Minor leagues Martínez was originally signed by the Dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1988. In his first season in the minors he was assigned to the
Great Falls Dodgers where he worked with coach
Guy Conti to develop a
circle changeup which Conti had learned from
Johnny Podres. Conti also worked with the young pitcher on his English and helped him assimilate to the United States; Martínez later described Conti as his "white daddy." As a minor leaguer in the Dodgers farm system, he was a highly touted prospect although some talent evaluators took issue with his "poise" despite his having a "great fastball and circle-changeup."
Los Angeles Dodgers (1992–1993) Martínez made his MLB 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. Although Martínez's brother Ramón, then a star
pitcher for the Dodgers, declared that his brother was an even better pitcher than he, the younger Martínez was thought by manager
Tommy Lasorda too small to be an effective
starting pitcher at the MLB level; Lasorda used Pedro Martínez almost exclusively as a relief pitcher. Lasorda was not the first to question Martínez's stature and durability; in the minor leagues, the then-135-pound pitcher was threatened with a $500 fine if he was caught running. Martínez turned in a strong
1993 season as the Dodgers' setup man, going 10–5 with a 2.61 ERA and 119 strikeouts, in 65 games; his 107 innings led all NL relievers.
Montreal Expos (1994–1997) 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 Martínez developed into one of the top pitchers in baseball. Despite possessing a live fastball, he had difficulty maintaining control. It was during a
bullpen session that manager
Felipe Alou encouraged him to modify his primary grip on the fastball from two-seam to four-seam. The transformation was dramatic: the fastball − already among the fastest in the game − now was thrown with near-impeccable control and break that routinely overwhelmed hitters. On April 13, 1994, Martínez took a perfect game through innings until throwing a
brushback pitch at
Reggie Sanders that led Sanders to immediately charge the mound, starting a bench-clearing brawl. Martínez ended up with a no-decision in the game, which the Expos eventually won 3–2. 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 1996, during a game against the
Philadelphia Phillies,
Mike Williams attempted to hit Martínez with retaliatory pitches for an earlier hit batter but failed with two consecutive attempts. After the second attempt, Martínez charged the mound, and started a bench-clearing fight. 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, while becoming the only Expo ever to win the
National League Cy Young Award. The 13 complete games were tied for the second-highest single-season total in the modern era 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 only completed more than five games in one other season (seven, in 2000). Martínez was the first right-handed pitcher to reach 300
strikeouts with an ERA under 2.00 since
Walter Johnson in 1912.
Boston Red Sox (1998–2004) {{MLBBioRet Approaching
free agency, Martínez was traded to the
Boston Red Sox in November 1997 for
Carl Pavano and
Tony Armas Jr. Martínez was subsequently signed to a six-year, $75 million contract (with an option for a seventh year 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, compiling a 19–7 record and finishing second in the
American League in
ERA,
WHIP, strikeouts, and
Cy Young Award voting. In 1999, Martínez finished 23–4 with a 2.07 ERA and 313 strikeouts (earning the
Pitching Triple Crown) in
innings across 31 games (29 starts). He led the entire major leagues with strikeouts per nine innings and
strikeout-to-walk ratios of 13.20 and 8.46, respectively. His
Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) (a defense independent pitching statistic measuring a pitcher's effectiveness at limiting walks, home runs, and hits while accumulating strikeouts) of 1.39 was the lowest single-season total in the major leagues since 1910 among pitchers who threw more than 35 innings. The second best FIP in baseball in 1999 was Randy Johnson's 2.76, and that year, no one else in the American League had a FIP below 3.25. Martínez also became just the ninth modern pitcher to record a second 300-strikeout season, along with
Randy Johnson (6 times),
Nolan Ryan (6 times),
Sandy Koufax (3 times),
Curt Schilling (3 times),
Walter Johnson,
Sam McDowell,
J. R. Richard, and
Rube Waddell. An anomaly among power pitchers, Martínez is the only 20th-century pitcher to notch 300 strikeouts in a season without being at least six feet tall. Martínez unanimously won his second Cy Young Award and finished second in the AL
Most Valuable Player (MVP) ballot. The MVP result was controversial, as Martínez received the most first-place votes of any player (8 of 28), but was omitted from the ballots of two sportswriters, New York's George King and Minneapolis' LaVelle Neal.
