Pedro Martínez: Difference between revisions

Pedro Martínez
Pedro Martinez with Phillies on September 8, 2009.
Philadelphia Phillies – No. 45
Starting pitcher
Bats: Right Throws: Right
debut
September 24, 1992, for the Los Angeles Dodgers
Career statistics (through September 14, 2009)
Win-Loss	219-100
ERA	2.93
Strikeout	3154
BB	760
IP	2827.1
Stats at Baseball Reference
Teams
Los Angeles Dodgers (1992-1993) Montreal Expos (1994-1997) Boston Red Sox (1998-2004) New York Mets (2005-2008) Philadelphia Phillies (2009-present)
Career highlights and awards
8x All-Star selection (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006) 3x Cy Young Award winner (1997, 1999, 2000) World Series champion in 2004 Won AL Triple crown in 1999 Led AL in wins in 1999 Led NL in era in 1997 Led AL in era in 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 Led AL in strikeouts in 1999, 2000, 2002

Pedro Jaime Martínez (born October 25, 1971 in Manoguayabo, Dominican Republic) is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies. He is a three time Cy Young Award winner. At the time of his 200th win in April 2006, Martínez had the highest winning percentage of any 200-game winner in modern baseball history (he has since slipped .003 behind Whitey Ford). In 2007, Martínez became the 15th pitcher to reach 3,000 career strikeouts.

Officially listed at 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) and 193 pounds (88 kg), Martínez is unusually small for a modern-day power pitcher, and he is believed to be somewhat smaller than his officially listed height and weight.^[1]

Martínez is atypical in that he has many "out" pitches upon which he can rely. His fastball, cutter, curveball and circle changeup are all well above average; combined with his historically excellent control, they prove to be an overpowering package. Martínez throws from a low three-quarter position that hides the ball very well from batters, who have remarked on the difficulty of picking up Martínez's delivery.

Early in his career, Martínez's fastball was consistently clocked in the 95–97 mph range. Using it in combination with his devastating changeup and occasionally mixing in his curveball, he was as dominant a pitcher as the game has ever seen. Sports Illustrated's Joe Posnanski wrote, "There has never been a pitcher in baseball history — not Walter Johnson, not Lefty Grove, not Sandy Koufax, not Tom Seaver, not Roger Clemens — who was more overwhelming than the young Pedro."^[2]

In recent years, as injuries and the aging process have taken their toll, Martínez has made the adjustment to rely more on finesse than power. His fastball now is usually in the 88–93 mph range, an average speed for a RHP of his age. He now uses his curveball, circle changeup, and an occasional slider, along with his fastball. With his command of the strike zone, he continues to be an effective strikeout pitcher even though he does not throw as hard as he once did. Baseball historian Bill James describes Martínez as being exponentially more effective than his pitching peers due to his variety of pitches, pitch speeds, pinpoint control, and numerous modes of deception.

Describing his 2007 comeback with the Mets, columnist Filip Bondy wrote:

It is much more fun now to watch Pedro Martínez pitch than ever before. Minus the gross weaponry of power, we see only the high art form... We watch the brain and arm in harmonic convergence, disguising 85-mph fastballs as something far more fanciful than their velocity and arc... the radar gun never approache(s) 90. An 81-mph slider... an 83-mph fastball... a 76-mph changeup. These baseballs might not be pulled over for speeding on the Turnpike... If it is at all a struggle for Martínez adjusting to his own mortality, you would never know it from the fun this man has around a baseball park.

— 30px, 30px, Filip Bondy, New York Daily News

Martínez was originally signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1988. After pitching in the Dodgers farm system for several years, he made his Major League debut on September 24, 1992 for the Dodgers against the Cincinnati Reds, working two scoreless innings of relief. He made his first start for the Dodgers on September 30, taking the loss while giving up two runs in a 3-1 loss to the Reds.

He then turned in a strong season as the Dodgers setup man in 1993, going 10–3 with a 2.61 ERA,119 strikeouts, in 107.1 IP in 65 games. Although Pedro's brother Ramón Martínez, then a star pitcher for the Dodgers, declared that Pedro was even better than himself, manager Tommy Lasorda believed that Pedro was too small to last as an effective starting pitcher at the Major League level ^{[citation needed]}. With the Dodgers in need of a second baseman after a contract dispute with Jody Reed, Martínez was traded to the Montreal Expos for Delino DeShields before the 1994 season.

