Editorials

Pedro Martinez Says He Would Have Developed Eventually In LA

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The 2015 Hall of Fame class comes with some regret on the part of the Los Angeles Dodgers franchise.

One of the four elected was a former Dodger, that was traded for a second baseman that never even made an All-Star team. Pedro Martinez was deemed “too small” by those in the Dodger circle and he was traded before the 1994 season to the Montreal Expos for Delino DeShields. Martinez went on to become one of the most dominating pitchers of his era, and will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this May.



While Martinez has called out the Dodgers for their mistake in the past, he was a bit softer in his stance after his election via Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times:

The right-hander had a 2.58 ERA as a Dodgers, mostly from the bullpen, with a 10-6 record. He would go on to win 209 more games with the Expos, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. Martinez also won a World Series with the Red Sox in 2004, was an eight-time All-Star and a three-time Cy Young award.

Had the Dodgers held on to Martinez and he became what he did, the struggling teams of the 1990s might have found more success with an ace. The Dodgers had a stretch of five years from 1992-1996 of Rookie of the Year winners, but made the postseason in just two of those years, failing to even win a postseason game. There was nearly two former Dodgers that made the cut for the Hall of Fame, but Mike Piazza fell just short. He too was traded and if he does get the votes, won’t go in with a Dodger hat.

It may be a long wait for the Dodgers to have a Hall of Fame member to call their own, but it seems as if they won’t be trading any away any time soon.

Vincent Samperio

Vince is currently the Associate Editor and Social Media Manager for Dodgers Nation. Hailing from San Pedro, CA and a student at Cal State Long Beach, Vince has previously written for the Daily 49er and LASF Magazine.

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