Pedro Martinez: A Hall of Fame Hurler
Pedro Martinez was the reason I began to follow baseball. His artistry on the mound during his time with the Red Sox in 1998 through 2004 was my favorite part of watching the game. Because I enjoyed watching him pitch so much, I inevitably ended up having to learn about the rest of the game. So, Pedro is pretty special to me, and his cards have always been a top priority when it comes to sports card collecting.
I’ve decided to create an entire series of articles dedicated to Pedro Martinez baseball cards. First up, I’ll look at each and every Pedro Martinez rookie card in depth. Thanks to the PSA Set Registry, I can easily go right in order through pretty much every Pedro Martinez card ever released. To fill in any gaps, I turn to the Trading Card Database.
My eventual goal is to have the #1 PSA Registry of Pedro Martinez baseball cards in the world. It’s not quite as ambitious as building my Million Dollar Red Sox Collection… Still, since Pedro is a significant chunk of that, why not focus on the more attainable goal first?
First, the Rookie Cards, then the Base Topps Set, then the Base Set, then the Master Set, then the WORLD! Meh, I don’t want the world. I just want a bunch of cards… Anyway, as of this writing, the best ever Master Set is only at 22.83% complete! That’s right folks. I don’t even need every card to be #1. SHAZAAM! (By the way, here is PSA’s Pedro Martinez Master Set list.)
Anyway, onto talking about pieces of cardboard picturing a guy who threw a ball from atop a pile of dirt for a living…
1990 Sport Pro Great Falls Dodgers Pedro Martinez
The first ever Pedro Martinez rookie card is pretty much where you have to start with any serious Pedro Martinez rookie card collection. For a minor league card, it’s not bad. The design is a bit bland, but the portrait isn’t bad - albeit dark. It’s a piece of history in any case, hearkening back to when Pedro played in Montana.
Pedro didn’t pitch too badly at his first minor league stop in the Pioneer League. He compiled an 8-3 win loss record with a 3.82 ERA in 14 starts. He had a decent strikeout rate with 82 strikeouts in 77 innings. Pedro was still honing his control, though, as he walked 40 in those 77 innings. It’s not a bad performance, in any case. However, he was actually out-pitched by lefty Mark Mimbs. Who? Yeah, exactly. (Although, Mimbs actually did pitch for the Pawtucket Red Sox in 1997, so that is an interesting Red Sox connection, I guess…)
There was a time where these 1990 Sport Pro Great Falls cards held a lot more value. But, in June 2019, one PSA 10 example of the Great Falls Pedro Martinez card sold for just $25. You can grab a PSA 9 copy for under $15, but why wouldn’t you just want a 10? There are 901 PSA 9 copies VS 545 PSA 10 copies. They aren’t exceptionally rare. Still, this is a must have card for any Pedro Martinez rookie card collection.
1991 Cal League All-Stars Pedro Martinez All-Stars #1 & #32
Pedro Martinez has two cards in the 32-card 1991 Cal League set, and they are #1 and #32. The first card is the more commonly available of the two. It’s a typical minor league card that doesn’t appear to have the greatest printing quality. Also, Pedro didn’t look too happy in the portrait. However, Pedro very much enjoyed his time in the Cal League, which he dominated.
Pedro pitched to 8 wins and no losses with 10 starts at Bakersfield. He enjoyed a 2.05 ERA in 61 ⅓ innings, as well as a 12.2 strikeout rate per 9 innings against only a 2.8 walk rate per 9. It was definitely a sign of things to come, huh? Anyway, Pedro dominated the league so much that the Dodgers called him up to Double-A San Antonio, where he also pitched well. He finished at Triple-A Albuquerque, where he pitched OK, although not great.
Pedro’s other 1991 Cal League card, #32, is a much nicer looking card. It’s also apparently extremely difficult to find, especially in top condition. Even raw, they can sell for $15 or more. What makes it a nicer card is the photo, which is a shot of Pedro throwing a warm-up pitch from the mound, while smiling.
