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Pedro is perfect again in Cy voting

The Red Sox right-hander wins unanimously for second year in a row.

By JOHN ROMANO

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 14, 2000

During the regular season, hitters do not stand a chance against Pedro Martinez. Neither do pitchers in the off-season.

The Red Sox ace won the AL Cy Young Award Monday by a landslide, the first pitcher in league history to win back-to-back awards by a unanimous vote.

As in 1999, Martinez was named first on all 28 ballots turned in by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Oakland's Tim Hudson placed second and Toronto's David Wells was third.

With his 1997 Cy Young in Montreal, Martinez has won three awards in four years, making him one of the most dominant pitchers of this, or any, era.

"I don't know about my place in history. I don't pay attention to that," Martinez said in a conference call. "I'm just one more pitcher, like Roger (Clemens) or David Cone, Andy Pettitte, David Wells or any other pitcher."

The numbers tell another story. The past two seasons arguably have been two of the greatest in memory. Martinez's 1.74 ERA last year was better than the AL average by 3.17 runs. That is the largest difference in major-league history. It broke the record of 2.79 Martinez set in 1999.

Although his performance in 2000 was as impressive as '99, it did not cause as much of a stir. His record dipped from 23-4 to 18-6, mostly because of a lack of run support. Martinez, 29, also is beginning to battle expectations created by his own success.

"This was equally as good a season, maybe better," Martinez said. "I've seen the (drop) in wins but there are other things that contributed to the wins from last year. I haven't compared the numbers. You guys should know. You have your numbers in your little machines."

In virtually every measure other than victories, Martinez was clearly baseball's top pitcher in 2000. He led the majors in ERA for the third time in four years and led the AL in strikeouts for the second year in a row. He held opposing hitters to a .167 average.

Tampa Bay fans got a look at Martinez's prowess at Tropicana Field on Aug. 29 when he took a no-hitter into the ninth before John Flaherty led off with a single. The outing was Martinez at his best. The Rays complained it was also Martinez at his worst.

Since his early days in Montreal, Martinez has been known as a pitcher unafraid to throw inside. He began that Rays game by hitting Gerald Williams with a pitch, setting off a brawl. The Rays would spend the rest of the night trying to retaliate and ended up with eight ejections.

"I just had my good stuff working that day. It was a good day at the office," Martinez said. "It was something I had never experienced, going through that first inning. To come back and pitch that way was special. I think 90 percent of the pitchers would throw in the towel and give it up."

When Martinez won his first award in 1998, he presented the award to fellow Dominican Juan Marichal, a Hall of Famer who never won the Cy Young. Last year, Martinez said he would keep the award himself. This time, he said he was keeping the plaque, but dedicating it to the fans of Boston.

He flew to Boston to be on hand for the announcement Monday. He had remained in the Dominican the previous two times.

"This one belongs to a lot of people. To the fans in Boston and all over the world who supported me," Martinez said. "I would like to give this one to God, but I don't know how to do that. I wish I could give it to Him."

For winning the Cy Young, Martinez gets a $500,000 bonus on top of his $11-million salary.

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