Pedro Martinez Was a Joy to Watch

Arrogance is one of the tools used by great starting pitchers. Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens had it. Greg Maddux had it. Cliff Lee is right there on the arrogance meter. Bob Gibson had it. Pedro Martinez certainly did as well. Arrogance here is defined by knowing that the pitcher held all the advantage in his match up with a batter. To use an old cliche, it is the gunslinger's mentality that he'll always be quicker on the draw then his opponent. To put it another way, great pitchers have supreme confidence.

The Fan and his wife got married in June of 2000 and thankfully, she was more than happy to allow this Fan to watch baseball on television. Pedro was pitching for the Red Sox in those early years during perhaps the highest drama of the Red Sox - Yankees rivalry. She is much less analytical in her approach to watching a game. There were only heroes and those other guys. When Pedro was pitching, she hated his guts because of his demeanor on the mound. To be sure, she wasn't alone. But to this day, she still remembers a game when Pedro wasn't pitching and his teammates had tied him to a pole in the dugout and she laughed hysterically at his big smile and sense of fun in that moment. She couldn't quite understand the dichotomy of those two settings.

But that was Pedro. When he was on the mound, he was all about making you look as silly as possible. He didn't just get the batter out. He demoralized and sapped the humanity right out of his victims.

It's a real shame that we only have our wonderful tools of valuing pitches with all the Pitch/FX data we now have but the data only goes back to 2007. That means that we only have three years of data for Pedro Martinez when he had obviously lost his velocity. But even what we have for those three years, after Pedro was no longer the dominant force he had been from 1997 to 2002, the numbers give us a glimpse of the kind of pitcher Pedro was in his prime.

The great Tao of Steib, a Blue Jays writer (@TaoofSteib) mentioned on Twitter this morning that the thing he remembered was the movement on Pedro's pitches. It was a spot on comment. From what little data we have from 2007 to 2009, Pedro's pitches still danced a lot. This Pedro was a shadow of what he once was, and still his change up had 8.9 inches of negative horizontal movement. This writer looked at the two best change ups of 2011 and they were thrown by Cole Hamels and Felix Hernandez, two pitchers in the prime of their careers. And while the change up is a devastating pitch because of its deception, the other factor is movement. Felix Hernandez got the same 8.9 inches (in his prime) as Pedro did as a broken down pitcher. Hamels has less movement. Can you imagine what Pedro could do when he was at the peak of his career?

And what a peak it was. Pedro was certainly very good as a youngster for the Montreal Expos from 1993 to 1996. But starting in 1997, Pedro Martinez found his highest art and dominated the sport until 2002. Pedro was still very good from 2003 to 2006, but those years were somewhat less than his peak. This Fan made the comment on Twitter last night that in fifty years of watching baseball, Pedro Martinez between 1997 and 2002 was the best pitcher this Fan had ever seen. The comment was immediately challenged. Others were just as good, they said. In fact, Randy Johnson had a higher WAR during that time period. Others chimed in for Greg Maddux and Bob Gibson. There is no one who will argue that those are all Hall of Fame pitchers who were devastating in their prime. Roger Clemens was offered. But this Fan would still go with Pedro.

The first year of Pedro's peak (1997), he pitched for the Montreal Expos. But the rest of those years were against the American League with the DH in the peak of offensive seasons in Major League Baseball. From 1998 to 2000, the American League teams averaged more than five runs a game, the first time that had happened since the 1930s. It was an era of unprecedented offense. And yet, Pedro Martinez made it look easy during that time. Pedro was so good in 1999 and 2000 that he should have won two MVP Awards to go along with his Cy Young Awards. His ERA in those two seasons of 2.07 and 1.74 were so good in relation to the runs scored in the league that his ERA+ was 243 and 291.

Pedro stopped walking people in 1999. His strikeout to walk ratio in 1999 and 2000 were 8.46 and 8.88! And those numbers back up what these eyes saw. For one season (1986), Roger Clemens could hit the glove on every pitch. The thing that was so amazing about his twenty-strikeout performance that year (this Fan watched that game) is that every pitch hit the target the catcher put up. That was the single greatest game of pitching this Fan has ever seen. And Clemens was that way the whole season. But that was one season. Pedro did that for years. He always seemed to hit the catcher's mitt just where it was set. To do that with the amount of movement he had on his pitches was amazing.

