“Ladies and gentleman, it’s a great honor to be here today and thank you very much.”
That was how Giants pitcher Juan Marichal concluded his 1983 Hall of Fame speech, becoming the first Dominican player to ever be enshrined in Cooperstown. The New York Times described the ceremony as “a rare kind of international fiesta that included speeches in Spanish [and] the singing of the Dominican Republic anthem.”
Unbeknownst to Marichal and the fans who follow the sport, it would take 32 years before someone else from the Caribbean nation would join the Dominican Dandy in the Hall of Fame fiesta.
But on Sunday, Pedro Martinez, three-time Cy Young Award winner best known for stints with the Montreal Expos and Boston Red Sox, will be officially inducted and end that lengthy drought. And while Randy Johnson, Craig Biggio and John Smoltz will also be enshrined, Martinez’s speech will represent a weightier occasion for Dominicans around the United States and on the island.
It will be a moment his countrymen have been waiting to see for a long time. Martinez’s induction represents a hope fulfilled for the country of nearly 10 million, a player that met and then far exceeded expectations on and off the field.
After Marichal’s induction in ‘83 there was an influx of talent coming from the Dominican Republic in the late 80s and early 90s and into the turn of the century. None of these very good players ended ended up being in the same class as Martinez.
Some made it the to the majors and served as role players for a few years while others such as Tony Fernandez, Armando Benitez and Jose Mesa had established careers, but were not really close to serious Hall of Fame consideration.
Then there were the select Dominicans who were also at the upper echelon of Major League Baseball during the late 90s and 2000s – players like Sammy Sosa and Manny Ramirez. They, alongside Martinez, were dominating the game during that time.
Sosa and Martinez became folk heroes in the Dominican Republic and any neighborhood in the US, where there were large Dominican populations.
My parents were born in the Dominican Republic so I personally felt that excitement and pride from Martinez and Sosa’s success as a young baseball fan. That feeling was no more palpable than in the summer of 1999.
That summer, I spent some days at a bodega my dad worked at in Queens. My father’s co-workers were also excited about the rise to prominence for these two players. There was a caricature drawn and posted in the store of Sosa smiling holding a plantain, the fruit very popular in Dominican cuisine. Sosa and Martinez, the prized superstars, had “platano power” many would say.
While my dad worked the cashier I would watch baseball highlights of the previous night’s games during the day and then the actual games at night. Cable was considered a luxury by my parents because they didn’t have the means financially, so I was forever stoked about the bodega’s TV, where I able to witness and appreciate those players’ greatness more often.
From Washington Heights, the Bronx and Jackson Heights in New York City to Lawrence and Jamaica Plain in Massachusetts. The streets were on fire with love and admiration for their baseball superstars.
This was the case when Sosa and the Cubs visited Shea Stadium in July of ‘99. Sosa was greeted warmly and cheered heavily by the Shea crowd to the displeasure of then-manager Bobby Valentine.
“It’s a shame this team doesn’t get any appreciation, even in its own ballpark,” Valentine said. “We’re honoring a visiting player, and Orel (Hershiser) just won his 200th game, and there’s not a thing on the scoreboard all night. Maybe we’ll get it together one of these days. I think this team should be appreciated a little better than that.”
Another example of a visiting player getting an abundance of cheers happened that year when Pedro Martinez struck out 17 batters and allowed one hit over nine innings at Yankee Stadium in September. Dominican flags were waving in a frenzy, ‘K’ cards were flying and a significant portion of the rival ballpark would erupt into cheers after his strikeouts.
It was must-see TV to see Pedro Martinez at his peak regardless of race or ethnicity, but for Dominicans it was a deeper celebration. In an interview with Grantland, Martinez said Boston fans dubbed his starts “the Pedro event”. With the combination of his high-90s fastball, a nasty curve and his patented circle-change, Martinez at his peak was as close to unhittable as it gets.
That 1999 season was a memorable year for Martinez, Sosa and Ramirez. Pedro had his best season ever, going a whopping 23-4 with a 2.07 ERA and 313 strikeouts to win the pitcher’s Triple Crown. Sosa batted .288 on the season and finished with 63 home runs and 141 RBIs, his second of three seasons with 60-plus home runs. Ramirez had his best season ever for the Indians, batting .333 with 44 home runs and 165 RBIs.
Despite their phenomenal campaigns, dark clouds were on the horizon.
Sosa’s history of him being perceived as a cheater began after he was caught with a corked bat in 2003.
In his self-titled autobiography, Martinez recalls his reaction to how the media was treating Sosa during that time.
“Sammy and I had never been that close, but I jumped to his defense for a couple of reasons: A good portion of the media ran Sammy’s comments in his poor English, so that he sounded illiterate. Then there was the ferocity of the media’s attacks on Sammy.”
Martinez wanted to let the media know how he felt about their coverage of Sosa and his perception of racial biases.
“I got on a chair in the middle of the clubhouse in Pittsburgh and got pretty graphic, bending over, letting the national media know that they were going to have to bend over and take it from us Dominicans, because we were going to continue to grow and dominate baseball.”
And despite trying to defend the Cubs outfielder at the time, Sammy Sosa was later linked to performance enhancing drugs use and actually tested positive for a PEDs in 2003.
“It looks like I was wrong about Sammy not being a cheater” Martinez said.
Ramirez was the next Dominican baseball prodigy whose Hall of Fame career crashed after he was suspended for positive PED tests not once, but twice.
Martinez spoke earlier in July about the impact Ramirez’s suspensions had not only on his career, but the country. “It’s unfortunate for the Dominican Republic, it’s unfortunate for his career and actually for himself,” he said.
And with Ramirez and Sosa effectively out of the Hall of Fame discussion, that only left Pedro. The pitcher, who at 5ft 11in, 170lb, was not the most intimidating presence, but with electric personality was a larger-than-life figure. The pitcher who dominated hitters who were half a foot taller and 50lb heavier.
He was able to carry the weight of expectations of an entire baseball-hungry country. The flame-throwing righty from Manoguayabo has made up for past disappointments of Dominican players who did not make it to the Hall of Fame for one reason or another.
Martinez will likely lead the charge of Dominicans in the next 15 years or so who should make their way to Cooperstown after him including Vladimir Guerrero, David Ortiz and Albert Pujols among others. There is no more worthy standard-bearer to take that lead.
The Dominican Republic had an impressive parade for Martinez after he was elected Hall of Fame and Dominicans throughout the world will likely continue that party on the day of his induction on Sunday. After all, when he’s in the spotlight, it’s a celebration, it’s a “Pedro event”.