Buster Olney, writing for
The New York Times, mused that the sentiment that pitchers should not be considered MVP candidates due to the existence of the pitcher-specific Cy Young Award may have cost Martínez the victory. "It really made us all look very dumb", Olney later said. "People were operating under different rules. The question of eligibility is a very basic thing. People were determining eligibility for themselves."
Texas Rangers catcher
Iván Rodríguez narrowly won the award over Martínez, by a margin of 252 points to 239. Rodríguez had been included on all 28 ballots. When asked about the result by
WEEI-FM radio in January 2012, Martínez said, "I'm not afraid to say that the way that George King and Mr. LaVelle Neal III went about it was unprofessional." Between April and May 1999, Martínez struck out 10 or more batters in seven consecutive starts. Between August 1999 and April 2000, Martínez achieved the same feat in 10 consecutive starts, averaging more than 15 strikeouts per nine innings during the latter streak. In 1999, Martínez recorded a strikeout in 40 consecutive innings, which at the time was a major league record. For his career, Martínez compiled 15 or more strikeouts in a game 10 times, which is tied with
Roger Clemens for the third-most such games in history behind Nolan Ryan's 27 and Randy Johnson's 29. Martínez was named the AL Pitcher of the Month in April, May, June, and September 1999—four times in a single season. Martínez punctuated his dominance in the
1999 All-Star Game at
Fenway Park. He struck out
National League players
Barry Larkin,
Larry Walker,
Sammy Sosa,
Mark McGwire, and
Jeff Bagwell in two innings pitched, earning
All-Star Game MVP for his performance. It was the first time that a pitcher had struck out the first four batters to start an All-Star Game. Martínez later said that the 1999 All-Star break was especially memorable for him because he was able to meet the members of the
MLB All-Century Team and get an autograph from
Ted Williams. Martínez was a focal point of Boston's 1999
playoff series against the
Cleveland Indians. Starting the series opener, he was forced out of the game after four shutout innings due to a strained back with the Red Sox up 2–0. The
Red Sox, however, lost the game 3–2. With the series tied at two games apiece, Martínez was too injured to start the fifth and final game. However, neither team's starter was effective, and by the middle of the fourth inning, the game was tied 8–8. At this point, Martínez entered the game as an emergency relief option. He pitched six
no-hit innings, striking out eight and walking three, as the Red Sox won the deciding game of the series 12–8. In the
American League Championship Series, Martínez pitched seven shutout innings to beat the
New York Yankees in Game 3, handing the soon-to-be
World Series champions their only loss of the 1999 postseason. Martínez followed up 1999 with another excellent season in 2000 en route to his third Cy Young Award. His ERA of 1.74 was the lowest American League total since 1978. The total was about a third of that year's park-adjusted league ERA (4.97), resulting in an
adjusted ERA+ of 291, the second highest single-season total in major league history among pitchers who threw more than 200 innings.
Roger Clemens' 2000 ERA of 3.70 was the second lowest in the AL, but it was still more than double that of Martínez's. Martínez's record was 18–6. In his six losses, he recorded 60 strikeouts, eight walks, and 30
hits allowed in 48 innings, with a 2.44 ERA and a 0.79 WHIP, while averaging eight innings per start. Martínez's ERA in his losing games was lower than the best ERA in the National League (
Kevin Brown's 2.58) across all games. Martínez's first loss of the year was a 1–0 complete game in which he had 17 strikeouts and one walk. All of Martínez's losses were
quality starts, and he pitched eight or more innings in all but one of his losses. Martínez received two runs or fewer of
run support in 10 of his starts (over one-third of his starts); in such games, his ERA was a minuscule 1.25 with 4 complete games and 2 shutouts, but his win–loss record was 4–5. Martínez's WHIP in 2000 was 0.74, the second lowest total in major league history behind
George Walker in 1940. However, Walker's record came in a season in which he only pitched 49 innings, whereas Martínez pitched 217 innings in 2000. Martínez struck out an American League-leading 284 batters while only walking 32, thereby breaking his own record for the highest single-season strikeout-to-walk ratio (8.88) in American League history. Martínez held opposing hitters to a
slash line of .167/.213/.259 and recorded more than twice as many strikeouts (284) as hits allowed (128). When opposing teams had runners in scoring position, hitters' production against Martínez was reduced to a slash line of .133/.188/.219. Across 1999 and 2000, Martínez allowed 288 hits and 69 walks in 430 innings, with 597 strikeouts, a 0.83 WHIP, and a 1.90 ERA. Some baseball pundits believe that given the era in which Martínez pitched—during the peak of the
Steroid Era, in a league with a
designated hitter, with hitter-friendly
