Martinez 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. Martinez was diagnosed with a strained hamstring^[6] and did not return to action for more than two months.

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Memorable games

• On April 13, 1994, in his second start as a Montreal Expo, Martinez lost a perfect game with one out in the eighth inning when he hit Cincinnati's Reggie Sanders with a pitch. An angered Sanders charged the mound, and was later ridiculed in the press for assuming that a pitcher would abandon a perfect game in order to hit a batter intentionally. Martinez allowed a leadoff single in the ninth inning, breaking up his no-hitter, and was removed for reliever John Wetteland (who loaded the bases, then allowed two sacrifice flies, thus saddling Martinez with a no-decision).^[7]Three years later, in 1997, Martínez had another one-hitter against the Reds; that hit came in the 5th inning.^[8]

• Martínez has come about as close to throwing a perfect game as possible without actually getting credit for one. On June 3, 1995, while pitching for Montreal, he retired the first 27 Padres hitters he faced. However, the score was still tied 0-0 at that point and the game went into extra innings. The Expos scored a run in the top of the 10th, but Martínez surrendered a double to the 28th batter he faced, Bip Roberts. Expos manager Felipe Alou then removed Martínez from the game, bringing in reliever Mel Rojas, who retired the next three batters.^[9]However, Martínez officially recorded neither a perfect game nor a no-hitter. Until 1993, the rules would have judged it differently; however, a rule clarification specified that perfect games, even beyond nine innings, must remain perfect until the game is completed for them to be considered perfect. This retroactively decertified many no-hit games, including Ernie Shore's perfect relief stint in 1917 and Harvey Haddix's legendary 12 perfect innings from 1959 (lost in the 13th).

• Martinez was selected as the starting pitcher for the American League All-Star team in 1999. The game, on July 11, 1999, was at Fenway Park, Martinez's home field. Martinez struck out Barry Larkin, Larry Walker, and Sammy Sosa consecutively in the first inning. He then struck out Mark McGwire leading off the 2nd, becoming the first pitcher to begin an All-Star game by striking out the first four batters. (The National League's Brad Penny matched the feat in 2006.)

• Martínez also came close to the feat on September 10, 1999, when he beat the New York Yankees 3-1. He faced just 28 batters while striking out 17 and walking none (Martinez hit the game's first batter, Chuck Knoblauch, but he was then caught stealing). Only a solo home run by Chili Davis separated Martínez from a no-hitter. The Davis home run came in the second inning, eliminating any suspense, but this may have been Martinez's most dominant day on the mound.^[10] Sportswriter Thomas Boswell called it the best game ever pitched at Yankee Stadium.^[11]

On August 29, 2000, Martinez took a no-hitter into the 9th against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, losing it on a leadoff single by John Flaherty. Martinez had begun the night by hitting the leadoff batter, Gerald Williams, in the hand. Williams charged the mound, managing to punch Martinez in the face before being tackled by the catcher, Jason Varitek. Martinez then retired the next 24 hitters in a row, and after Flaherty's single, finished with a one-hitter. He had 13 strikeouts and no walks in the game; the Flaherty single would have broken up a perfect game, if not for the leadoff hit batsman.^[12] Pedro Martínez has never thrown an official no-hitter. He has professed a lack of interest in the matter: "I think my career is more interesting than one game."

On October 11, 1999, Martinez threw six hitless innings in relief to win the final game of the ALDS, a performance detailed above.^[13]

On May 28, 2000, Martinez and Roger Clemens had a dramatic duel on ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" telecast. The two pitchers both shone, combining to allow only 9 hits and 1 walk while striking out 22. A 0-0 game was finally broken up in the 9th inning by Trot Nixon's home run off Clemens. In the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees loaded the bases against a tiring Martinez, but New York could not score, as Pedro completed the shutout.^[14]

