Sports
Pedro Martinez looked back on the unlikely transfer to the Red Sox: One of the very best decisions in recent Red Sox history got here in late 1997, when Boston Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette signed newly crowned National League Cy Young Award winner Pedro Martinez because he needed a star to top off the team's pitchers who were missing Roger Clemens.
A pitcher as talented as he was charismatic, Martinez won two more Cy Young Awards in Boston, one of the dominant streaks of any pitcher within the last 50 years (and at the peak of the steroid era). He was also a member of the 2004 team that won the Red Sox's first World Series title in 86 years.
The trade, which sent young pitchers Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr. to the Montreal Expos in exchange for the then 26-year-old Martinez, takes its rightful place amongst the very best in team history.
And yet, Martinez was completely shocked when the deal was first announced. The Hall of Fame right-hander, now a studio analyst for MLB Network, offered some vivid comments in regards to the deal and what it ultimately meant for his profession and life.
First of all, as he mentioned before, Martinez originally wanted to hitch Boston’s biggest rival, the Yankees.
“Guess what? When I won the Cy Young Award in late 1997, I was asked where I would most likely go if I had the choice? New York,” Martinez explained. “Oh, if it's not New York, then Baltimore. If it's not Baltimore, I said I would have loved to go to Atlanta, but they don't need me. They had great pitchers.”
“From the National League, I chose San Francisco,” he added.
But Duquette and the Red Sox got there first and signed the extremely talented Martinez right in the beginning of his prime.
“And then all of a sudden I'm walking around and everyone's saying, 'Oh, Pedro got traded to Boston,'” he recalls. “I'm thinking, what? Boston? No Cleveland, no Baltimore. Because I was thinking of a team that would give me a real chance to win.”
Expos manager Felipe Alou knew they couldn't keep him, so he tried to send his young star to a spot that would compete.
“Felipe told me I deserved to be on a team that would give me a chance to win. And Boston had finished last that year, and I was like, oh man,” Martinez said. “All of a sudden I packed my bags and here I am in Boston.”
Martinez's memory isn’t entirely accurate: The Red Sox finished the 1997 season in fourth place with a record of 78-84, two games ahead of the Blue Jays. Yet the team seemed leaderless in its first season after Clemens made the controversial decision to maneuver to Toronto as a free agent.
The signing of Martinez helped to show things around.
“We returned straight back to the postseason [in 1998]”, Martinez recalled with satisfaction.
When his co-host Harold Reynolds told him he could only imagine Martinez within the Hall of Fame as a member of the Red Sox, the longtime Boston star agreed.
“Me neither,” Martinez agreed. “I absolutely loved Boston from the first day I played there to the last. And I still love Boston to this day. I'm so proud and so happy that fate brought me to Boston.”
useful information: Since Pedro Martinez struck out 313 batters on his technique to winning the pitching Triple Crown in 1999 (he led the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts), only three American League pitchers have surpassed the elusive 300-strikeout mark. Can you name them?
(Answer below.)
Note: One did this for the Red Sox, the opposite two for the Astros.
Results and fixtures:
The Celtics are in Dallas to face the Mavericks in Game 4 of the NBA Finals at 8:30 p.m. Boston holds a 3-0 series lead and might secure Banner 18 with a win tonight.
The Red Sox defeated the Phillies 9-3 on Thursday, with Tanner Houck allowing three runs in six innings. Tonight, the Red Sox begin a three-game series at Fenway Park against their old rivals, the Yankees. First pitch is scheduled for six:30 p.m.
Tomorrow the Revolution will play against the Vancouver Whitecaps at 7:30 p.m. at Gillette Stadium.
More from Boston.com:
Tom Brady looks back on his time with the Patriots:
Jaylen Brown's anecdote: The Celtics forward recalled his call from former president of basketball operations Danny Ainge to ask him about Jayson Tatum before the 2017 NBA Draft.
On this present day: In 1998, Michael Jordan scored the legendary winning goal against the Jazz 87-86 within the sixth game of the NBA Finals, securing Chicago's sixth (and final) championship title of the Jordan era.
Daily highlight: Arike Ogunbowale of the Dallas Wings showed incredible reach within the eventual 92-84 loss to the Seattle Storm.
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