Baseball fans: Is Pedro Martinez a "legend"?

[Armpit_licker]

I have been debate this with my friend who worships Pedro... When I think of "legends" I think of guy's like MJ, Mario, Wayne, Ruth, Mantle... Not a Pedro.. He is a great pitcher and without a doubt will go to the HOF... But not a legend.

Opinions?

 

[dman68]

There is no doubt that pedro is a great player, but he isn't even the top in his generation. You have to look at both Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson to see pitching dominance. Then you look a little older and see Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz (strangely all ex-braves) which I think are all better than pedro. Pedro Martinez is a great pitcher, but I agree with you armpit licker, not a legend.

 

[tickletoy3]

Pedro is not, has never been and never will be.. a legend. He's good. He's no legend.

 

[Wicker Man]

Well hes a Hall of Famer and a one of the great pitchers of all times thats for sure but legend? I would say no. Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux are legends for pitchers. Pedro looks like he lost a lot of his power and age is catching up to him. Its a shame he cant be like Johnson and Clemens and find the fountain of youth.

 

[unclebill]

In his younger days when he was with the Montreal Expos Pedro was compared to Bob Gibson. While I don`t think he has lived up to those expectations, I do think he is a very good pitcher but far from a legend.

 

[Mitchell]

I would say that Pedro is a very good to excellent pitcher for his time, but not a "legend". To me, a legend is a guy who does something like win 20 games many years in a row, and close to or close to 300 wins for a career, or has a career like Dennis Eckersley or John Smoltz, who both are the only two guys to have over 150 wins and 150 saves.
Modern day pitching legends to me are names already mentioned. Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Randy J, Clemens, and such. These guys have all won at least one Cy Young and World Series, and all have something special about them. Maddux and Clemens both have over 300 wins, Glavine and Randy more than 200, and Smoltz the 150 wins and 150 saves. All of these gentlemen, even with Glavine's struggles the last three years in NY, should be first ballot Hall of Famers. They have all demonstrated pitching excellence, and an ability to perform on a championship team.
Pedro is a good to great pitcher, but he seems to have too many nagging injuries to be healthy for 35 starts a year. If he wins a couple of more Cy Young awards, or gets close to 300 wins, then maybe he's a legend, but right now, he's just a very good modern day pitcher.

Mitch

 

[Wicker Man]

Ol Pedro is doing quite well with the crosstown rivals NY Mets thats for sure. I dont like him cuz hes the biggest headhunter in the game but at the same time im happy to see a great player flourishing and bringing back winning to the Mets and fans to their stadium even though I am a Yankee fan...crazy huh? Who knows? Perhaps if Pedro keeps up his good work with the Mets he just might make that legend status the thread questions.

 

[DonnieBrasco]

Here you go this is in a span of six years: Led the league in wins and shutouts three times each, complete games twice, and strikeouts four times. Set the record for Ko's in a year. He led in ERA a record five consecutive years, with his best mark 1.73 in his final year. He pitched a no-hitter each season from 1962 to 1965, with the last a perfect game!! Thats a legend and his name is Sandy Koufax ---So my answer well you know what the answer is

DB

 

[50greg]

I agree, Pedro is not there with the guys of my boyhood-- Koufax, his buddy Drysdale, Seaver, Gibson, Marichal, Palmer. That was a golden age of pitching, and of baseball generally. But if I had to win a game today, I'd sure rather have Pedro pitching for me than against me. While he doesn't have the consistency and durability of Tom Glavine, I'd say Pedro is much more of a dominant pitcher-- a pitcher who can dominate a game by the force of his performance-- than Glavine ever was. When Pedro was on his game in his prime, he was quite something.