So Pedro Martinez won his 200th game. Who is the greatest Dominican pitcher in MLB history?
| Bartolo Colon |  3 (2.19%) |
| Juan Marichal | 26 (18.98%) |
| Pedro Martinez | 104 (75.91%) |
| Jose Mesa | 2 (1.46%) |
| Other (please specify) | 2 (1.46%) |
Jose Mesa? Yes, 300+ career saves at least gets you into the question. Apologies to these other fine Dominican hurlers who didn't make the cut:
- Joaquin Andujar
- Pedro Astacio
- Armando Benitez
- Juan Guzman
- Jose Rijo
- Mario Soto
I can make an argument, and a darned good one, that Pedro is the best pitcher of all time, of any nationality.
And of course, I didn't understand the question and picked Marichal. Whoops. Switch one vote from the Dominican Dandy's column to Pedro's!
Why is Pedro the best ever?
Among active pitchers (including Roger, Maddux, and Randy who are also probably all-time top 10 material) he leads in most meaningful categories. ERA, ERA+, K/W, hits allowed, WHIP, and winning percentage.
Among 20th-century pitchers all-time he has the second-best winning percentage (behind Spud Chandler) and by far the best ERA+ (which is park and era-balanced). In ERA+, the single most important cross-era comparison stat, it's not even close. It's not even close to close. Pedro leads the #2 man (Lefty Grove) by the amount of the difference between the #2 man and the #32 man (Dizzy Dean, Carl Hubbell, Hal Newhouser).
If Sandy Koufax had pitched as well in his career as Pedro Martinez has in his, Sandy would have had a 2.19 ERA. Sandy had a 2.76 ERA. Sandy wound up with a record of 165-87; if he'd pitched as well over his career as Pedro had over his, Sandy's record would be a gobsmacking 190-62.
Seaver? Tom Terrific went 311-205 with an ERA of 2.86. If he'd pitched as well over his career as Pedro has in his, Seaver would have had a 372-144 record with a 2.19 ERA.
There are reasons to say that Pedro hasn't been quite as good as his career ERA+, but they are not nearly enough. Pedro is the standard against which all pitchers in history must be measured; I think they all come up short except on the most stringent tests of career value.
Craig, the problem is that Pedro is 34 and has so far thrown 2500 innings. To argue that he's better than Lefty Grove or Walter Johnson (or Roger Clemens for that matter) over his career, don't you think that we have to wait to see how the rest of his career?
Some measures have Pedro as the best pitcher ever at his peak. It all depends on how you measure things. Walter Johnson in 1912-3 was almost as dominant, and threw many, many more innings, albeit in a context that allowed it. Even for his time, Pedro pitched fewer innings relative to league standards for starters in his best years than Johnson (or Grove or Koufax) did in theirs. I still agree with you that his peak was higher than any of the others, but it is not obvious.
Mike, I didn't say I buy the argument. I said I can make the argument.
That being said, I do happen to buy it, although it's not as open-and-shut as career rate numbers make it look. Still, I think that on a game-by-game basis, which is what I mean when I say "best", he's the best ever.
C'mon, Other-voter! Please specify! Is it Andujar? Huh, huh?