In the testy Game 3 of the 2003 ALCS, after allowing single runs in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th innings, Martinez hit Yankees right fielder Karim Garcia near the shoulders with a pitch, sparking a shouting match between Martinez and the New York bench. Directing his attention at Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, Martinez jabbed a finger into the side of his own head, which some interpreted as a threatened beanball, including an enraged Yankee bench coach Don Zimmer. Emotions remained high in the bottom of the inning, which was led off by Boston slugger Manny Ramírez. Ramirez became irate over a high strike from Roger Clemens, and both benches cleared. During the ensuing commotion, the 72-year-old Zimmer charged towards Martínez; Martínez deflected Zimmer's charge and threw him (Zimmer) to the ground. Later, Martinez claimed that he was not indicating that he would hit Posada in the head, but that he would remember what Posada was saying to him.^[15]

Martínez was also on the mound for Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS versus the Yankees. With the Red Sox ahead 5-2 at the start of the 8th inning, a tiring Martinez pitched his way into trouble. He was visited on the mound by manager Grady Little, but was left in to pitch, in a controversial non-move. The Yankees tied the score against Martinez in that inning on four successive hits, leading to a dramatic extra-inning, series-ending victory for New York.^[16]

After a comparatively lackluster season in 2004 (though still a solid season by general standards), Pedro Martínez pitched one of his most memorable games in Game 3 of the World Series. He shut out the St. Louis Cardinals through seven innings, recording his final 14 outs consecutively.^[17]

With the Mets on August 14, 2005, against the Dodgers, Pedro pitched 7⅓ hitless innings, but ended up losing the no-hitter and the game.^[18]

In June 2006, the Mets played an interleague series against the Red Sox, which was Martinez's first appearance at Fenway Park since leaving the team. The Red Sox gave their former ace a two minute video tribute on June 27, but showed no courtesies to Martinez the following night. In his June 28, 2006 start, Martinez lasted only 3 innings, and was rocked for 8 runs (6 earned) on 7 hits, losing his worst game as a Met just before going onto the disabled list.^[19] The Red Sox are the only Major League team against which Martinez does not have a victory.

Martínez has thrown 15 or more strikeouts in a game ten times, which is tied with Roger Clemens for the third-most 15-K games in history. (Nolan Ryan had 27, and Randy Johnson has had 29.)

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Quotes and controversy

Martínez is a very controversial pitcher, both on and off the field. He refuses to yield the inside part of the plate, and has a high number of batters hit as a result. His career rate for hitting batters is historically high, particularly for a pitcher otherwise noted for his exceptional control.^[20] Other "intimidators" such as Bob Gibson, Don Drysdale and Roger Clemens did not hit batters with the same frequency as Martinez.

In 2000, in a game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Pedro hit Gerald Williams in the elbow with a pitch. Williams then charged the mound leading to a bench-clearing brawl. After the game, Pedro said, "There's no crying in baseball. If he wants to cry, let him cry."

When asked about the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry, he responded: "I'm starting to hate talking about the Yankees. The questions are so stupid. They're wasting my time. It's getting kind of old ... I don't believe in damn curses. Wake up the damn Bambino and have me face him. Maybe I'll drill him in the ass, pardon me the word."

After a Red Sox loss to the Yankees late in the 2004 season, Martínez remarked in a press conference, "They beat me. They're that good right now. They're that hot. I just tip my hat and call the Yankees my daddy". The New York media publicized the quote heavily, and whenever Martínez pitched at Yankee Stadium in the 2004 American League Championship Series, fans chanted "who's your daddy?"

Following the Red Sox' win in the 2004 World Series, Martínez dedicated part of the win to the fans of the Montreal Expos, his former team. Martínez said they deserved recognition after having the 1994 World Series taken away from them, and their team taken away in 2004. The Expos had an MLB-best 74-40 record at the time of the lockout; the Montreal franchise was relocated to Washington D.C. following the 2004 season.

Martinez faced criticism in 2008, after a YouTube-linked video made known his involvement at a cockfighting tournament two years earlier. ^[21] The event had taken place in the Dominican Republic, where cockfighting is legal.

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See also

• Players from Dominican Republic in MLB
• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
• Triple Crown
• List of Major League Baseball ERA champions
• List of Major League Baseball strikeout champions
• List of Major League Baseball wins champions
• MLB All-Time Hit Batsmen List
• Pitchers who have struck out three batters on nine pitches
• 3000 strikeout club
• Top 100 strikeout pitchers of all time
• Major League Baseball titles leaders

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References

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External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube