A complete pitcher and an assured future Hall-of-Famer, Pedro Jaime Martínez plays for the New York Mets as a pitcher. Signed by Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1988, Martinez made his Major League debut on September 24, 1992 against Cincinnati . Baseball was in Pedro's blood. His father had been one of the most respected pitchers during the 1950s. Pedro was tough, smart competitor and by the age of 13 got much more serious about baseball. Pedro spent the 1988 and 1989 seasons pitching for the Dodgers' Dominican Summer League demonstrated good command of his pitches. In 1990, the Dodgers assigned Pedro to their Pioneer League team in Great Falls , Montana , which was at that time managed by Joe Vavra and led by Raul Mondesi and Garey Ingram. Pedro emerged as the team's best pitcher and ranked as the league's #3 prospect after going 8-3 in 14 starts. In 1991, he Sporting News named him its Minor League Player of the Year for pitching a league-high three shutouts. Pedro pitched well enough in spring training in 1993. Pedro was sensational. He led all NL relievers with 107 innings pitched and fanned 119 batters, won 10, games and posted a 2.61 ERA. He set Dodgers rookie record w/65 games pitched and was ranked 3rd among all M.L. rookies w/119 K. on November 19, 1993 , Montreal Expos traded Delino DeShields to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Pedro Martinez. Pedro made 23 starts during his first campaign in Montreal in 1994, on were sailing smoothly, but a labor dispute ended the season. In 1997 he posted a 17-8 record for the Expos and led the league in almost every pitching category including a 1.90 ERA, 305 strikeouts and 13 complete games pitched, and won the National League Cy Young Award. In November 1997, Montreal Expos traded Pedro Martinez to the Boston Red Sox for Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr. the Sox signed him to a six-year, $75,000,000 contract. In 1997, even though, Pedro played for a losing club he fetched the NL Cy Young Award, Sporting News N.L. Pitcher of the Year, Montreal Expos Player of the Year and named to N.L. All-Star team. He recorded 305 K, and became the 14th pitcher in the modern era to reach 300k. 1999 was perhaps one of his greatest pitching seasons of all time. Pedro went 23-4 with a 2.07 ERA and was unanimously selected A.L. Cy Young Award winner. He was selected RHP for The Sporting News A.L. All-Star Team, named AP M.L. Player of the Year and became the recipient of Boston Baseball Writers' Thomas A. Yawkey MVP Award winner. In 2000, he was unanimously selected to his 3rd Cy Young Award and 2nd in a row. In 2003, he was named Red Sox Pitcher of the Year by the Boston chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America and finished third in the A.L. Cy Young Award voting. On December 16, 2004 , New York Mets signed him to a 4 year, $53 million contract. Prior to that, he went 2-1 to help lead the Red Sox to the World Series Title. |