And in those years, he was throwing his fastball upwards of 95 to 98 MPH. You take that kind of velocity along with pinpoint control and you have a pitcher who is nearly impossible to beat. Maddux had the movement and the control, but not the velocity. Randy Johnson had movement and velocity, but not the command. Bob Gibson had maybe the best year in modern history in 1968, but that was the only season he scored over 200 in ERA+. Pedro did it five times.

Other Yankee fans want to deconstruct the greatness of Pedro Martinez. They say things like he only averaged 15 wins a season over his eighteen year career. Nonsense. For this observer, Pedro was the best. He was on the wrong team, but he was a true joy to watch. He was the Vincent Van Gogh of pitchers. He is a first ballot Hall of Fame pitcher.

Thanks for the memories, Pedro.

Neftali Feliz and Pedro Martinez

Baseball analysts and writers have been split on the Texas Rangers' decision to leave Neftali Feliz in the bullpen this year. Some felt that the Rangers took the safe route instead of working outside the box. Others felt that the Rangers had no other options for closer and that Feliz would be more important to the team as its closer. This writer is in the former camp and the injury to Tommy Hunter only points out how valuable starting pitching is these days. But what's done is done and it's all a moot point because Feliz is going to be the closer this year. But here is an option for the Rangers and it's an option that remembers another great pitcher from the Dominican Republic--a guy named Pedro Martinez.

Martinez got his start with the Los Angeles Dodgers and his first full year was 1993. He was 21 years old, which puts him two years ahead of Feliz who is 23. In 1993, Pedro pitched exclusively in relief for the Dodgers and got into 65 games. But he pitched 107 innings. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, the Dodgers traded Pedro Martinez to the Montreal Expos (for Delino DeShields) after that season. The Expos immediately made him a starter, but 1994 was the strike season and as such, Martinez only pitched 144 innings. Though the strike was unfortunate, especially since the Expos might have won it all that year, it did allow Martinez to gradually up his innings instead of making the big jump from 107 innings to 33 full time starts. How does this all relate to Neftali Feliz?

The suggestion here is to increase as much as you can the number of innings Feliz throws in relief this year. Last year, Feliz got into 70 games, but he only pitched a total of 69 and a third innings. Increase his workload to include more two inning outings, especially after a couple of off days and before any point in the schedule where the team is off the next day (like Sundays or Wednesdays). If by doing this, you can stretch Feliz up near 100 innings, then he is set up to move up to 150 or so the following season as a starter. Following that blueprint, you can follow the career path of Pedro Martinez.

Granted, guys like Pedro Martinez don't come along every day. His competitive nature, his smarts as a pitcher and his repertoire made him the best pitcher of his era. Feliz may not have all of those things, but he sure has the stuff to be great.

The additional benefit to stretching out Feliz in his outings is to take some of the strain off a struggling bullpen. First, it must be said that the bullpen struggles this spring could be solely due to pitching in Arizona which is a hitter's paradise. Have you seen the scores of the games this spring? Holy cow, how many games with ten runs or more can you have? But still, no matter how much the bullpen improves during the regular season, Feliz is your best guy. The Rangers can't do any better with anyone else pitching the eighth and ninth than Feliz.

So that's the plan submitted by this albeit non-expert. Make the most of the decision to put Feliz back in the bullpen by stretching out his innings as much as you can while monitoring the pitcher's health at all times. Increase his workload so that you get even more value and benefit from the decision that has been made. And then next year, get him into the rotation where he belongs. Pedro was just a slight guy at five feet, eleven inches. Feliz is a lot bigger and stronger. Get him where he needs to go this year and maybe you can (in the future) have your next Pedro Martinez.

Curt Schilling And Other Thoughts: 250K 50 walks

Ever since speculation about the Hall of Fame vote started in December, Curt Schilling has been rolling around this roundish, long-haired head. Of course Schilling wasn't on the ballot this year, but his name came up a lot in posts concerning future ballots. Schilling has been in the craw since then and it probably has to do with not liking the guy. And that probably isn't fair either. The Fan doesn't even know Curt Schilling. But feelings are what feelings are. And as such, some day in the next couple of years, the Fan will have to write a post that says Curt Schilling belongs in the Hall of Fame. Ugh. It rotted to have to type that. But it's true. Schilling should get lots of support.

