La Vida Voices: The Journey of Pedro Martínez
Pedro Martínez wasn’t always just “Pedro,” known simply by one name like occurs with the soccer greats, musicians, and artists. It took hard work for him to become “El Grande.” In fact, he was first known to those in baseball as Ramón’s kid brother, the one who followed his older brother around Campo Las Palmas, the Dodgers Academy in the Dominican Republic.
From his early days hearing stories from his father about the great Felipe Alou, playing baseball with makeshift equipment with his siblings and cousins wherever they could, to reflecting on making his mark in Boston, Pedro has stories to tell about his journey. His words remind us of the economic circumstances that many Dominicans arise from to pursue their Major League dreams, the challenge of cultural adjustment that they encounter, and the drive needed to succeed and become great.
The Journey
As a young Pedro, where did you fall in love with the game? Why did you fall in love? Were you making your own gloves? What were you playing with?
Like the average Dominican, normally you’re born with very little to play the game. But what I had was a big history [of] family members [in] the game. My dad was an amateur player. I actually got the opportunity to play with Felipe Alou as an amateur. All we knew was the stories they had told us about when they played. But since we had so many cousins and brothers … we were a big family, four brothers and two sisters and we had a lot of cousins, we were always entertained by baseball.
We didn’t require that many tools to actually play the game. So we made our own little gloves out of milk cartons and stuff like that, or old socks wrapped up and taped that would be a ball. Anything we could find that was round we would take a hack at.
By listening to the stories that our uncles and dad had to tell us, we fell in love. We learned to love the game. We learned to play it. We learned to always entertain ourselves in the backyard with anything round and a little stick. We would go at it just like that.
How were you discovered?
I was fortunate enough to have an older brother [Ramón] who was signed by the Dodgers. My brother was a pretty good prospect in the Dodgers organization. I remember having to really, really, really behave so that he could allow me to just take his bag, carry his bag to the academy so that I could see the real players playing.
I was granted a couple of opportunities to go to the academy to see my brother practice. By then, the Dodgers realized that Ramón had a younger brother coming up. Even though I was too young at the time to actually join the academy, they were aware that I was coming up and that I loved baseball. I would always go and shag balls and stuff like that for the professional players at the academy. It was a dream for me to actually be in one professional academy, one professional baseball field and mingling with the professional players. Ramón knew that I was a hot head at the house so Ramón wanted to keep me busy all the time and keep me around the academy as much as possible. That’s how I got introduced to the academy and also the Dodgers. They got a hold of me really, really young. When I was 15 I was already an assistant at the academy and at the same time going to school because Ramón wanted me to stay busy all the time.
What do you the young kids coming up? You’re looked at as a huge mentor to so many, even Yankee players.
I hope they take advantage of the facilities they have nowadays. Even though I was fortunate to have those opportunities, it wasn’t easy for me. It was really difficult. It’s always going to be difficult when you have to change cultures, when you have to make the adjustment and the transition from one third world country to such a developed country like America.
The cultures are different. A lot of the stuff that you have in the Dominican are not the same as here. There’s the drastic change from not ever having much in your life to get by to having it all. Because when you get to the big leagues then you have this huge paycheck and you have all the attention in the world and everybody’s watching you on TV. All of a sudden from one day to the next you’re famous and everybody’s watching around the world. You have to be really centered in order for you to understand the responsibility that comes with it.
Sometimes making the decision for some of us that are not very well educated and from a third world country is really difficult to transition. A lot of people don’t stop to think about that.
I see that sometimes with us, to have an interview with the little words that we know in English. We try to go out there and give an interview and those words can come out the wrong way and can probably come back to bite you. Thank God, when people understand that you are speaking a second language, you get to get away with a little mistake. It could be dangerous. It’s really sensitive for us the way that we have to make the transition from the third world country to this country and the different culture.
What was 2004 like for you with the city of Boston, with the Dominicans in Boston, with the Latinos? Even going back to the DR after being a World Champion?
It was a dream come true for me. I came over to Boston with those sights in mind. I wanted to come and be the difference for Boston. I promised myself, quietly inside of me, that I would never do what others would do, which was sign the Green Monster unless I won it for Boston. It took my two and half years, maybe three years to then go back to Boston and sign the Green Monster because I didn’t feel I was worth it, the opportunity to sign the Green Monster, unless I won it for Boston.
My goals were to hand a trophy to the city of Boston and I was able to do that. By the way, I did sign the Monster three years later after I had left Boston. I was able to come back and sign the Green Monster and say, “Mission Accomplished.” I said it before when I handed the trophy to Ellis Burks. When I signed the Green Monster is when I actually certified that I did it for Boston.
What do you tell Latino players about playing in Boston?
For any player. You just have to block whatever you see in the media. You have to block whatever comments you hear. Go and do what you’re supposed to do. Play baseball. Enjoy it. Enjoy the moment. They’re going to embrace you. They’re going to be supportive. Believe me I was there for seven years and I’ve never seen a more loyal fan base than the Boston base because we got our hearts broken so many times during those seven years. Yet, I never pitched in an empty stadium. I was always sold out. I was always there with the fans that were struggling, that were in tears to see that our dream of bring the championship to Boston was not there yet. I was there with them. I was suffering too, but I was able to enjoy. I was able to play. I was able to allow myself an opportunity to win a championship and we did that together
I think being demanding, demanding from you to play hard, demanding from you to perform, it’s okay, because they pay your salary. They come and support you every day and they pay for expensive tickets to come and see you. They want you to hustle and they want you to be 100% out there. I don’t blame them for being demanding. I actually like that. That’s how I liked it. I wanted to have the challenge. I wanted to be challenged to be the best that I could be out there. That’s what you gotta do. Once you step in the white lines nobody else can influence what you do. Just go out there and do what you’re supposed to do, what you’re taught to do, be a professional and let everything else take its own way.
Featured Image: Rich Pilling / Major League Baseball