Both cards also list his Dominican Winter League (Santo Domingo) stats on the back, which is awesome. Good luck finding anything better than a PSA 8 of #32, though.
1991 Classic Best Pedro Martinez #355
One of Pedro Martinez's more popular early cards features the young pitching superstar at one of his brief minor league stops with the San Antonio Missions. It's not an exciting card, but it features solid photography with a good portrait shot of Pedro in his Missions threads. The one important thing about this issue is that gem mint copies are tough to come by.
Pedro shares the 1991 Classic Best set with some notable players, a few of whom would become fellow Hall of Famers. These young stars include Ivan Rodriguez and Jim Thome, of course, but also Chipper Jones. Carlos Delgado and Jeff Kent are also featured in the set.
Despite Pedro Martinez having the most PSA submitted card in the set, with over 1400 submissions, there are only 139 PSA 10 examples as of November 2019. That's only 10 percent of all submitted. If you're willing to settle for a PSA 9, there are nearly 800 of those. If you're wondering about the price tag on PSA 10 copies, the tough grading is why.
1991 Classic Pedro Martinez Series III #T55
Classic pumped out a lot of different card sets in the early nineties. This one is actually one of the more scarce sets, making this #T55 card fairly rare for an early Pedro Martinez card. The 1991 Classic set consisted of 500 cards, but the first 200 were issued with a baseball trivia game. The remaining cards were released in three 100 card sets. The Pedro Martinez card is part of the third set. Only 66 PSA 10 copies of this card exist as of this writing.
Like many of the Classic sets, this card doesn't really have an inspiring design. But there's nothing wrong with the green border. The photo is actually an interesting one featuring Pedro gripping a baseball while sitting on the steps of the dugout. He's also wearing Dodgers threads, which is a plus.
1991 Classic Series III does feature some other future Hall of Fame players such as Kirby Puckett, Cal Ripken Jr, Ivan Rodriguez, and Nolan Ryan. For a more obscure Junk Wax era set, it has a decent amount of star power. It will have cards you've never seen before of many popular players - and it's necessary for player collector completionists.
1991 ProCards Pedro Martinez #2971
While not one of the more popular Pedro Martinez minor league cards, the 1991 ProCards issue is a must have for Pedro player collectors. It features a creative but goofy yellow spiral notebook design. The photo is good enough, though, to save the card overall, depicting Pedro in his stop with the San Antonio Missions in the Texas League.
The back features only his stats with Great Falls - where he was actually outpitched by a young lefty named Mike Mimbs. Half of the back is blank space usually reserved for some tidbits. It's not a very interesting card, but notable just because it's a Pedro Martinez card.
When it comes to PSA graded examples, collectors have actually submitted over 1300 copies of this card. With 303 PSA 10 gem mint examples, it fared a bit better than other minor league releases in getting that top grade. It's certainly not one of the finer cards in Pedro's rookie master set, but it’s still necessary nonetheless.
1991 Upper Deck Final Edition Pedro Martinez #2F
Often considered the best Pedro Martinez rookie card, the Upper Deck Final Edition card has a lot going for it. It's actually quite easy to find since it's part of a 100 card box set that can be acquired fairly cheaply. The set also contains rookie cards of Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez and first baseman Jim Thome. There's also a popular Ken Griffey Jr. card in the set.
Beyond the simple fact that sports cards collectors love early Upper Deck, this Final Edition card features a great portrait photo of a young Pedro in Dodgers threads. It also features a "Minor League Diamond Skills" logo in the lower right hand corner. We find out on the back of the card that Pedro was considered the best minor league right-handed pitcher that year. Unlike many best minor league pitchers of the year, Pedro would actually live up to that early promise, of course, despite early struggles.
