Former Boston Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez turns 52 yards old. Martinez played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Montreal Expos, Red Sox, New York Mets, and Philadelphia Phillies. Martinez went unsigned following the 2009 season and announced he had no intention of retiring, but he decided not to pitch in 2010 despite the Phillies wanting to bring him back; he was interested in a return in 2011, but on December 4, 2011, he decided to retire after 18 seasons. Martinez will go down as one of the best pitchers in baseball history.
Pedro Martinez Career
Martinez was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent on June 18, 1988, and he made his debut on September 24, 1992, pitching out of the bullpen. He spent two years with the Dodgers making 67 appearances, with three of those being starts; he went 10-6 with a 2.58 ERA; he had a 2.95 FIP, a 1.21 WHIP, a 0.4 HR/9, a 4.5 BB/9, and a 9.9 K/9. On November 19, 1993, Martinez was traded from the Dodgers to the Montreal Expos for Delino DeShields; with the Expos, he made 118 appearances with 117 of those being starts, and he went 55-33 with a 3.06 ERA, a 3.17 FIP, a 1.08 WHIP, a 0.8 HR/9, a 2.8 BB/9, and a 9.5 K/9. On November 18, 1997, Martinez was traded from the Expos to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Tony Armas, and that’s when his career took off as he made 203 appearances with 201 starts going 117-37 with a 2.52 ERA, a 2.45 FIP, a 0.97 WHIP, a 0.7 HR/9, a 2.0 BB/9, and a 10.9 K/9 and helped lead the Red Sox to a World Series Championship in 2004. Following that 2004 World Series run, Martinez would be a free agent, and he would go on to sign with the New York Mets; with the Mets, he made 79 starts, going 32-23 with a 3.88 ERA, a 3.69 FIP, a 1.15 WHIP, a 1.1 HR/9, a 2.5 BB/9, and an 8.6 K/9. In 2009, he signed with the Phillies and made nine starts, going 5-1 with a 3.63 ERA, a 4.28 FIP, a 1.25 WHIP, a 1.4 HR/9, a 1.6 BB/9, and a 7.5 K/9. In his career in the postseason, he made 16 appearances, with 14 being starts; he went 6-4 with a 3.46 ERA, a 1.08 WHIP, a 0.9 HR/9, a 2.8 BB/9, and a 9.0 K/9.
The Career Accolades of Pedro Martinez
For his career, Pedro Martinez made 476 appearances, with 409 of those being starts; he went 219-100 with a 2.93 ERA, a 2.91 FIP, a 1.05 WHIP, a 0.8 HR/9, a 2.4 BB/9, and a 10.0 K/9. Martinez would go on to win three Cy Young awards and finished in the top five seven times. He was a five-time ERA title winner and also took home a pitching triple crown award in 1999 when he led the league in wins, strikeouts, and ERA, going 23-4 with a 2.07 ERA and 313 strikeouts; he also finished second in MVP voting that season losing to Ivan Rodriguez by 13 votes. He was an eight-time all-star, and he finished his career with 3,154 strikeouts, which ranks him 15th all-time. In 2015, Pedro Martinez was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame with 91.1% of the votes. Martinez will go down as one of the best pitchers in Red Sox history, as well as baseball history, as he should with such a great career.
