career strikeout rate of 10.04 per nine innings ranks sixth all-time among pitchers with over 1,500 innings.

Martínez was at his peak from 1997 to 2003, posting a cumulative record of 118–36 with a 2.20 ERA, leading his league in ERA five times and in winning percentage and strikeouts three times each. He recorded the second-lowest single-season Fielding Independent Pitching in the live ball era (1.39 in 1999), the second-lowest single-season WHIP in major league history (0.737 in 2000), and the highest single-season Adjusted ERA+ in major league history (291, also in 2000). Modern sabermetric analysis strongly highlights his achievements; his career strikeout-to-walk ratio, WHIP, and adjusted ERA+ are among the highest in major league history. He dominated while pitching most often in a hitter-friendly ballpark and facing tough competition during the steroid era, which favored batters. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015 in his first year of eligibility, joining Juan Marichal as the second Dominican to be enshrined; his number 45 was retired by the Red Sox.

Did You Know?

• Martínez recorded the highest single-season Adjusted ERA+ in major league history (291 in 2000).
• He is the only pitcher other than Max Scherzer or Clayton Kershaw to compile over 3,000 career strikeouts with fewer than 3,000 innings pitched.
• Martínez won the Cy Young Award in both the American and National Leagues, a feat since accomplished by Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, Roy Halladay, Max Scherzer, and Blake Snell.
• As a child, Martínez could not afford baseballs and improvised with oranges.