Despite being so relatively easy to find, that doesn't mean you can easily get a PSA 10 of this Final Edition Pedro Martinez rookie card. Out of a whopping 22,000-plus graded by PSA, only about 3300 have graded PSA 10. Nearly 13,000 PSA 9 examples exist, as well. While 3300 is a high PSA 10 population, this Pedro card is the key for his rookie card collectors. So, expect to have some competition in bidding on auctions for this card or prepare to pay more than you may expect for a junk wax era rookie card.
1991-92 ProCards Tomorrow's Heroes Pedro Martinez #244
The Tomorrow's Heroes issue is the second of Pedro's ProCards "Rookie Cards" and is a significant improvement over the first. It features the same photo as 1991 ProCards, although with a better, if still bland, design. The diamond shape of the photo is a nice touch. Also, the back of this card features stats from all of Pedro's 1991 minor league stops (San Antonio, Bakersfield, and Albuquerque) which is a vast improvement over his first ProCards card.
It's also rather appropriate that Pedro Martinez is included in a set called Tomorrow's Heroes. Unsurprisingly, the set features five other future Hall of Famers: Trevor Hoffman, Chipper Jones, Mike Mussina, Ivan Rodriguez, and Jim Thome. Other stars of the era in this set include Carlos Delgado, Brian Giles, Kenny Lofton, Manny Ramirez, Tim Salmon, Mo Vaughn, and Bernie Williams. Longtime knuckleballer Tim Wakefield is also in this set.
Like many minor league issues, gem mint is a tough grade to get. Like with many sets in which Pedro Martinez appeared, his is the most submitted card from this set to PSA. Out of 405 submissions, though, only 37 graded PSA 10. 251 more had to settle for a PSA 9 mint but 16 that would've otherwise gotten that mint grade had centering qualifiers. It's not easy to find a PSA 10 in the wild, for sure.
1992 Bowman Pedro Martinez #82
Easily one of the best Pedro Martinez rookie cards, 1992 Bowman features Pedro actually pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Even better, he is wearing his familiar #45, a number he wouldn't be wearing on some subsequent cards. He didn't yet have any Major League statistics listed on the card back, so this is about as "rookie" as you can get.
The simple clean design and great action shot give this card some of the best eye appeal among Pedro Martinez rookie cards. Some people prefer it to his Upper Deck Final Edition card. Over 9800 examples of this Bowman rookie card have been submitted to PSA for grading. While that is less than half the number of graded Final Edition rookies, you couldn't find these in just a box set.
There are only about 1500 gem mint PSA 10 copies of the 1992 Bowman Pedro Martinez out there. Many collectors have settled for one of the roughly 6400 PSA 9 mint copies out there. Of course, the serious collectors only want the perfect 10. Notably, fellow Hall of Famer Chipper Jones has about 6400 total PSA examples, but nearly as many PSA 10 examples with about 1300. So, Pedro's card, for whatever reason, is the tougher grade.
On an interesting side note, this is the only Topps released rookie card of Pedro Martinez. Bowman, of course, is owned by Topps. Pedro would not have a Topps flagship card until 1993.
1992 Cartwright's Players Choice Silver Pedro Martinez #11
Here's a Pedro Martinez card I would've never known about if not for the superb Trading Card Database: the 1992 Cartwright's Players Choice Silver. It's technically a rookie card, since it depicts Pedro with the Dodgers. Interestingly, this is one of the few cards you'll see with Pedro holding a bat! Fun fact: Pedro was a career .099/.134/.122 hitter.
Want some more Pedro batting fun facts? Pedro never got a hit with the Dodgers or with the Red Sox in interleague play. He did, however, go 25 for 240 with three doubles and a pair of triples with Montreal! Pedro had some "success" with the bat for the Mets and Phillies, too.
This Cartwright set actually has nice looking cards, but clearly has centering issues. Also, because of the black borders, chipping and edgewear are going to be common condition issues. Also, these cards were apparently hand-cut and PSA will no longer consider them for grading. When they did, however, two PSA 9 copies were slabbed. It's not a card that you'd officially need in a Pedro rookie set, or the official Pedro Martinez Master set, but they do exist.