It was with the Expos that he developed into one of the top pitchers in baseball. On June 3, 1995, Martínez pitched nine perfect innings in a game against the San Diego Padres, before giving up a hit in the bottom of the 10th inning. He was immediately removed from the game, and was the winning pitcher in Montreal's 1–0 victory. [See Memorable Games]

In 1997, Martínez posted a 17–8 record for the Expos, and led the league in half a dozen pitching categories, including a 1.90 ERA, 305 strikeouts and 13 complete games pitched, and became the only Expo ever to win the National League Cy Young Award. Pedro Martínez was also the first right-handed pitcher to reach 300 strikeouts with an ERA under 2.00 since Walter Johnson in 1912.

The 13 complete games were tied for the second-highest single-season total in all of baseball since Martínez's career began (Curt Schilling had 15 in 1998; Chuck Finley and Jack McDowell also reached 13 in a year). However, this 1997 total is by far the highest in Martínez's career, as he has only completed more than 5 games in one other season (7, in 2000).

Approaching free agency, Martínez was traded to the Boston Red Sox in November 1997 for Carl Pavano and Tony Armas, Jr., and was soon signed to a six-year, $75,000,000 contract (with an option for a seventh at $17 million) by Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette, at the time the largest ever awarded to a pitcher. Martínez paid immediate dividends in 1998, with a 19–7 record, and finishing second in the American League in ERA, WHIP, strikeouts, and the Cy Young voting.

In 1999, Martínez delivered one of the greatest pitching seasons of all time, finishing 23–4 with a 2.07 ERA and 313 strikeouts (earning the pitching Triple Crown), unanimously winning his second Cy Young Award (this time in the American League), and coming in second in the Most Valuable Player ballot.

The MVP result was controversial, as Martínez received the most first-place votes of any player (8 of 28), but was totally omitted from the ballot of two sportswriters, New York's George King and Minneapolis' LaVelle Neal. The two writers argued that pitchers were not sufficiently all-around players to be considered. (However, George King had given MVP votes to two pitchers just the season before: Rick Helling and David Wells; King was the only writer to cast a vote for Helling, who had gone 20–7 with a 4.41 ERA and 164 strikeouts.) MVP ballots have ten ranked slots, and sportswriters are traditionally asked to recuse themselves if they feel they cannot vote for a pitcher. "It really made us all look very dumb," said Buster Olney, then a sportswriter for the New York Times. "People were operating under different rules. The question of eligibility is a very basic thing. People were determining eligibility for themselves."^[3] The Times does not permit its writers to participate in award voting. Martínez finished second to Texas Rangers catcher Iván Rodríguez, by a margin of 252 points to 239. Rodríguez had been included on all 28 ballots.

In 1999, Martínez became just the 8th modern pitcher to have a second 300-strikeout season, along with Nolan Ryan (6 times), Randy Johnson (third time in 1999, three more times since), Sandy Koufax (3 times), Rube Waddell, Walter Johnson, Sam McDowell, and J.R. Richard (Curt Schilling achieved the feat in 2002). An anomaly in power pitching annals, Martínez is the only 20th-century pitcher to notch 300 strikeouts in a season without being at least six feet tall.

Between August 1999 and April 2000, Martínez had ten consecutive starts with 10 or more strikeouts. Only three pitchers have had as many as seven such starts in a row, and one of those was Martínez himself, in April–May 1999. He averaged more than 15 strikeouts per nine innings during his record 10-game streak.^[4]

Martínez was named the AL Pitcher of the Month in April, May, June, and September 1999, an unprecedented feat for a single season. Martínez punctuated his dominance in the 1999 All-Star Game start at Fenway Park, when he struck out Barry Larkin, Larry Walker, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Jeff Bagwell in two electrifying innings. It was the first time any pitcher struck out the side to start an All-Star Game, and the performance earned Martínez the All-Star Game MVP award.

Martínez was a focal point of the 1999 playoffs against the Cleveland Indians. Starting the series opener, he was forced out of the game after 4 shutout innings due to a strained back with the Red Sox up 2–0. The Red Sox, however, lost the game 3–2. When the Indians also won the second game, it appeared that Martínez had thrown the last pitch of his wondrous 1999 season. Boston won the next two games to tie the series, but Martínez was still too injured to start the fifth and final game. However, neither team's starters were effective, and the game became a slugfest, tied at 8–8 at the end of 3 innings. Martínez entered the game as an emergency relief option. Unexpectedly, Martínez neutralized the Cleveland lineup with six no-hit innings for the win. He struck out eight and walked three, despite not being able to throw either his fastball or changeup with any command. Relying totally on his curve, Martínez and the Red Sox won the deciding game 12–8. Other than his 9 perfect innings in 1995, this performance is often cited as Martínez's greatest.

In the American League Championship Series, Martínez pitched seven shutout innings to beat Red Sox nemesis Roger Clemens and the New York Yankees in Game 3, handing the World Champions their only loss of the 1999 postseason.

Following up 1999, Martínez had perhaps his best year in 2000. Martínez posted an exceptional 1.74 ERA, the AL's lowest since 1978, while winning his third Cy Young award. His ERA was about a third of the park-adjusted league ERA (4.97). No other single season by a starting pitcher has had such a large differential. Roger Clemens was the AL's runnerup in the category, with a 3.70 ERA, more than double that of Martínez. Martínez also set a record in the lesser known sabermetric statistic of Weighted Runs allowed per 9 innings pitched (Wtd. RA/9). Martínez posted a remarkably low 1.55 Wtd. RA/9. He gave up only 128 hits in 217 innings, for an average of just 5.31 hits allowed per 9 innings pitched: the third lowest mark on record.

Martínez's record was 18–6, but could have been even better. In his six losses, Martínez had 60 strikeouts, 8 walks, and 30 hits allowed in 48 innings, with a 2.44 ERA and an 0.79 WHIP, while averaging 8 innings per start. Martínez's ERA in his losing games was less than the leading ERA total in the lower-scoring National League (Kevin Brown's 2.58). The Yankees' Andy Pettitte outdueled the league's best pitcher twice; Martínez's other four losses were each by one run. Martínez's first loss of the year was a 1–0 complete game in which he had 17 strikeouts and 1 walk.

Martínez's WHIP in 2000 was 0.74, not only breaking a 87-year-old modern Major League record set by Walter Johnson, but also the former all-time Major League record set by Guy Hecker, who had a 0.77 in 1882. The American League slugged just .259 against him. They also had a .167 batting average and .213 on base percentage both establishing Major League Baseball records in the modern era. Martínez became the only starting pitcher in history to have more than twice as many strikeouts in a season (284) as hits allowed (128).

In the span of 1999 and 2000, Martínez allowed 288 hits and 69 walks in 430 innings, with 597 strikeouts, an 0.83 WHIP, and a 1.90 ERA. Some statisticians believe that in the circumstances — with lefty-friendly Fenway Park as his home field, in a league with a designated hitter, during the highest offensive period in baseball history — this performance represents the peak for any pitcher in baseball history.

Though he continued his dominance when healthy, carrying a sub-2.00 ERA to the midpoint of the following season, Martínez spent much of 2001 on the disabled list with a rotator cuff injury as the Red Sox slumped to a poor finish. Martínez finished with a 7–3 record, a 2.39 ERA, and 163 strikeouts, but only threw 116 innings.

Healthy in 2002, he rebounded to lead the league with a 2.26 ERA, 0.923 WHIP and 239 strikeouts, while going 20–4. However, that season's American League Cy Young Award narrowly went to 23-game winner Barry Zito of the Oakland A's, despite Zito's higher ERA, higher WHIP, fewer strikeouts, and lower winning percentage. Martínez became the first pitcher since the introduction of the Cy Young Award to lead his league in each of those four statistics, yet not win the award.

Martínez's record was 14–4 in 2003. He led the league in ERA for the fifth time with 2.22, also led in WHIP for the fifth time at 1.04, and finished second to league leader Esteban Loaiza by a single strikeout. Martínez came in third for the 2003 Cy Young Award, which went to Toronto's Roy Halladay.

Martínez went 16–9 in 2004, despite an uncharacteristic 3.90 ERA, as the Red Sox won the American League wild card berth. He pitched effectively in the playoffs, contributing to the team's first World Series win in 86 years. Martínez again finished second in AL strikeouts, and was fourth in that winter's Cy Young voting.

The seven-year contract he received from the Red Sox had been considered a huge risk in the 1997 offseason, but Martínez had rewarded the team's hopes with two Cy Young Awards, and six Top-4 finishes. Martínez finished his Red Sox career with a 117–37 record, the highest winning percentage any pitcher has had with any team in baseball history.

