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Martinez's career started with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1992, as a relief pitcher. After the 1993 season, he was traded to the Montreal Expos for Delino DeShields , and became one of the top pitchers in baseball. In 1997 he posted a 17-8 record for the otherwise mediocre Expos, with a 1.90 ERA, 305 strikeouts and 13 complete games pitched, and won the National LeagueThis article refers to the American baseball league. For the English cricket league of the same name, please see National League (cricket). The term National League generally refers to the organization more properly referred to as the National League of P Cy Young Award.
Martinez was traded to the Boston Red SoxThe Boston Red Sox is a Major League Baseball team located in Boston, Massachusetts. They are in the American League East Division. Founded 1893, as the Toledo, Ohio franchise in the minor Western League. Moved to Boston when that league became the Americ in November 1997 for Carl PavanoCarl Anthony Pavano is an American Major League Baseball starting pitcher, and currently a member of the Florida Marlins in the National League. Previously, Pavano played for the Montreal Expos (1998-2002). He bats and throws right-handed. Born on January and Tony Armas, Jr.Antonio Jose Armas (born April 29, 1978), best know as Tony Armas, Jr. is a Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher who has played for the Montreal Expos since the 1999 season. was born in Puerto Piritu, Anzoategui State, Venezuela. He is the, and was soon signed to a six-year, $75,000,000 contract by the Sox, at the time the largest ever awarded to a pitcher. In 1999 he enjoyed one of the greatest pitching seasons of all time, finishing 23-4 with an ERA of 2.07 and 313 strikeouts, and he won his second Cy Young Award, this time in the American LeagueThe American League (or formally the American League of Professional Baseball Clubs is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States of America and Canada. It developed from a minor league, the Western League, that aspired to, and was second in the league's most valuable player ballot. The 1999 MVP vote was controversial as Martinez received the most first-place votes, but was totally omitted from the ballot of two sportswriters who believed pitchers were not sufficiently all-around players to be considered.
In the 1999 playoffs, though hampered by an injury, Martinez won game five after appearing in relief and pitching six shut-out innings against the Cleveland Indians. In the American League Championship Series, he pitched seven shut-out innings to beat the New York Yankees in game 3, handing them their only loss of the postseason.
Martinez's strikeouts and win count were slightly down in 2000, but he posted an exceptional 1.74 ERA, the AL's lowest since 1968, winning his third Cy Young Award. This is believed by some to be the greatest year ever by a pitcher, as his ERA was an incredible 285% lower than the park-adjusted league ERA (4.97). No other single season by a starting pitcher has had such a gigantic differential.
He was injured for much of 2001 with a rotator cuff injury as the Red Sox slumped to a poor finish. He rebounded in 2002 to lead the league a 2.26 ERA and 237 strikeouts, going 20-4. However, that season's American League Cy Young award went to Barry Zito of the Oakland A's who had three more wins, despite a higher ERA, fewer strikeouts, and a lower winning percentage. Martinez became the first pitcher in history to lead his respective league in these categories and not win the Cy Young award.
Martinez has come about as close to throwing a perfect game as possible without actually getting credit for it. On June 3, 1995, while pitching for the Montreal Expos, he retired the first 27 San Diego Padres hitters he faced to sail through nine innings of perfect pitching. However, the game was still tied 0-0 at that point and the game went into extra innings, and Martinez surrendered a double to the 28th batter. According to Major League Baseball rules, that meant that Martinez accomplished neither a perfect game nor a no-hitter.
Martinez is unusual for a power pitcher as he is 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) and 170 pounds (77 kg), small by modern-day standards. His pitches include a 95 mph (153 km/h) tailing fastball, an outstanding changeup that moves away from lefties, and an excellent hard curve. His fastball and curveball are considered to be among the premier pitches of their type, and his changeup is believed to be among the very best of all-time. He throws from a low three-quarter position that hides the ball very well from batters, who have remarked on the difficulty of picking up Martinez's delivery. Throughout his career, his arm angle has dropped lower, and as of July 2004, Martinez effectively throws sidearm.
Martinez is also a very controversial pitcher, both on and off the field. He refuses to yield the inside part of the plate, and has a high numbers of batters hit as a result. Some believe he is a headhunter, similar to Bob Gibson. On the Red Sox - Yankees rivalry, he was quoted as saying: "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." In game three of the 2003 ALCS, Yankee bench coach Don Zimmer charged Martinez during a bench-clearing incident, and Martinez pushed him to the ground.
Pedro is a proud but modest man. During post-game remarks following a Game 2 ALCS loss to Yankees on October 13, 2004, Pedro was asked how it felt to be the subject of ridicule (" Who's Your Daddy?") by 60,000 Yankee fans. He recalled that 15 years ago, he was a poor man who sat under a mango tree without the fifty cents it would cost to ride the bus, and now he was important enough to be the center of attention for all those people. Life has been very good to him, he declared.
Martinez's brother Ramon Martinez was also a Major League pitcher and the brothers have twice been teammates, with the Los Angeles Dodgers during 1992- 1993 and with the Boston Red Sox during 1999- 2000.
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