When it comes to Pedro Martinez, I could type until my fingers fell off or talk until my throat collasped, but I'll keep it short. Pedro Martinez is easily the best pitcher of the late 90s and early 00s. The short, skinny, PED free Martinez made Hall of Fame calibur and PED hitters look like they had never picked up a bat before. He had the complete arsenal when it came to pitches. He threw his fastball with Bob Gibson velocity and Greg Maddux accuracy. His 2-Seamer would catch the corners or make hitters screw themselves into the ground. Hitters could time his nasty curveball and couldn't see his Bugs Bunny change-up. But stuff alone doesn't get you into Cooperstown. Martinez is a five time ERA Champion and a three time Cy Young Award Winner. He has the best single season Adjusted ERA+ in the history of the Modern Era and the best career Adjusted ERA+ for a Starting pitcher. He also had the lowest single season WHIP by a starting pitcher ever. His eight All-Star selections were highlighted at Fenway Park when he struck out Barry Larking, Larry Walker, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGuire in order to start the game and struck out Jeff Bagwell to end the second inning. Pedro is also the reason I believe a starting pitcher should never win the MVP. Pedro Martinez had two back to back seasons that made recent MVP winners Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw look like amateurs. Instead they gave the MVP to Ivan Rodriguez and Jason Giambi. Giambi's MVP Crown will always be tainted with PEDs so that makes it so much more frustrating. Rodriguez however was a very deserving player who just barely beat out Pedro. So if Pedro can't win MVP then neither should another starting pitcher. Greg Maddux got into the Hall of Fame on his first ballot and rightfully so because Greg Maddux beat pitchers. But that's the difference between Maddux and Pedro. Maddux would beat you, Pedro would dominate you. Because of all these reasons Pedro Martinez should get one hundred percent of the votes, but I'll settle for him being a first ballot Hall of Famer.
I have another article about Pedro Martinez, if anyone is interested.
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