Yeah, Schilling only won 216 games. Even Jack Morris has him there. But Schilling took a while to get going. And once he did, he was a powerhouse. He finished with over 3100 strikeouts. He had 83 complete games and 20 shutouts and threw in 22 saves for good measure. He averaged 8.6 K/9 for his career! And as impressive as that is, he allowed only 2.0 walks per nine innings for a career strikeout to walk ratio of 4.38. Man, that's impressive. His winning percentage of .597 is impressive too. And in case anyone forgets, Schilling went 11-2 in the post season with a 2.23 ERA. Along the way he helped Arizona and Boston win franchise changing World Series titles. But there is one stat the Fan absolutely loves.

Since 1901, only six pitchers have struck out more than 250 batters in a season and yet finished that season with less than 40 walks. Only two guys did it twice: Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling. We're going to talk about this stat a little more in a different context in just a minute. But for now, let's rest on the amazingness of it. Both Pedro and Schilling pulled this feat in back to back seasons. One time they were both over 300 strikeouts and still did it. The second time, they were both over 290 strikeouts. People think what Cliff Lee did in 2010 was pretty amazing. Well, it was amazing, but it was no where near as close to what Pedro and Schilling did in those four seasons between them. Just to close the loop on the thought, the list of six pitchers are: Schilling (2), Pedro (2), Ben Sheets (really? Yup), Ferguson Jenkins. That's it.

While searching for the statistic, the Fan started with a criteria of 250 strikeouts in a season with 50 walks or less. There were nine guys that did that including the list of six above. The other three were Randy Johnson, Christy Mathewson and Kevin Brown. The only two over 300 strikeouts were Pedro and Curt Schilling.

But that list brings up another thought. Between 1901 and 1971, only two pitchers had ever struck out more than 250 and walked less than 50. From 1998 to 2004, it was done seven times--once in 1998 (Brown), once in 1999 (Pedro), once in 2000 (Pedro), once in 2001 (Schilling), once in 2002 (Schilling) and twice in 2004 (Johnson and Sheets). Why would something happen seven times in six years that had only been done twice in the 97 years prior to 1998?

Uh oh. The Fan is going to say it. Was this a smoking gun of the pitching end of the era's equation? The Fan doesn't know. A fluke? Just a confluence of some of the nastiest and stingiest pitchers that ever lived? Don't know. It's simply weird that this feat happened so many times in so short a period of time when it had been done only twice before in pitching history (And Mathewson had to pitch 390 innings to get there). There. The Fan has given the saber folks something to work on for a pet project.

Whatever the reason, it's still an amazing statistic and it just adds to the Schilling case for the Hall of Fame. You'll never know how hard that is to type.

Comebacks to Root For

Every baseball season is a clean slate full of unwritten stories waiting to unfold. We've all been fascinated by the off season market as teams jostle for position to compete in the unwritten season. Some teams have made moves that already have pundits placing them in the 2011 World Series. But even with all kinds of new talent in place, a lot has to go right for these few blessed teams. One small story among all the other off season stories caught the Fan's interest. The story stated that the Yankees signed Mark Prior to a minor league contract. As soon as the eyes read the name, an emotion was palpable: "Golly, I hope he can make it back to the majors." That sentiment led to thought on others that are out there we could root for to make it all the way back to the majors. Here are a few the Fan could come up with:

Mark Prior - The name alone speaks of unfinished work. He was like Stephen Crane, who died at the age of 26 and a genius was lost. Mark Prior was a pitching genius. Through his one big season and the sputtering of other partial seasons, Prior still ended up with a lifetime mark of over ten strikeouts per nine innings as a starter. By the time he last pitched in the majors (2006), he went 1-6 and still finished with a lifetime mark of 42-29. Prior pitched an inning in Triple A in 2010, the first inning of any kind in organized professional baseball in four years. It was a scoreless inning and he struck out two batters. Is the talent still there? Can he ever make it all the way back? The Yankees must think so because they signed him to a minor league deal. He's only 30 years old. Wouldn't that be awesome?

Brandon Webb - In the four years between 2005 and 2008, Brandon Webb won 70 games and lost only 37. During that span, he won a Cy Young Award and came in second twice. 2008 ended a five year run of never missing a start. He led the league in starts in two of those years, innings pitched once, batters faced once. He had a two year run where he was over 150 in ERA+ and in 2008, it was 141. And just as suddenly as could be, it was over. He pitched six innings in 2009 and none in 2010. Now he's ready to return and news outlets are reporting that he is near to picking a team to play for. Several are interested. Let's hope he can find the right home and resume was was turning out to be a beautiful career.