1992 Donruss “The Rookies” Pedro Martinez
While not one of Pedro Martinez’s premier rookie cards, the 1992 Donruss card from their “The Rookies” subset has a few things going for it. First off, this card does feature Pedro in a major league uniform, in Dodger Blue wearing his familiar number #45. Secondly, unlike previous editions of “The Rookies,” Donruss actually released this set in packs rather than in a boxed set. Why is that good? It means that gem mint copies of this card are much harder to find than you’d expect.
There are 2075 graded examples of the 1992 Donruss Rookies Pedro Martinez card, yet only 275 of those have graded out as a PSA 10 Gem Mint. There are 1295 PSA 9 examples, which is why that’s what you’ll much more commonly find for sale. Serious Pedro Martinez card collectors most likely want the PSA 10. So, as an investment, the PSA 10 is the better buy.
In late 2019, you could find PSA 9 copies for about $15-20, but the PSA 10 copies tend to be $30 or more. You’ll find a similar case for Pedro’s former teammate, Manny Ramirez, who actually has a whopping 2500 graded examples of his card in the set, yet only 270 graded PSA 10. That card, interestingly, has similar price points. So, it’s pretty cool to have these two in the same set.
(It’s worth noting that Tim Wakefield also has a rookie card in the set, as well as all-star second baseman Jeff Kent. Of course, Wakefield doesn’t have many graded examples, although neither does Kent, interestingly enough.)
Of course, this card also depicts Pedro on the mound. Many of his early cards do not. I’ve also always preferred rookie cards with players in Major League uniforms, which is something I know many collectors prefer. All in all, this is a pretty nice and affordable Pedro Martinez rookie card that still holds some value from the Junk Wax era when graded PSA 9 or better.
1992 Fleer/ProCards Pedro Martinez #716
Now owned by Fleer, ProCards released its third Pedro Martinez card. With this issue, Pedro is actually shown during his brief stop with the Albuquerque Dukes, the team known today as the Isotopes. This time on the card back, they included Pedro's time in the Dominican Winter League - stats notably omitted from his first two ProCards issues.
The design is not really that appealing, with the name strangely split and a cartoonish bat and ball creeping into the picture. But, this card does feature a great photo of Pedro in his set position on the mound with a blue sky backdrop. The upward angle of the camera makes Pedro appear larger than life, which he certainly became on a Major League mound.
Unlike many of the early sets that Pedro was featured in his career, he doesn't hold the title of most submitted card to PSA. That title belongs to Mike Piazza, Pedro's teammate with both the Dukes and the Dodgers for a short time. Pedro has 571 submissions to Piazza's 662. Notably, though, Pedro's card earned a much tougher grade. Piazza's card has 122 Gem Mint examples, yet Pedro's card has a mere 39. Go figure.
1992 Leaf - Gold Rookies #BC-3
One of this author's favorite Pedro Martinez rookie cards is the 1992 Leaf Gold Rookies #BC3. It hits all the high notes of a key Pedro rookie, pitching in Dodger Blue, wearing his familiar #45. The gold frame effect is also a really nice aesthetic. These cards are also significantly scarcer than Pedro's "base" rookie cards.
The Leaf Gold Rookies are a notoriously tough grade. Pedro benefits from the Gold Rookies lineup only featuring two other future stars in Kenny Lofton and Raul Mondesi - although fellow Gold rookie Bret Boone would have a few nice years for himself. Out of 770 cards submitted to PSA from this set, 710 of those belong to Pedro. There are 144 PSA Gem Mint 10 examples of this card out there, with another 371 attaining a PSA 9 Mint grade.
Being perhaps the rarest of Pedro's key rookie cards, this is a card that should appreciate in value nicely over time. It gets love, certainly, but it's a true gem from the Junk Wax era.
