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4 Fan-favorite players who should’ve retired with Red Sox

By Gabrielle Starr

WASHINGTON, D.C. - 1919: Babe Ruth poses outside the dugout for a photo, before a game in what looks like Griffith Stadium in Washington in 1919. (Photo by Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, D.C. - 1919: Babe Ruth poses outside the dugout for a photo, before a game in what looks like Griffith Stadium in Washington in 1919. (Photo by Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images) /
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BRONX, NY – JULY 7: Starting pitcher Pedro Martinez #45 the Boston Red Sox pitches against the New York Yankees during the MLB game at Yankee Stadium on July 7, 2003 in Bronx, New York. The Yankees defeated the Red Sox 2-1. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
BRONX, NY – JULY 7: Starting pitcher Pedro Martinez #45 the Boston Red Sox pitches against the New York Yankees during the MLB game at Yankee Stadium on July 7, 2003 in Bronx, New York. The Yankees defeated the Red Sox 2-1. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

Pedro Martinez

Pedro Martinez was already a Cy Young winner when he came to the Red Sox in 1998, but his greatest achievements lay ahead.

He dominated for Boston in the late 90s and early 00s, winning back-to-back Cy Youngs in ’99 and ’00. He also convinced them to give a nobody named David Ortiz a chance, and together, they reversed an 86-year curse.

But 2004 was Pedro’s final season with the Sox, and he departed for the New York Mets on a four-year deal. He then signed on with the Phillies halfway through the 2009 season, but after they fell to the Yankees in the World Series, Martinez never pitched again. He officially retired in December 2011, over a year after his final game.

Fifteen years after Fisk, Pedro also went into the Hall with a Red Sox cap on his plaque. That same summer, the Sox retired ’45’ in his honor. But why the Red Sox never brought him back to retire with them is a mystery, especially since they hired him as a special assistant not long after.

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