Pedro Martinez to Retire

[lobo_hacker]

-From Rotoworld:

""Pedro Martinez told reporters Saturday that he's planning to officially retire from baseball.
Pedro didn't throw a single pitch in 2011 and hinted in May that he was considering hanging up his cleats. He'll finish up with a remarkable 219-100 career record, a 2.93 career ERA and 3,154 career strikeouts. The 40-year-old right-hander was in the major leagues for 18 seasons and is sure to be elected to the Hall of Fame.""

First ballot HOF'er?

lobo_hacker

[Prospect Rush]

Yes no question imo.

[jimssouvenirs]

Has to be first ballot. Sub 3 ERA and 3k strikeouts. You can't ignore that. I'm guessing 91.25%

[dizzydolse]

Absolutely first ballot, one of the most dominant pitchers of all time.

[robertr1105]

This isn't too shocking as no one really expected him to come back. But yes, I think he'll be a first ballot HOF, unfortunately :/

[JORDANForever]

I'm a Yankee fan but will surly miss him .Wow he had some crazy games against us over the years . The guy had some serious HIGH heat .....and probably the best inside pitch in baseball

[houdini]

Don Zimmer told me to tell you guys that Pedro is lucky to be quitting while he was ahead.

...oh, and never to forget JOHN FLAHERTY!!

[Prospect_Man]

best pitcher ive ever seen in my life(26 years old) and its not even close!!!!! 1st ballet, no doubt

[IamRalpho]

He had the best season, best 2 seasons actually of any pitcher ever, probably will never be repeated and he did it in the height of the steroid era.

[Zacky1053]

I forgot he wasn't officially "retired" until now.

First ballot HOFer no doubt.

[crtsports]

First ballot and its not even a debate.

[mjbuchanan80]

First ballot and its not even a debate.

I'll take it step further. No doubt and if you try to debate it you should really find a new sport to follow. Haha.

If I writer doesn't vote for Martinez to the Hall, they should be lambasted like the Rickey Henderson 'no' voters were.

[mainerunr]

He had the best season, best 2 seasons actually of any pitcher ever, probably will never be repeated and he did it in the height of the steroid era.

and they denied him the MVP both seasons...

[BostonNut]

And gave it to a juicer...

and they denied him the MVP both seasons...

[soxfanintx]

He had the best season, best 2 seasons actually of any pitcher ever, probably will never be repeated and he did it in the height of the steroid era.

Ditto on that.

He had so many dominant appearances. Remember the 99 All Star Game? Holy crap. Struck out 5 of the first 6 batters. At fenway even. The place went nuts.

[darealstunna]

First ballot, deservedly so.

[edclay]

Lasorda says he's to small for the HOF, his vote is going to Deshields.

The worst trade in Dodger history!

Pedro is first ballot no question.

[gradedeflator]

haha, so true. sigh. imagine what kind of numbers Pedro might have put up pitching half his games in Dodger Stadium.

Lasorda says he's to small for the HOF, his vote is going to Deshields.

The worst trade in Dodger history!

Pedro is first ballot no question.

[REDSOX2011]

In case anyone missed this: Pedro Martinez will soon officially announce retirement | MLB.com: News (http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111203&content_id=26087740&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb)

[IamRalpho]

In case anyone missed this: Pedro Martinez will soon officially announce retirement | MLB.com: News (http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111203&content_id=26087740&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb)

How would anyone in this thread have missed that :)!

I miss Pedro, he was the most fun pitcher I have ever witnessed in my life. I can not wait for him to go to Cooperstown with a B on his hat

[lobo_hacker]

In case anyone missed this: Pedro Martinez will soon officially announce retirement | MLB.com: News (http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111203&content_id=26087740&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb)

-Thanks for iterating to us the likely reason you were temporarily suspended.

Watched him come into relief against the Indians in 1999, was personally at that game, awesome. Just...awesome.

lobo_hacker

[SaveMeTheGum]

1999 and 2000 were two of the most dominant pitching seasons ever by themselves, never mind the fact that #9 hitters were batting .310 with 25 HR's. First ballot, no doubter. I can only hope that some of the younger guys like Kershaw, Strasburg etc can match what Randy Johnson and Pedro did in the 90's/early 2000's.

[frozenntimesports]

He had the best season, best 2 seasons actually of any pitcher ever, probably will never be repeated and he did it in the height of the steroid era.

I argue Greg Maddux's seasons in 1993-1996 were better than Martinez's run, but if Pedro is not a first ballot hall of famer, then they ought to burn the place down.

[mgugs46]

He had the best season, best 2 seasons actually of any pitcher ever, probably will never be repeated and he did it in the height of the steroid era.

Agreed. The most dominant seasons since they moved the mound.

Cherry picked these tidbits off SOSH about his season in 2000:

4.91 - American League ERA
1.74 - Pedro's ERA

Martinez allowed only 6.636 walks and hits per nine innings. That broke Guy Hecker’s mark of 6.923, which had stood since 1882. They are the only two pitchers in history below 7.00.

Martinez faced only three batters in 112 of his 217 innings. He faced 3 or 4 batters in 179 innings -- 82.5% And he faced five or fewer batters in 206 of 217 innings -- a mind-boggling 94.9%.

Working in a league where the average team scored 5.3 runs per game, Martinez allowed more than 3 earned runs only twice in 29 starts (June 25 and August 24). He allowed 2 runs or less in 21 starts and 1 run or less in 17 starts.


Roger Clemens's ERA [second to Pedro] was more than twice Martinez's ERA. That difference of 1.96 between #1 and #2 was the largest in history. Clemens was actually closer to #38 [Rolando Arrojo, 5.63 ERA] than he was to #1.

[metscollector]

i love pedro and he had better be first ballot hof!

[nhsportsguy]

Absolutely 1st ballot HOF'er. IF he isn't, the only reason would be his fizzling out at the end, but who doesn't do that??