Pitcher, Montreal
Expos
Age: 25
4th season
with Expos
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 5’11” Weight: 170
Prior to 1997:
A native of the
Dominican Republic who grew up in a town near Santo Domingo, Martinez followed
his older brother Ramon, also a pitcher, in signing with the Los Angeles
Dodgers at age 16 in 1988. He spent 1988 and ’89 with LA’s Dominican Summer
League team, where he compiled an overall 12-3 record. At 18 in 1990 he was
assigned to Great Falls of the Rookie-level Pioneer League, where Martinez
started 14 games and compiled an 8-3 record with 82 strikeouts over 77 innings
pitched. In 1991 he advanced from Class A Bakersfield to Class AA San Antonio
and finally Class AAA Albuquerque and had an overall record of 18-8 with a 2.28
ERA and 192 strikeouts. He received Minor League Player of the Year recognition
from The Sporting News for his performance. The Dodgers returned Martinez to Albuquerque
of the Pacific Coast League in 1992 where he went 7-6 with a 3.81 ERA and 124
strikeouts in 125.1 innings pitched. He received a September call-up to the
Dodgers and went the distance in losing his first major league start to
Cincinnati. He started the 1993 season with Albuquerque but was soon called up
to the parent club where his first appearance was in relief of his brother
Ramon. For the year Martinez pitched in 65 games, almost exclusively in relief,
and posted a 10-5 record with a 2.61 ERA and 119 strikeouts over 107 innings. After the season the Dodgers traded Martinez to
the Montreal Expos for second baseman Delino DeShields. The Dodgers had
questioned whether he had the size and stamina to succeed as a starting pitcher
but he moved directly into Montreal’s rotation in 1994. The Expos had the best
record in the NL when the season ended prematurely due to the players’ strike.
Martinez, with his outstanding fastball and changeup, contributed an 11-5 tally
with a 3.42 ERA and 142 strikeouts in 144.2 innings pitched. With his tendency
to pitch high and inside he became known as a “headhunter” and hit a
league-leading 11 batters and was ejected from 12 games and involved in three
fights. The Expos lost several key players to free agency and were less
competitive in 1995, although Martinez compiled a solid 14-10 record with a 3.51
ERA and 174 strikeouts. In a game against San Diego he became the second
pitcher in major league history to take a perfect game into extra innings but
lost it in the tenth inning and was relieved (Montreal still managed to win the
game). The Expos finished second in the NL East in 1996, narrowly missing a
Wild Card spot and Martinez was 13-10 with a 3.70 ERA and 222 strikeouts. He
was selected as an All-Star for the first time.
1997 Season Summary
Appeared in 35 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Pitching
Games – 31
Games Started –
31
Complete Games
– 13 [1]
Wins – 17 [5,
tied with Curt Schilling & Alex Fernandez]
Losses – 8
PCT - .680 [6]
Saves – 0
Shutouts – 4 [2,
tied with Denny Neagle & Darryl Kile]
Innings Pitched
– 241.1 [4]
Hits – 158
Runs – 65
Earned Runs – 51
Home Runs – 16
Bases on Balls
– 67
Strikeouts – 305
[2]
ERA – 1.90 [1]
Hit Batters – 9
[12, tied with ten others]
Balks – 1
Wild Pitches – 3
League-leading complete
games were +5 ahead of runner-up Carlos Perez
League-leading
ERA was -0.30 lower than runner-up Greg Maddux
Midseason
Snapshot: 10-4, ERA - 1.74, SO - 154 in 124 IP
---
Most
strikeouts, game – 14 (in 9 IP) vs. Detroit 6/14
10+ strikeout
games – 18
Fewest hits
allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 1 (in 9 IP) at Cincinnati 7/13
Batting
PA – 81, AB – 69,
R – 5, H – 8, 2B – 2, 3B – 1, HR – 0, RBI – 0, BB – 3, SO – 28, SB – 0, CS – 0,
AVG - .116, GDP – 2, HBP – 0, SH – 9, SF – 0
Fielding
Chances – 39
Put Outs – 7
Assists – 31
Errors – 1
DP – 1
Pct. - .974
Awards & Honors:
NL Cy Young
Award: BBWAA
NL Pitcher of
the Year: Sporting News
All-Star
16th in NL MVP
voting, tied with Ray Lankford, StL. & Mark McGwire, StL. (6 points, 2%
share)
NL Cy Young
voting:
Pedro Martinez,
Mon.: 134 pts. – 25 of 28 first place votes, 96% share
Greg Maddux,
Atl.: 75 pts. – 3 first place, 54% share
Denny Neagle, Atl:
24 pts. – 17% share
Curt Schilling,
Phila.: 12 pts. – 9% share
Darryl Kile,
Hou.: 7 pts. – 5% share
---
Expos went 78-84
to finish fourth in the NL Eastern Division, 23 games behind the
division-winning Atlanta Braves. The pitching staff led the league in complete
games (27). The Expos were 11 games over .500 on July 1 but collapsed in the
second half.
Aftermath of ‘97:
With one more
year until he became a free agent, Martinez was traded by the Expos to the
Boston Red Sox in the offseason. The Red Sox immediately signed him to a
six-year contract extension, worth $75 million. He was 19-7 with his new club
in 1998 with a 2.89 ERA and 251 strikeouts. He was an All-Star once again and finished
second in AL Cy Young Award voting. He also saw his first postseason action as
Boston placed second in the AL East and claimed the Wild Card slot. Martinez
was even better in 1999 as he led the AL in wins (23, against 4 losses), ERA
(2.07), and strikeouts (313). He won his second Cy Young Award and was also
second in American League MVP voting. Boston again finished second and was a
postseason Wild Card. Martinez won another Cy Young Award in 2000 with an 18-6
record, and a league-leading 1.74 ERA, 284 strikeouts, and 4 shutouts. The Red
Sox once again ended up second in the AL East but did not qualify for the
postseason. Martinez was sidelined with a minor rotator cuff tear in 2001 which
limited him to 18 starts and a 7-3 record. He came back with a 20-4 record in
2002 and led the AL in ERA (2.26) and strikeouts (239), and he finished second
in the league’s Cy Young Award voting. Martinez topped the AL in ERA again in
2003 with a 2.22 mark to go with his 14-4 record and 206 strikeouts. Boston made
the postseason as a Wild Card entry and reached the ALCS vs. the arch-rival
Yankees, where Martinez became involved in some controversy. During his Game 3
start and having struck a batter and blown a lead he became involved in a
shouting match with members of New York’s dugout. When Yankee RHP Roger Clemens
threw at Boston LF Manny Ramirez, the benches cleared and 72-year-old Yankee
coach Don Zimmer ran at Ramirez, who tossed him to the ground. In Game 7, he
pitched into trouble and convinced manager Grady Little to leave him in the
game, leading to four successive hits and a tie score that was decided in favor
of the Yanks in extra innings. In 2004 Martinez contributed a 16-9 record to
Boston’s season that culminated in a World Series victory for the first time
since 1918. His 3.90 ERA was far less impressive than usual but he went 2-1 in
the postseason including a win in the World Series. As a free agent in the
offseason Martinez signed a four-year, $53 million contract with the New York Mets. He posted a 15-8 record in 2005
with a 2.82 ERA and 208 strikeouts. He was an All-Star selection for the
third-place Mets as well. He was an All-Star once again in 2006, although he
suffered through an injury-riddled season that limited him to a 9-8 record with
a 4.48 ERA before a torn rotator cuff that required surgery ended his season,
keeping him out of New York’s postseason run. The recovery from the surgery was
lengthy and appeared to diminish his fastball. He appeared in five games late
in the 2007 season and was 3-1 with a 2.57 ERA. Martinez had a dreadful year in
2008, going 5-6 with a 5.61 ERA. He was an unwanted free agent in apparent
decline who finally signed with the Philadelphia Phillies midway through the
2009 season. He had a 5-1 record with a 3.63 ERA for the NL East champions in
what was his final season. Overall in the major leagues Martinez compiled a
219-100 record with a 2.93 ERA and 3154 strikeouts in 2827.1 innings pitched.
He was 55-33 with a 3.06 ERA and 843 strikeouts for Montreal. In the postseason
he had a 6-4 tally with a 3.46 ERA and 96 strikeouts. He was an eight-time
All-Star and won three Cy Young Awards. He
was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015. He was inducted into the
Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018. The Red Sox retired his #45.
--
Cy Young Profiles feature pitchers who were recipients of
the Cy Young Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1956 to
present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its
inception through 1966 and from 1967 on to one recipient from each major
league.
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