Red Sox: Pedro Martinez inductee for Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame

Boston Red Sox legend Pedro Martinez will be inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame to honor his time with the Montreal Expos.

Former Boston Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez is being inducted into the Hall of Fame… again.

The Red Sox honored Martinez in 2014 by inducting him into their franchise Hall of Fame. A year later he was enshrined in Cooperstown. Now he can add one more to the list, bringing his Hall of Fame inductions to a total that matches his three career Cy Young awards.

The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame announced on Thursday that Martinez would be part of the class inducted on June 16 in St. Marys, Ontario.

Former Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Lloyd Moseby and Canadian historian Bill Humber will join Martinez in the Class of 2018.

The Los Angeles Dodgers made the regrettable mistake of trading Pedro to the Montreal Expos in 1993 for Delino DeShields. Martinez spent parts of two seasons working primarily out of the Dodgers bullpen before the Expos converted him into a full-time starter, which is when we got our first glimpse of the pitcher who would eventually become known as one of the greatest of his generation.

Martinez went 55-33 with a 3.06 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and 9.5 K/9 in his four seasons with the Expos. His best season was also his last in Montreal. In 1997, Martinez led the majors with a 1.90 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 11.4 K/9, and 13 complete games to capture his first career Cy Young award. Pedro remains the only Expos pitcher in the history of the franchise to capture this award.

"“Although I only played four seasons with the Expos, the fans always went out of their way to show how much they cared, appreciated and loved me,” said Martinez after learning of his induction. “There is a huge amount of love and respect between me and the Expos’ fans. I want to thank the people who voted for me. Thank you to all the members of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. I would not be here today without my teammates and my family. It is truly an honour to be the fifth Dominican born baseball player to be inducted, along with Vladimir Guerrero, Felipe Alou, Tony Fernandez and George Bell.”"

The Expos traded Martinez to the Red Sox after the 1997 season for Tony Armas, Jr. and Carl Pavano. The franchise never fully recovered from the strike-shortened 1994 season that led to a mass exodus of star players as ownership slashed payroll. Pedro was among the last of those stars to be shipped off as he approached free agency. Montreal would post a winning record only twice following the Martinez trade before the franchise relocated to Washington and changed their name to the Nationals.

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Pedro would go on to pitch seven seasons in a Red Sox uniform. He went 117-37 with a 2.52 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, and 10.9 K/9 over that span, making four All-Star appearances and capturing another pair of Cy Young awards in Boston.

Martinez set the single-season franchise strikeout record with 313 K’s in 1999, a mark that was challenged last year by Chris Sale.

Pedro cemented his legacy in Boston by being the co-ace of the 2004 rotation for a Red Sox team that delivered the franchise’s first World Series championship in 86 years.

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As beloved as Pedro is here in Boston, we can’t forget about what he meant to the city of Montreal. He’s one of the greatest players to ever wear the uniform of a Canadian team and it’s great to see that he is finally be honored by the country’s Hall of Fame.