Fenway Park as his home field—his 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 in 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 Athletics, 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 without winning the award. Martínez's record was 14–4 in 2003. He led the league in ERA (2.22), ERA+ (211), and WHIP (1.04) for the fifth time each 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. (left) and Pedro Martínez at the Red Sox World Series Victory Parade in 2004. Despite an uncharacteristically high 3.90 ERA in 2004, Martínez went 16–9, ranked second in the AL in strikeouts and finished fourth in Cy Young voting. The Red Sox won the American League's wild-card berth, and Martínez pitched effectively in the playoffs. He earned the win in Game 2 of the
ALDS, and in the
ALCS, he recorded his only loss of the postseason as well as a no-decision. In Game 3 of the
World Series, he pitched seven shutout innings and retired the last 14 batters he faced. The Red Sox won the World Series in four games, securing their
first championship in 86 years. Martínez finished his Red Sox career with a 117–37 record (a .760 winning percentage), a 2.52 ERA, a 190 ERA+, and 1683 strikeouts in innings. He finished in the top four in Cy Young Award balloting in six of his seven years in Boston, winning twice.
New York Mets (2005–2008) After Boston's
World Series triumph in 2004, Martínez became a
free agent and signed a four-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. 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. 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." 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 3,000th career strikeout, becoming the 15th pitcher to do so. "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 and did not return to action for more than two months. Following his return, his fastball typically topped out in the 90–91 mph range, 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.
Philadelphia Phillies (2009) on July 26, 2009 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. Martínez 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 Martínez in two simulated games against the
Phillies DSL team, leading to a one-year, $1-million contract. Martínez 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?" Replacing
Jamie Moyer as a starter in the Phillies rotation on August 12, Martínez won his 2009 debut. In his return to New York on August 23, Martínez'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 Philadelphia Phillie and his 100th as a National Leaguer—Martínez became the 10th pitcher in history to win at least 100 games in each league. On September 13, Martínez pitched eight innings to beat the Mets again, by a final score of 1–0. His 130 pitches were the most he had thrown in a game since the ALDS in October 2003. Philadelphia won each of Martínez's first seven starts, the first time in franchise history that this had occurred with any debuting Phillies pitcher. In the
NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers, he pitched seven shutout innings while allowing just two hits, but the Philadelphia bullpen faltered in the following inning, costing Martínez the win. Intense media interest preceded Martínez's "return to Yankee Stadium" in Game 2 of the World Series. At the pre-game press conference, he seemed to relish the attention, telling reporters, "When you have 60,000 people chanting your name, waiting for you to throw the ball, you have to consider yourself someone special, someone that really has a purpose out there." Martínez pitched effectively in his second-ever World Series start, but left the game in the 7th inning trailing, 2–1, and wound up taking the loss. Before his second start of the Series, Martínez called himself and opposing pitcher
Andy Pettitte "old goats", and acknowledged that Red Sox fans were rooting for him: "I know that they don't like the Yankees to win, not even in Nintendo games." However, Martínez allowed four runs in four innings, falling to 0–2 as the Phillies lost the sixth game and the 2009 World Series to the New York Yankees. Following the Series, Martínez announced that he had no intention of retiring, but the 2010 season came and went without his signing with a team. Media reports surfaced that the Phillies had been discussing a deal to bring Martínez back for another half-season, but Martínez's agent announced in July that he would not be pitching at all in 2010, while remaining interested in a 2011 return. In December 2010, Martínez told a reporter for
El Día "I'm realizing what it is to be a normal person. ... It's most likely that I don't return to active baseball ... but honestly I don't know if I'll definitively announce my retirement." The pitcher received some initial inquiries during the winter, but did not sign with any team for 2011. On December 4, 2011, he officially announced his retirement. In December 2009,
Sports Illustrated named Martínez as one of the five pitchers in the starting rotation of its
MLB All-Decade Team. In February 2011, the
Smithsonian's
National Portrait Gallery announced that it had acquired an oil painting of Martínez for its collection. ==Post-playing career==