After Boston's World Series triumph in 2004, Martínez became a free agent and signed a 4-year, $53 million contract with the New York Mets. In 2005, his first season as a Met, Martínez posted a 15–8 record with a 2.82 ERA, 208 strikeouts, and a league-leading 0.95 WHIP. It was his sixth league WHIP title, and the fifth time that he led the Major Leagues in the category. Opponents batted .204 against him.

Martínez started the 2006 season at the top of his game. At the end of May, he was 5–1 with a 2.50 ERA, with 88 strikeouts and 17 walks and 44 hits allowed in 76 innings; Martínez's record was worse than it could have been, with the Mets bullpen costing him two victories. However, during his May 26 start against the Florida Marlins, Martínez was instructed by the umpires to change his undershirt. He slipped in the corridor, injuring his hip, and his promising season curdled. The effect was not immediately apparent; although Martínez lost the Marlins game, his following start was a scintillating 0–0 duel with Arizona's Brandon Webb. But after that, beginning on June 6, Martínez went 4–7 with a 7.10 ERA in a series of spotty starts interrupted twice by stays on the disabled list. A right calf injury plagued him for the last two months of the season. After Martínez was removed from an ineffective September 15 outing, television cameras found him in the Mets dugout, apparently crying.^[5] Subsequent MRI exams revealed a torn muscle in Martínez's left calf, and a torn rotator cuff. Martínez underwent surgery which sidelined him for most of the 2007 season.^[6]

On November 3, 2006, Martínez stated that if he could not return to full strength, he might end up retiring after the 2007 season. "It's getting better, and progress is above all what is hoped for," Martínez told the Associated Press. "To go back, I have to recover, I have to be healthy. But if God doesn't want that, then I would have to think about giving it all up." Martínez added, "It's going to be a bitter winter because I am going to have to do a lot of work. The pain I feel was one of the worst I have felt with any injury in my career." But by December 30, 2006, Martínez was more optimistic: "The progress has been excellent. I don't have problems anymore with my reach or flexibility, and so far everything is going very well. The problem has to do with the calcification of the bone that was broken with the tear, and that had to be operated on. You have to let it run its course." Martínez also reported bulking up as part of his recuperative regimen: "I've put on about 10 pounds of muscle, because that's one of our strategies."^[7]

On September 3, 2007, Martínez returned from the disabled list with his 207th career win, allowing two earned runs in five efficient innings and collecting his 3000th career strikeout. "I thought I was going to have butterflies and like that," said Martínez, "but I guess I'm too old." Martínez's comeback was considered a great success, as the right-hander went 3-1 in five starts with a 2.57 ERA. But his last start was a crucial 3–0 loss to St. Louis in the final week of the 2007 Mets' historic collapse; Martínez provided a good pitching performance (7 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 8 K) but his teammates failed to score.

Martínez became just the fourth pitcher to reach 3,000 strikeouts with fewer than 1,000 walks (in Martínez's case, 701). Ferguson Jenkins, Greg Maddux and Curt Schilling had previously done likewise. Martínez also joined Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson to become the third 3,000-strikeout pitcher to have more strikeouts than innings pitched, and is also the first Latin American pitcher to have 3,000 strikeouts.

His unexpectedly strong finish in 2007 raised hopes, but 2008 was a lost season for Martínez. He was injured just four innings into his first game of the season, an April 1 no-decision against the Florida Marlins. He later told reporters he'd felt a "pop" in his left leg. Martínez was diagnosed with a strained hamstring^[8] and did not return to action for more than two months. Following his return, his fastball typically topped out in the 90-91mph range^[9], a lower velocity than he'd had during his prime but slightly higher than in recent seasons. Martínez finished the season on a low note, losing all three of his decisions in September en route to a 5–6 record, the first losing record of his career. (Martínez was 0–1 in two appearances in 1992.) His 5.61 ERA and 1.57 WHIP were also Martínez's worst ever, and for the first time in his career, he failed to strike out at least twice as many batters as he walked (87–44).

During his four-year Met contract, Martínez was 32–23 in 79 starts, with a 3.88 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP.

