A Tribute To the Most Dominant Boston Athlete I've Ever Seen - Pedro Martinez

I know I’ve written this blog at least 5 times during the course of Barstool Sports, but with Pedro getting the call to the HOF I figured I’d write it one more time. Quite simply Pedro was the most dominant Boston athlete I’ve ever seen. The alpha male of alpha males. You always hear old time baseball writers and columnists reminisce about how this guy was special or that guy was special but words can’t even describe Pedro’s brilliance. Every single time he took the mound at Fenway it was an event. Dominican flags flying everywhere, K signs everywhere. If the Red Sox scored 1 run you literally assumed the game was over. You were disappointed every time the other team got their first base hit because it spoiled his no hitter which seemed like a 50/50 proposition every start. He didn’t just beat teams, he embarrassed them. You were surprised when an opponent made contact nevermind reached base. Whenever you bought Sox tickets you literally tried to figure out the rotation weeks and months in advance to see if it was Pedro’s turn. Regular season baseball is designed to be boring. It never was with Pedro. Every single time he took the mound it was like a 1 game celebration.

From the past 20 years I can probably pick out 10 or 20 games Sox games that stick out in my head. Games that I’ll never forget. It seems like all of them involve Pedro. When he beamed Gerald Ice Williams in the first batter of the game against the Drays and then decided he was gonna throw 1,000 mph the rest of the game and strike everybody out. He basically just got mad.  When he threw a 1 hitter in the Bronx and struck out 17. (best pitching performance I’ve ever seen) When he came out of the bullpen in the middle of a slugfest in Game 5 against Cleveland and no hit them with his arm dangling by a shoe string. I still remember the crowd reaction when those poor Indian fans saw him coming out of the bullpen.  It was like they saw a ghost. When he threw 9 billion miles per hour in the All Star game at Fenway and struck out the side on like 8 pitches. When he tossed Don Zimmer to the ground like a matador. His epic matchups with Roger Clemens both at Fenway and in the Bronx. (I was at Clemens vs. Pedro 1 in the playoffs in which he struck out 12 and gave up 2 hits as the Sox mauled the Yankees. I turned down 3K on the spot for the ticket in the streets. I still think it was the most anticipated game of my lifetime)

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Bottomline you just never knew when you’d be witnessing history with Pedro.  He was the full package. He had personality in spades. He was a headhunter. He was unhittable. He was kind of a baby.  He was a showman. He was everything you want in somebody you pay money to see. If you take every pitcher who ever lived in their prime and said who do you want to win 1 game there is really only 1 answer. Pedro Martinez. He played in the heart of the steroid era and still dominated with ease. He had 4 pitches. They were each the best in baseball. He is the best pitcher who ever lived period and somebody whose  legend will never outgrow the truth.