Bio Born: Pedro Martinez on Oct. 25, 1971, in Manoguayabo, Dominican Republic. He is the fifth of six children of Paulino and Leopoldina. His father was an amateur pitcher. His parents divorced when he was 9. Early Baseball: As a boy, Martinez would use rolled-up socks, fruits, rocks and even his sisters' severed doll heads for balls. "When my sisters came home from school, they'd find them with no head and they would go, 'Mommy, Mommy!' " he told Associated Press in 1998. "I would take anything that was round to play baseball. That's the passion I had." Education: Ohio Dominican College in the Dominican Republic. Baseball Brothers: Older brother Ramon, also a pitcher, was the first of the Martinez boys to make it to the big leagues. Ramon and Pedro played together on the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1992 and 1993; in 1999, the Boston Red Sox reunited the two when they signed Ramon. A younger brother, Jesus, also plays. Martinez still looks up to his older brother. "What I know of baseball, and life off the field, I owe to Ramon." In their only head-to-head, regular season match-up, Ramon's team won, 2-1. Hobbies: Martinez, who owns at least 350 CDs, listens to merengue, salsa, rhythm and blues, jazz, country and soft rock. He also likes going to the beach, dancing and driving to the country in an SUV. Small Size, Humble Personality: In a profession where most pitchers are 6-foot-2 or taller, the wiry, 5-foot-11-inch, 170-pound Martinez is an anomaly. And despite being considered by many the best pitcher in the game, he also doesn't have a big head. "I've been able to stay humble," he told The Washington Post in 1999. "I don't see myself as a big shot. I try to stay simple. I was raised as a poor man. I live a little more comfortably, but I don't show it off." |
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