A free agent, Martínez did not sign with a major league team during the winter. In March, he joined the Dominican Republic's squad for the 2009 World Baseball Classic, in an attempt to showcase his arm. Martinez pitched six scoreless innings with 6 strikeouts and no walks, but the team was quickly eliminated from the tournament and no MLB contract was forthcoming. In July 2009, Phillies scouts evaluated Martinez in two simulated games against the Phillies DSL team, leading to a one-year, $1-million contract.^[10] Martinez told reporters, “I would just like to be the backup. If I could be the backup, that would be a great thing to have— a healthy Pedro behind everybody else, in case something happens. That would be a great feeling to have on a team, eh?”^[11]

Replacing Jamie Moyer as a starter in the Phillies rotation on August 12, Martinez won his 2009 debut. In his return to New York on August 23, Martinez's win against the Mets was preserved by a rare unassisted triple play by second baseman Eric Bruntlett in the bottom of the ninth inning. With his win on September 3—his third as a Phillie and his 100th as a National Leaguer—Martinez became the 10th pitcher in history to win at least 100 games in each league.^[12][13] Philadelphia won each of Martinez's first seven starts, the only time in franchise history since 1900 that this had occurred with any debuting Phillies pitcher.^[14]

On April 13, 1994, in his second start as a Montreal Expo, Martínez lost a perfect game with one out in the eighth inning when he hit Cincinnati's Reggie Sanders with a pitch. An angered Sanders charged the mound, and was later ridiculed in the press for assuming that a pitcher would abandon a perfect game in order to hit a batter intentionally. Martínez allowed a leadoff single in the ninth inning, breaking up his no-hitter, and was removed for reliever John Wetteland (who loaded the bases, then allowed two sacrifice flies, thus saddling Martínez with a no-decision).^[15] Three years later, in 1997, Martínez had a one-hitter against the Reds; that hit came in the 5th inning.^[16]

Martínez has come about as close to throwing a perfect game as possible without actually getting credit for one. On June 3, 1995, while pitching for Montreal, he retired the first 27 Padres hitters he faced. However, the score was still tied 0–0 at that point and the game went into extra innings. The Expos scored a run in the top of the 10th, but Martínez surrendered a double to the 28th batter he faced, Bip Roberts. Expos manager Felipe Alou then removed Martínez from the game, bringing in reliever Mel Rojas, who retired the next three batters.^[17] Martínez officially recorded neither a perfect game nor a no-hitter. Until 1991, the rules would have judged it differently; however, a rule clarification specified that perfect games, even beyond nine innings, must remain perfect until the game is completed for them to be considered perfect. This retroactively decertified many no-hit games, including Ernie Shore's perfect relief stint in 1917 and Harvey Haddix's legendary 12 perfect innings from 1959 (lost in the 13th).

Martínez again came close to the feat on September 10, 1999, when he beat the New York Yankees 3–1. He faced just 28 batters while striking out 17 and walking none (Martínez hit the game's first batter, Chuck Knoblauch, but he was then caught stealing). Only a solo home run by Chili Davis separated Martínez from a no-hitter. The Davis home run came in the second inning, eliminating any suspense, but this may have been Martínez's most dominant day on the mound.^[18] Sportswriter Thomas Boswell called it the best game ever pitched at Yankee Stadium.^[19]

On August 29, 2000, Martínez took a no-hitter into the 9th against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, losing it on a leadoff single by John Flaherty. Martínez had begun the night by hitting the leadoff batter, Gerald Williams, in the hand. Williams charged the mound, managing to punch Martínez in the face before being tackled by the catcher, Jason Varitek. Martínez then retired the next 24 hitters in a row, and after Flaherty's single, finished with a one-hitter. He had 13 strikeouts and no walks in the game; the Flaherty single would have broken up a perfect game, if not for the leadoff hit batsman.^[20] Pedro Martínez has never thrown an official no-hitter. He has professed a lack of interest in the matter: "I think my career is more interesting than one game."

On October 11, 1999, Martínez threw six hitless innings in relief to win the final game of the ALDS, a performance detailed above.^[21]

Martínez was selected as the starting pitcher for the American League All-Star team in 1999. The game, on July 11, 1999, was at Fenway Park, Martínez's home field. Martínez struck out Barry Larkin, Larry Walker, and Sammy Sosa consecutively in the first inning. He then struck out Mark McGwire leading off the 2nd, becoming the first pitcher to begin an All-Star game by striking out the first four batters. (The National League's Brad Penny matched the feat in 2006.)