Jake Peavy - Last the Fan heard, Peavy will not pitch until at least June. Let's hope that is optimistic. Peavy won 19 games in 2007 and won the Cy Young Award. He was again very good in 2008 but his record did not reflect his excellence. He was traded to the White Sox in 2009 for the stretch run and went 3-0 before again coming up injured. He pitched 17 games in 2010, but we hardly noticed. He showed an excellent K/BB ratio despite mixed results and then he was shut down for the season. He makes a lot of money, so he's all set there. But we'd love to see him come all the way back to the front line pitcher he once was.

Dontrelle Willis - This, besides Mark Prior, is probably the most pie-in-the-sky wish of them all. The trevails of Dontrelle Willis are well known and don't need to be repeated here. He has signed with the Cincinnati Reds and maybe the National League and some miracle can happen and we can all see Willis smile that wonderful smile again.

Pedro Martinez - Talk about your long shots. Pedro pitched for the Phillies down the stretch in 2009 and was destroyed by the Yankees in the World Series. He hasn't pitched since except for the WBC last year. We'd love to see him come back and twirl those whiffle ball sliders just a few more times.

Magglio Ordonez - Had to get a non-pitcher in here. Mags was having a great season last season when he was lost for the remainder of the season with a major injury. The Tigers have signed him to a $10 million deal, so you would think they expect to play him regularly for that kind of money. It would be nice to see him pick up where he left off. He is 36 and if he can have another productive three years, he becomes a marginal Hall of Fame candidate. Great career numbers we'd love to see added upon.

Chris Capuano - He was really a great comeback story last year. But he's a free agent now and it would be great to see him continue his comeback and get a full year in with someone. Excellent peripherals in his 60+ innings last year.

Manny Ramirez - Can the Fan write a piece like this without including Manny? A large percentage of baseball fandom would be happy if Manny went away like Barry Bonds, but this Fan would love to see one more big season from the goon.

***UPDATE***  Just thought of another one: Chien-Ming Wang

The Twenty Best Seasons of the Past Ten Years

It's funny how us humans view time. Since it is 2009 and we are twelve days from the calendar turning to 2010, many writers across the land are creating lists covering the past decade. You'll see the Top 100 Plays, the Top 100 Athletes, the Top 100 Movies, etc, etc. We seem to be a decadal people who think in terms of tens. You won't see a list of the Top 100 Plays in 2013, for example. But you will again in 2019. Strange. But, as a writer, you go with the flow. So, in honor of the weird human race that goes for such lists at the end of each decade, here are Major League Baseball's twenty best individual seasons for the decade of 2000-2009.

Batting:

1. Barry Bonds - 2001: Obviously, Bonds is going to be on this list at least five times. It's still a sad fact that Bonds entered the decade with eight straight seasons with an OPS over 1.000 and still felt he needed to do what he did. If he had just stayed the course of his already magnificent career, he wouldn't be the pariah he is now. Between 2000 and 2004, Bonds put together five of the greatest seasons in the history of baseball. Color them how you will. Deflate them how you want. But the numbers speak for themselves. The real tragedy of the entire run? That National League managers were allowed to walk Bonds intentionally 284 times in those five seasons. That act of cowardice is almost as big a blight on the game of baseball as what Bonds allegedly did to get the numbers he put together. Of the five season run, 2001 was the record breaking home run year. His OPS and OPS+ were higher other years, but 2001 was the year he was allowed to do the most damage, and damage he did.

2. Barry Bonds - 2004: He led the league in batting at .362. His OBP was over .600 (Egads!) and his slugging percentage was over .800. The numbers are unbelievable.

3. Barry Bonds - 2002: Led the league in batting at .370. His 268 OPS+ was the highest of his career.

4. Barry Bonds - 2003: Limited to only 130 games with injuries, Bonds still finished with an OPS+ of 231.

5. Albert Pujols - 2008: We interrupt this Barry Bonds run to give you the other great player of the decade. Pujols was unbelievable the entire time, but 2008 was the best when he finished with a 190 OPS+ as he went an incredible: .357/.462/.653. It might be the best untainted season since Ted Williams.

6. Barry Bonds - 2000: The first year of the great run started with 49 homers. Was it his last clean year or his first dirty one?