1992 RBI Magazine Grapefruit League Pedro Martinez #G4
While not a true Pedro Martinez rookie card, there are some things worth noting about the RBI Magazine card. These cards aren't even graded by PSA - that I can tell - so you'd be looking to acquire these raw. Being an early Pedro Martinez rarity is good enough, but this Grapefruit League card is worth talking about.
First off, while Pedro is wearing Dodgers threads, he's wearing #48 rather than his more familiar #45. That's strange considering that Pedro never wore that number at any point in official Major League games. He would wear #37 for a short time later with the Montreal Expos. What's funny is that #48 was his brother Ramon's number. So, what is the story behind Pedro wearing his brother's jersey number in this photo?
It turns out that Pedro didn't steal his brother's jersey or anything. In fact, this is one of a few cards that features Pedro wearing his brother's jersey number. In Spring Training of 1992, Pedro apparently did wear the #48. Considering you could tell how big the jersey was on him, it probably was a jersey meant for Ramon.
Pedro is looking over his shoulder in the photo. I don't know if this shot was intentional or the photographer got lucky. Being that it was the Grapefruit League, it's possible Pedro was always looking back towards his big brother, who he has always and continues to look up to after all these years. Little did Pedro know that not only would his pitching skills surpass his brother's, but even land him in the Hall of Fame.
1992 SkyBox AAA Pedro Martinez #5
SkyBox made a point to label this AAA card if Pedro Martinez as a pre-rookie card. While "pre-rookie" is a term thrown around a lot in the hobby, how many sets do you see actually make a point of that? It's certainly the appropriate term for this card depicting Pedro with the Albuquerque Dukes.
This card doesn't have the most excitement going on in it. The photo is likely posed, but if it's not, it looks like Pedro has stepped off the mound after a timeout was called. There's nothing really wrong with the card, but the design is fairly bland.
It's not a super common card, but when it has been graded by PSA, the SkyBox AAA #5 has fared pretty well. Out of 166 submissions, 72 emerged as PSA 10. That's good to know if you come across strong mint raw copies and you want a PSA 9 or PSA 10 for a graded collection.
(Apparently, two other SkyBox Pedro Martinez cards exist: Team Sets #13b and Triple-A All Stars #13. We could not find images of them for this article. If we do, they will be added to this piece.)
1992 Upper Deck Pedro Martinez Star Rookie #18
The first "base" Pedro Martinez card from Upper Deck is his 1992 Star rookie. The card features Pedro Martinez warming up in Spring Training. You may notice that he is wearing the jersey #48, which belonged to his brother Ramon. I'd like to learn the real story behind it, but it seems being Ramon's little brother led to Pedro wearing one of his brother's jerseys at least for photo shoots.
The back of this rookie card does mention the exciting possibility of Pedro and his elder brother Ramon being one of the best brother pitching combinations of all time. Unfortunately, we only ever had brief glimpses of what may have been. Ramon got into only 4 starts in 1999 and when he returned in 2000, he was a greatly diminished pitcher.
Back to Pedro, the Upper Deck #18 rookie card is a key to any Pedro Martinez collection. It's a bit down the pecking order when it comes to graded Pedro Martinez rookie cards though. There are only 665 submissions, a fraction of the population of the Final Edition and Bowman cards. Only 193 have graded PSA 10, while there are 283 PSA 9 examples, and a relatively high PSA 8 count of 153.
Like every card in the 1992 Upper Deck set, there's a short print parallel called the Gold Hologram. The only difference is that the normal silver hologram on the back - to help fight potential counterfeiting - is instead gold. It's an insignificant difference, but it means that it's a far rarer card. Interestingly, the gold Hologram fared much better, with 56 out of 70 submissions grading PSA Gem Mint 10.
1992 Upper Deck Ramon Martinez/Pedro Martinez Bloodlines #79
The Martinez brothers would later be reunited in Boston. But by that time, Ramon was at the end of the line as a productive pitcher. The taller, elder brother Ramon suffered arm issues after only 4 starts with the 1999 Red Sox. While Ramon did return, his 2000 season saw him post a 6.13 ERA in 27 starts. He ended his playing career after 4 starts with the Pirates in 2001.