On May 28, 2000, Martínez and Roger Clemens had a dramatic duel on ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" telecast. The two pitchers both shone, combining to allow only 9 hits and 1 walk while striking out 22. A 0-0 game was finally broken up in the 9th inning by Trot Nixon's home run off Clemens. In the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees loaded the bases against a tiring Martínez, but New York could not score, as Pedro completed the shutout.^[22]

In the testy Game 3 of the 2003 ALCS, after allowing single runs in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th innings, Martínez hit Yankees right fielder Karim Garcia near the shoulders with a pitch, sparking a shouting match between Martínez and the New York bench. Directing his attention at Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, Martínez jabbed a finger into the side of his own head, which some interpreted as a threatened beanball, including an enraged Yankee bench coach Don Zimmer. Emotions remained high in the bottom of the inning, which was led off by Boston slugger Manny Ramírez. Ramirez became irate over a high strike from Roger Clemens, and both benches cleared. During the ensuing commotion, the 72-year-old Zimmer charged towards Martínez; Martínez deflected Zimmer's charge and threw Zimmer to the ground. Later, Martínez claimed that he was not indicating that he would hit Posada in the head, but that he would remember what Posada was saying to him.^[23]

Martínez was also on the mound for Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS versus the Yankees. With the Red Sox ahead 5–2 at the start of the 8th inning, a tiring Martínez pitched his way into trouble. He was visited on the mound by manager Grady Little, but was left in to pitch, in a controversial non-move. The Yankees tied the score against Martínez in that inning on four successive hits, leading to a dramatic extra-inning, series-ending victory for New York.^[24]

After a comparatively lackluster season in 2004 (though still a solid season by general standards), Pedro Martínez got the win in Game 3 of the World Series. He shut out the St. Louis Cardinals through seven innings, recording his final 14 outs consecutively.^[25]

With the Mets, on April 10, 2005, at Turner Field, Martínez outdueled John Smoltz, pitching a two-hit, one-run, complete game en route to his first Mets victory. On August 14, 2005, against the Dodgers, Pedro pitched 7⅓ hitless innings, but ended up losing the no-hitter and the game.^[26]

In June 2006, the Mets played an interleague series against the Red Sox, which was Martínez's first appearance at Fenway Park since leaving the team. The Red Sox gave their former ace a two minute video tribute on June 27, but showed no courtesies to Martínez the following night. In his June 28, 2006 start, Martínez lasted only 3 innings, and was rocked for 8 runs (6 earned) on 7 hits, losing his worst game as a Met just before going onto the disabled list.^[27] The Red Sox are the only Major League team against which Martínez does not have a victory.

Martínez has compiled 15 or more strikeouts in a game ten times, which is tied with Roger Clemens for the third-most 15-K games in history. (Nolan Ryan had 27, and Randy Johnson has had 29.)

Martínez is a very controversial pitcher, both on and off the field. He refuses to yield the inside part of the plate and has a high number of batters hit as a result. His career rate for hitting batters is historically high, particularly for a pitcher otherwise noted for his exceptional control.^[28]

In 2000, in a game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Pedro hit Gerald Williams in the hand with a pitch. Williams then charged the mound leading to a bench-clearing brawl. After the game, Pedro said, "There's no crying in baseball. If he wants to cry, let him cry."

When asked about the Yankees–Red Sox rivalry, he responded: "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."

After a Red Sox loss to the Yankees late in the 2004 season, Martínez remarked in a press conference, "They beat me. They're that good right now. They're that hot. I just tip my hat and call the Yankees my daddy". The New York media publicized the quote heavily, and whenever Martínez pitched at Yankee Stadium in the 2004 American League Championship Series, fans chanted "who's your daddy?" Another famous quote from the 2004 postseason, was Pedro discussing his life, "I actually realized that I was somebody important, because I caught the attention of 60,000 people, plus the whole world watching a guy that if you reverse time back 15 years ago, I was sitting under a mango tree without 50 cents to pay for a bus."

Following the Red Sox' win in the 2004 World Series, Martínez dedicated part of the win to the fans of the Montreal Expos, his former team. Martínez said they deserved recognition after having the 1994 World Series taken away from them, and their team taken away in 2004. In 1994, the Expos had an MLB-best 74–40 record at the time of the strike. Following the 2004 season, the Montreal franchise was relocated to Washington D.C.

Martínez faced criticism in 2008, after a YouTube-linked video made known his involvement at a cockfighting tournament two years earlier. ^[29] The event had taken place in the Dominican Republic, where cockfighting is legal.

• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
• Triple Crown
• List of Major League Baseball ERA champions
• List of Major League Baseball strikeout champions
• List of Major League Baseball wins champions
• MLB All-Time Hit Batsmen List
• Pitchers who have struck out three batters on nine pitches
• 3000 strikeout club
• Top 100 strikeout pitchers of all time
• Major League Baseball titles leaders

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pedro Martínez (baseball).

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