My turn to praise
the great Pedro
Pedro for president? He's certainly more
interesting than Al Gore, and he once quoted A League of Their Own
by saying, "There's no crying in baseball," after the Tampa Bay Devil
Rays batters were whining about his perceived headhunting.
Don't mess with Texas? To heck with that, Pedro can light 'em up with
a two-hit shutout.
Unfortunately, it does turn out that the point is moot, as Martinez
was born in the Dominican Republic and is therefore ineligible for
the presidency.
But Pedro Martinez is eligible for a vastly more important achievement
— American League MVP.
Yet, the deck is rather stacked against him for this honor too. This
is because Martinez is, after all, just a pitcher. He's only on the
field once every five days. Here's a guy who can't be most valuable
when he isn't even playing about 80 percent of the time. Blah, blah,
blah.
Additionally, Martinez's team, the Boston Red Sox, aren't playing
in October. For an award that usually goes to the guy with the most
RBIs on a playoff team, this factor really stings.
Still, such arguments against the little assassin are so illogical
that they are almost worthy of your typical Chicago Cubbune columnist.
Pedro isn't just any pitcher. He is so dominating that his 1.74 ERA
is twice as low as the next best pitcher, Roger Clemens (3.70).
Martinez led the league this year in strikeouts, with 284 in 217 innings
pitched (with just 32 walks). The next closest pitcher in the American
League was Bartolo Colon (212 Ks). Pedro also led the league with
four shutouts, twice as many as Aaron Sele and Tim Hudson.
No offensive, everyday players have statistics that put themselves
so far ahead of the competition.
American League MVP candidates Jason Giambi, Frank Thomas, Carlos
Delgado and Alex Rodriguez are not that much different in terms of
offensive production. Their skills as players are pretty much interchangeable.
Pedro Martinez, on the other hand, totally stands out on his own.
The Boston Red Sox would be under .500 with any other pitcher, including
either Clemens or Hudson.
Martinez is so great that he can absolutely toy with hitters. During
one game, he came back and struck out former White Sox shortstop Mike
Caruso on a steady diet of changeups after getting the rest of the
team out on his 97-mph heater.
Martinez has dominated, despite pitching during the greatest offensive
era in baseball history, a time when scores are more inflated than
Sammy Sosa's waistline, the wad of tobacco in James Baldwin's cheek
and Mark McGwire's GNC bill.
Martinez even overcomes pitching at Fenway, generally regarded as
a hitter's ballpark that helps batters with its quirky dimensions.
Martinez is one of the few pitchers who can affect a game in which
he doesn't participate.
Because he is so good, the Red Sox have the luxury of scheduling in
an off-day for the bullpen every fifth game. This allows relievers
to pitch more innings in other games without fear of being overworked.
Martinez recognizes this value, telling his coaches during a start
in which he struggled that he would continue to pitch because "I will
rest the bullpen."
The lamest reason for shunning Martinez MVP honors is that he is somehow
less deserving because his team did not make the playoffs.
First of all, this has absolutely nothing to do with Martinez, but
more with the fact that the Red Sox offense couldn't even find homeplate
with a road map and use of the global positioning system.
It's also ridiculous that "most valuable" must coincide with "played
in the post-season." Ernie Banks won back-to-back MVPs in '58 and
'59, even though the Cubs never even finished in the top half of the
league during those years.
This is true — you can even ask Bob Costas.
Did Pedro Martinez have a great year? Certainly.
Was he the best player? Yes.
Will he win the AL MVP? Well, I will say this — he has about as good
a chance of winning the award as George W. Bush does of being able
to walk and chew gum at the same time.
Zero.
Andy Trenkle is a junior in LAS. He can be reached at sports@dailyillini.com.
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