7. Albert Pujols - 2009: As good a year as Bonds in 2000.

8. Albert Pujols - 2003: Pujols had 212 hits (before he started getting walked a lot), hit over .350.

9. Travis Hafner - 2006: Many today forget what an offensive force Hafner was in the middle of the decade. He is an afterthought now, but in 2006, his numbers were huge: .308/.439/.659 all adding up to a 181 OPS+. Remarkable season.

10. Alex Rodriguez - 2007: A-Rod was sick for the Yankees that year. He hit 54 homers, drove in 156 while scoring 143. He hit .314 and had an unbelievable .645 slugging percentage.


Pitching

1. Pedro Martinez - 2000: Looking back at Pedro's best season, it seems impossible that he lost six games. The numbers are eye-popping. His strikeout to walk ratio was 8.88/1. His WHIP was .737. He walked 32 batters in 29 starts. In an offensive era, it might be the best pitching performance ever.

2. Roger Clemens - 2005: Pitching in Houston, Clemens had a season that is totally incongruous with his Win/Loss record. He finished at 13-8 but led the majors in ERA and ERA+. How good was Clemens that year? He gave up only 151 hits in 211 innings and gave up only 11 homers the entire season.

3. Pedro Martinez - 2003: He was much better than his 14-4 record. He led the league in ERA, strikeouts per nine innings, WHIP and Hits per Nine Innings. His most unbelievable stat that season? He gave up only seven homers the entire season.

4. Zack Greinke - 2009: If ever a pitcher deserved a Cy Young, it was Greinke in 2009. He led the league in ERA, WHIP and Home Runs per Nine Innings. It was a phenomenal season.

5. Pedro Martinez - 2002: Yeah, it's hard to argue with a record of 20-4. He led the league in WHIP, Strikeouts, Hits per Nine innings and Strikeout to Walk Ratio. He also had the league's best ERA that season. Naturally.

6. Randy Johnson - 2002: Johnson was amazing in 2002. his 24-5 record is only the starting point. He pitched more innings, struck out more batters and faced more batters than anyone else in the decade that season. His run from 1999 to 2002 rivals only Pedro as one of the greatest pitching runs in history.

7. Randy Johnson - 2001: The Diamondbacks owe a large part of their World Championship on Johnson's shoulders. Only Nolan Ryan struck out more batters than Johnson's 374 that season. He also led the league that season in ERA and WHIP.

8. Johan Santana - 2004: In his only twenty win season, Santana led the league in ERA, Strikeouts and WHIP.

9. Chris Carpenter - 2009: After not pitching for two years due to injury, Carpenter came back and put together an incredible season. He went 17-4 and gave up only seven homers all season. He also led the league in ERA and ERA+. He should have won the Cy Young award.

10. Randy Johnson - 2000: Johnson struck out 347 batters while compiling a 19-7 record. He pitched eight complete games and led the league in ERA+.

Pedro Out Duels Lincecum

Just a quick note here. Wasn't it cool to see Pedro Martinez throw such a good game? Granted, the Giants can't hit worth a lick, but still, even bad hitting teams will hit against a weak pitcher. Pedro worked seven innings. Seven! And struck out nine. What a cool story!

Some Quick Observations

Many of these items have stories in them that perhaps can be expanded later. But for the moment, there are too many thoughts swirling around for any of them to gel completely. They are, nonetheless, interesting and worth noting for your digestion.

Pedro pitched decently and got the win. It was amazing to see Pedro Martinez back in the majors and in a game. He gave up three runs in five innings (not much better than Moyer) while allowing eight base runners. He did strike out five while only walking one, so that is a good sign.

The Brewers are a mess. They looked like contenders early in the year but have fallen on really hard times. Yesterday, they cut Bill Hall (not a problem there) and optioned J. J. Hardy to the minors. Hardy still has some pop and it doesn't seem to make sense to dump him like that. If they were trying to send a message, the Hall thing would have been enough. If they are giving up on Hardy, a lot of teams would love to have him. The Brewers also fired long-time pitching coach, Bill Castro, as if it was his fault they lost half of their rotation and the others didn't perform. What a mess.

The Astros activated Lance Berkman and they will be happy to have their big bopper back at first. Doesn't this scenario seem familiar? It seems like every year, Berkman shambles along, then goes on the DL for a while and then comes back and has monster Augusts and Septembers. At least it feels like we have been through this before.

And last but not least, believe it or not, Adam Eaton is back in the major leagues again. Can you believe it! The Rockies are his latest team and they just promoted him from AAA. Man. Go figure.