Pedro Martinez: A Biography

ABOUT THE BOOK

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. —Joe Posnanski, Sports Illustrated

I always said you need four things to be a great pitcher–location, movement, velocity, and deception. He's got all those. Now, you add the intelligence he brings to the mound and we're not talking about a mere mortal here. —Jim Palmer, Hall of Fame pitcher

Any way you measure it, Pedro Martinez rises to the top of the list of greatest pitchers in the history of baseball. He was a phenomenal pitcher who could throw as hard as Nolan Ryan, locate with the precision of Tom Glavine, and effectively employ a variety of pitches unparalleled by anyone.

Martinez played in the major leagues for 18 seasons, from 1992–2009. He pitched during the modern era of offense-driven baseball, facing challenges pitchers from earlier decades couldn’t have imagined. By the time of Martinez’s playing days, the game had evolved to become more fan-friendly, which meant higher scoring games and tape-measure homeruns.

These changes included rules designed to make it easier to hit the ball, athletic players who could drive balls further, better bat designs that improved control, league expansion that spread the talent pool across more teams, and importantly for pitchers in the American League, the introduction of the designated hitter.

Martinez made these changes irrelevant. During the prime years of his career, he dominated the game as few other pitchers have, before or since.

EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK

Sportswriters filling out MVP ballots are supposed to consider five “rules”:Actual value of a player to his team, that is, strength of offense and defenseNumber of games playedGeneral character, disposition, loyalty and effortFormer winners are eligibleMembers of the committee may vote for more than one member of a team

Martinez received the most first-place votes but lost to Ivan Rodriguez on total points because two writers left Martinez’ name completely off their ballots. Writers George King and LaVelle Neal argued pitchers should not be eligible for the MVP because they rarely contribute to team offense and appear in such a small percentage of total innings played.

While this debate is a common one among players and fans, voting sportswriters are instructed to, “Keep in mind that all players are eligible for MVP, including pitchers and designated hitters.” King’s excuse was particularly odd, considering the previous year he voted for two pitchers, Rick Helling and David Wells…

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CHAPTER OUTLINE

Pedro Martinez: Biography of a Future Hall-of-Fame Pitcher

+ The Best of the Best

+ Viva la Republica Dominicana!

+ Not Your Granddad's Game

+ Shutting Down the DH

+ …and much more