Red Sox legend Pedro Martinez elected to Hall of Fame

It’s official: Pedro Martinez is going to the Hall of Fame.

The former Red Sox pitching powerhouse received the call to Cooperstown on Tuesday along with Craig Biggio, Randy Johnson, and John Smoltz. It was widely speculated that these four were the top contenders on the 2015 ballot, as many members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America publically shared their votes in the weeks leading up to the big day. This was the first year Martinez, Smoltz, and Johnson appeared on the ballot, while the third time proved to be the charm for Biggio.

This class is relatively large: the last time four players were inducted into the Hall in the same year was in 1955. This is also the first time in history that three pitchers were elected to the same class. Also important, as pointed out by the MLB Network: the heights of these inductees range from Johnson at 6’ 10” to Martinez at 5’ 11.” It is probably the first time in history that the heights of four inductees have ranged this much. So that’s interesting.

With three Cy Young Awards, a career record of 219-100, and a career ERA of 2.93, Martinez was a lock for the Hall of Fame in his first year in the running. He appeared on 91.1 percent of the ballots and will now have to start thinking seriously about what he’ll say in his speech at the Induction Ceremony in Cooperstown on July 26 at 1:30pm.

Martinez spent the peak of his historic pitching career with the Red Sox from 1998-2004. He was known for his electric performances on the mound, as well as his unpredictable antics off the field, not to mention his major contribution to the team’s extraordinary 2004 World Series win.

Pedro’s fellow inductee, Smoltz, made eight starts for Boston during the 2009 season before the team released him that August.

Let us not forget Nomar Garciaparra, the other former Boston superstar in the running, who was not elected this time, but will remain on the ballot.