Pedro or Papi? The True Icon of Boston Baseball
October 6, 2006
During the last 10 years, many very special players have called Fenway Park home. They have come and gone, but the impact that they have had on the city’s sports scene is indelible.
The legacies left by two of Boston’s favorite sons, Pedro Martínez and David Ortiz, will live on in sports lore forever, and are a subject for one of the great barstool debates in Red Sox Nation: which player will be remembered as the defining Boston Red Sox player of the last 10 years?
Pedro Martínez was a special breed. He possessed an arsenal that made him the most feared pitcher in baseball for a stretch of a few years.
Consider his numbers for his years in Boston (1998-2004). Martínez went 117-37, meaning he won more than three-fourths of his decisions, with seven shutouts, 21 complete games, and an earned run average of under 2.50. He was the ERA king in four of those years, coming in second once.
He led the league in strikeouts three times (and came in second three times). He won two Cy Youngs, and finished in the top four in voting for all of his years in Boston, excluding his injury-shortened 2001 season.
Taking into account the fact that his home stadium was hitter-friendly Fenway Park, and that he played in a league with a designated-hitter during The Steroid Era, the Pedro Martínez era might have been the most dominating era for a pitcher in baseball history.
Numbers aside, Martínez’s impact in Boston has been very substantial. Since his arrival in Beantown in 1998, where he was the main attraction on the pitching staff and perhaps the team, numerous free agents have joined the team, swayed perhaps by Martínez’s brilliance on the mound.
Among the players that joined the Red Sox after Pedro’s arrival include: Hideo Nomo, David Cone, Rickey Henderson and playoff heroes Bill Mueller, Manny Ramirez, Mike Timlin, Keith Foulke, Johnny Damon and David Ortiz.
Some of those additions worked out; some didn’t (see: Offerman, José), but the fact is that while Boston was always an attractive free agent destination, Pedro made it that much more appealing.
Whenever someone has a chance to play behind one of the greatest arms of all time, free agents will tend to seize that opportunity.
When it comes to statistical brilliance, few can touch Pedro. He is two strikeouts away from the hallowed number of 3,000, a figure that only 13 other players have reached, and is the only major league pitcher with 1,000 innings pitched and a .700 winning percentage.
When he reaches his 3,000th strikeout, he will most likely become only the fourth player to retire with 3,000 strikeouts, over 200 wins (206 and counting), and an ERA under three (his is currently 2.75). The others are widely recognized as among the best pitchers of all time: Tom Seaver, Walter Johnson and Bob Gibson.
While Martínez’s pedigree and achievements are certainly eye-popping, Red Sox fans have a very difficult debate ahead of them when they are asked to consider the defining franchise player of their generation, given the achievements and heroics of David Ortiz.
By the numbers, David Ortiz does not stand alone in the baseball record books, but his postseason and late-game heroics have earned him a permanent place in baseball lore.
His 2004 postseason reads like legend. He hit a walk-off home run in Game Three of the ALDS against the Angels that clinched the series.
In the ALCS, he single-handedly kept the season alive by winning not one but two consecutive games, becoming the first player ever to win three postseason games.
As the Red Sox completed The Greatest Comeback in Sports History, and swept their way to the coveted World Series trophy, Ortiz joined the likes of Bird, Orr and Russell in Boston lore.
His clutch numbers are so remarkable, they seem superhuman. In 2005, 20 of his 47 home runs either tied the game, or gave the Red Sox the lead. In Late-Inning Pressure Situations, Ortiz has hit 21 home runs in 138 at bats from August 1, 2004 to August 1st of 2006. No other player has more than 13.
Since the start of 2005, he has come to the plate thirteen times with the chance to end the game, and he has made an out once (and he won that game in the 12th inning anyway).
Now for the big question: who is the defining player of our generation?
As Ortiz’s excellence has become more and more routine, one must closely consider the debate between him and Martínez.
Like Ortiz, Martínez’s brilliance was consistently sustained over a few years. However, Martínez was widely considered the best pitcher in the game. Ortiz, while a fantastic hitter, may not even be the best on his team.
He, judged by the conventional hitting standards, does not stand out. He is not the best hitter in baseball, whereas Martínez was the most feared pitcher in the game for a few years running, and is on the short list for the best pitchers of all time.
In addition, David Ortiz also has had the indomitable Manny Ramirez in the same lineup, a big plus for any slugger. Having Manny around means that Ortiz won’t get walked every time he gets to the dish.
For pitchers, there are no stabilizing factors, like what Ortiz enjoys with Manny; they are all alone on the mound.
For a period of at least four years, whenever Martínez toed the rubber, there was the distinct possibility of him doing something that had never been done before. Nothing was beyond his grasp.
21 strikeouts? A no-hitter? A perfect game? With Martínez, the impossible was possible. He had the ability to turn a May game against the Devil Rays into an event.
A reputation as a clutch hitter, as Ortiz owns, is entirely dependant on circumstance, and while thriving in that circumstance, Ortiz does not have such a regular chance to show his excellence.
Through no fault of his own, the opportunity for him to remind the American public that he is the best clutch hitter of all time comes up very irregularly.
A common knock on Martínez is that he was not as big of a factor in the defining moment of the franchise’s recent history: the 2004 playoffs.
In those playoffs, he went 2-1, and his only loss was a result of Jon Lieber pitching the game of his life, simply a fluke. His contribution in 2004 was nothing like his 1999 performance, but he was hardly a non-factor.
Another thing that left fans with a bitter taste in their mouths was Martínez’s departure.
Although he didn’t leave on the best terms, he, through his actions and words has shown an immense amount of gratitude towards the organization and the fans. The way he left Boston, though, is immaterial when considering his status as a Red Sox icon.
Perhaps Ortiz’s contributions to the franchise in the 2004 playoffs are much more significant than a similar stretch in Martínez’s career. But it is the sustained brilliance and dominance of Martínez that resonates in my mind.
Red Sox Nation will never forget Ortiz’s heroics in the 2004 playoffs and in subsequent regular season games, but they should similarly remember Martínez’s gutsy performances throughout his career (especially the 1999 American League Division Series Game Five against the Cleveland Indians).
As far as overall dominance and legacy, I think Martínez has the edge over David Ortiz.
One could make a very strong case for Martínez as the best pitcher of all time, whereas one could hardly say that about David Ortiz as a hitter.
His performance as a clutch hitter is unparalleled, but the opportunity to show his best comes up every few games.
Martínez, at his peak, was able to wow the world every start, and usually did.
While Ortiz’s heroics and late game exploits will forever be etched in the minds of Red Sox fans, the Pedro Martínez era should be remembered fondly as a time when the whole world had a chance to see one of the best ever at his height.