We all know what happened with Pedro. Somewhat ironically, Pedro started suffering his own arm issues in 2001. But while Ramon was done with the mound, Pedro had another 8 seasons left in him. Ramon still works in baseball scouting today, most recently as a special adviser to the Baltimore Orioles.
While this card isn't a true rookie card, per se, Pedro Martinez collectors have made it one. In fact, this Bloodlines card is a necessary piece of a Pedro Martinez Rookie Master Set, according to the PSA Set Registry. There are only 76 PSA graded examples of this card, but it fared better than the Pedro Star Rookie card, having more than half (44) grade PSA 10. There have been only 4 submissions of the Gold Hologram parallel - 2 PSA 10 and 2 PSA 9.
Pedro Martinez Hobby Cred
When it comes to pitchers, Pedro is a fairly popular hobby target. He’s not as popular as Nolan Ryan or Greg Maddux, but he has his share of dedicated collectors - like myself. Not getting to 300 wins left him out of some collector clubs, but he did have over 3000 strikeouts. Arguably, strikeouts are more important. In fact, he’s the only pitcher to have ever recorded 3000 strikeouts in fewer than 3000 innings pitched. That accomplishment in itself was worthy of Hall of Fame induction.
Before Pedro reached the milestone, only 14 other pitchers had accomplished the feat: Walter Johnson, Bob Gibson, Gaylord Perry, Nolan Ryan (the all-time strikeout leader), Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton, Ferguson Jenkins, Don Sutton, Phil Niekro, Bert Blyleven, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, and former teammate Curt Schilling. Many of those names, especially Gibson, Seaver, Carlton, Jenkins, Clemens, Johnson, Maddux, and Schilling are still big names in the hobby today. Sutton’s and Blyleven’s card have picked up in recent years, as well.
Since Pedro recorded his 3000th strikeout, three other pitchers have accomplished the feat. The first was John Smoltz, who was an easy selection for the Hall of Fame. The second was CC Sabathia, who while not as obvious a choice as Smoltz, will likely be enshrined one day. The most recent was Justin Verlander, who pretty much everyone believes is a Hall of Fame shoo-in. So, Pedro is in very good company.
Unsurprisingly, Pedro is still very active in the game and in the hobby. He still signs cards from Panini and Topps as recently as 2019, so there’s still plenty of post-playing career autographs to chase. It’s funny that we don’t hear his name mentioned more often in hobby chatter, but no one is ever upset to get a Pedro Martinez hit, of course. But, why isn’t he as big in the hobby now that he’s been enshrined?
Yes, pitchers in general don’t get the same love as hitters. Interestingly, this is even the case long after they retire. Nolan Ryan still does very well, but that’s because he’s legendary and he pitched so long that he crossed generations. But, even some of those names we mentioned that still get hobby love don’t get the amount you’d expect pitchers of their accomplishment to get. Pedro did, of course, get plenty of love when he was still pitching. But, despite being very active in the game and with plenty of time on television as a commentator, you’d expect him to get a lot more hobby love.
Whatever the reason for his cards not being as popular as other 3,000 strikeout pitchers, those of us that will hunt down his every card are happy to pay the lesser prices. It may not always be that way, of course. The good news is his rookie cards are plentiful, so there are plenty to go around, but when it comes to graded copies, you just never know when they’ll dry up.
Which is your favorite Pedro Martinez rookie card? I would say design wise that the Leaf Gold is my favorite. But, I'm really fond of the Bowman, too.
So concludes this Pedro Martinez Rookie Card Review Guide. There will be other guides for Pedro Martinez cards in the future, including investment guides. Feedback is always appreciated and encouraged. Over time, these Rookie Card Review guides will be updated with the latest and greatest research and insights. We hope you enjoyed and learned something from this guide.
Happy collecting!
~ R.A. Rowell
No comments:
Post a Comment