PEDRO IS BEYOND COMPARE! At Fenway Park the #RedSox held a ceremony inducting the newest members to the team’s Hall of Fame. And while the list of new inductees was impressive and included the likes of longtime radio voice of the Sox Joe Castiglione, should have been MLB Hall of Famer Roger Clemens, and the shortstop the Sox can’t seem to replace Nomar Garciaparra; there is one new member that stands head and shoulders above the rest. Pedro Martinez. A reluctant Red Sox at the time of his trade to the team in 1997 for minor league pitchers Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr., Pedro was weary of his new hometown team. During an appearance on WEEI’s Middays with MFB prior to his induction, Martinez was asked if he thought it would come together the way it ultimately did for him in Boston, culminating in a World Series victory in 2004. Martinez said, “To be honest, no. I did not know what to expect, I was new in Boston. I had never even been in Boston, not even for an interleague game.” He went on to say, “It was hard looking at the history and looking at the players that had been in the organization…and so many good players that had passed by.” But come together it did and in historic fashion. An often overused phrase when it comes to watching sports these days is “appointment viewing”. We talk about great rivalries or particular players that are cause for us to stop what we are doing and pay attention. Often times these “appointments” disappoint. Pedro Martinez rarely disappointed anyone. The numbers surrounding Pedey’s time with the Sox are astounding but they hardly tell the whole story. In a Red Sox uniform the dominant Dominican was 117-37 for an insane best in team history winning percentage of .760. He had 22 complete games (something that is rarely seen these days thanks to the specialization of the backend of the bullpens in baseball today) and struck out 1,683 batters while posting an ERA of 2.52 during the steroid era. But the numbers hardly paint the picture of the best pitcher to ever put on a Red Sox jersey (That’s right, I said it. Both in their prime – and prior to Roger’s association with Brian McNamee – I would put the ball in Pedro’s hand every time with the season on the line.). Martinez had a chip on his diminutive but deadly right shoulder - dating back to his days when Tommy Lasorda thought he was to small and fragile to be a starting pitcher during his time as a prospect in the Dodgers organization - and he carried it with him throughout his entire 18 year career. Martinez pitched with an attitude and usually with an ax to grind as well. Whether the reasons for his ire were from how he was treated in the past, or the act of his very active imagination, Pedro always had something to prove when he took the mound. And when he got his dander up, he was virtually unhittable. The remarkable righty shared the story of his outstanding outing at Yankee Stadium on September 10, 1999 on ‘EEI, recalling the motivation that fueled him when he struckout 17 Bronx bombers – who, oh, by the way were in the midst of winning 3 straight World Series championships at the time – and surrendered only one hit, a home run to Chili Davis in the second inning. Martinez was in the tub trying to get loose after a long flight from Seattle the previous night. Then pitching coach – and no favorite of Pedro’s by the sound of things – Joe Kerrigan asked him if he would be attending the pitchers meeting. Pedey declined saying he had just faced the Yanks a week earlier and would gain nothing from it. Kerrigan replied, “Well, you better find a way to get Jeter out, he’s hitting .300 against you.” Pedey was properly pissed, and the dynasty Yankees would pay the price. That 1999 season was perhaps the best ever by a modern day pitcher, especially when you consider the circumstances surrounding it. In the days when ‘roids were the rage and balls were flying out of the ballpark at a freakish rate, Martinez went 24-4 and simply dominated the drug aided opposition like few ever have in the history of the game. He would finish the season leading the league in wins (24), winning percentage (.852), ERA (2.07), and strikeouts (313). In doing so he would claim the first of his back to back American League Cy Young awards and should have won the MVP if not for nimrods like George King of the New York Post and Lavelle Neal of the Minneapolis/St.Paul Star Tribune leaving him off their ballots all together. His appearance in the All Star game at Fenway was the stuff of legends as well, striking out 5 in 2 innings and the first 4 he faced in Barry Larkin, Larry Walker, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGuire. The steroid filled stars were left to drag their bats back to the bench, shaking their heads in disbelief. But perhaps what encapsulates the essence of Martinez the competitor was the epic game 5 in Cleveland later that year. After suffering a back injury in game 1 of the Division Series against the Indians that saw him leave the game after pitching just 4 scoreless innings. Martinez forced his way into the bullpen for the deciding game. What started as a slow pitch softball game, with starter Bret Saberhagen and reliever Derek Lowe combining to give up 8 runs through 3 innings, Pedey pronounced himself healthy enough to pitch and the rest was history. According to those present at the game, when Martinez bounded out of the Boston bullpen towards the mound, the crowd in Cleveland fell silent, knowing they were now doomed. After shutting down the potent Indians line up in the 4th inning, Martinez – according to the story related by Lou Merloni on WEEI who was Pedro’s teammate at the time – tapped his toes on the top step of the Sox dugout and announced to his teammates, “Pedey is back!” Prior to the parting of the seas that was 2004, Martinez was everything to Red Sox baseball. He had attitude, he had passion, he had talent and he had duende. He wasn’t afraid of the big, bad Yankees and he let them know it. After beating the Yankees for the first time in 6 starts in late May of 2001, Martinez famously said, “I’m starting to hate talking about the Yankees, the questions are so stupid. They’re wasting my time. It’s getting kind of old . . . I don’t believe in damn curses. Wake up the damn Bambino and have me face him. Maybe I’ll drill him in the ass, pardon me the word.” So Pedro, so Boston. We were tired of it too and he took the words right out of our mouths. Martinez now is officially in the Red Sox Hall of Fame and he will be in Cooperstown in a couple of years. It is amazing when you think about what he did in the 7 years he was here, burning like a comet on the mound with a brightness we will likely never see again in Fenway. Appointment viewing, indeed. If only I could press the rewind button.bostonsportsdesk/when-it-comes-to-sox-hall-of-fame-pitchers-pedro-is-beyond-compare/
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 01:06:40 +0000
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