Martinez ERA May Signal Special Era

It was laid out on this page a few weeks ago how Pedro Martinez is authoring a series of seasons that puts him in the Sandy Koufax echelon.

An earned-run average of 0.95 in June of another home run festival is additional documentation.

The major league ERA record is 1.12, set by Bob Gibson in 1968, a year of pitching domination that immediately prompted lowering of the mound and, ultimately, introduction of the designated hitter.

The American League ERA record of 1.14, set by Walter Johnson, has stood since 1913.

There is little wonder that Boston Red Sox pitching coach Joe Kerrigan reflects on his amazing ace and says, “This is something we’ll not see in our lifetime again, so enjoy it.”

That’s asking a lot of the Dodgers, who relinquished Martinez in exchange for Delino DeShields in one of the worst trades ever, and it’s asking a lot of opposing batters.

Martinez has restricted the opposition to a .152 average that shrinks to .044 with runners in scoring position. He has given up only four earned runs in his last 57 innings, only 17 hits in his last 41. He is 17-2 over his last 22 starts, averaging 13.3 strikeouts, 1.7 walks and 4.4 hits per nine innings, and is 32-6 over the last two seasons.

Asked who Martinez reminds him of, Boston Manager Jimy Williams threw up his hands and said, “I don’t know. I can’t remember what Cy Young looked like.”

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It is mid-June, and about time to acknowledge that the Chicago White Sox’s young talent has come of age. One of the impressive indications of that, in addition to their continuing lead over the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central, is that by sweeping a three-game interleague series in Cincinnati this week, the White Sox finished off a 7-2 trip and improved their road record to 20-14, the most road victories in the major leagues. In addition, only the Martinez-led Red Sox have a lower ERA than Chicago’s 4.41 in the hit-happy AL.

The South Side environment has improved so significantly that Frank Thomas, reemerging as an important cog in the White Sox lineup, has been lobbying management to leave things as they are and not trade for a starting pitcher. Interestingly, the three pitchers the White Sox were most concerned about this spring--James Baldwin (9-1), Cal Eldred (6-2) and Jim Parque (6-2)--are a combined 21-5, while the two would-be aces, Mike Sirotka (5-5) and Kip Wells (3-5), are 8-10.

“It’s all about winning and having fun and this team is doing both,” said Thomas, hitting a robust .330 with 14 homers and 49 runs batted in after two subpar seasons in which he was hampered by injury, frustrated by a suddenly shifting strike zone and distracted by personal and business problems. His situation came to a head in spring training when he had a heated meeting with Manager Jerry Manuel to clear the air, and then called a players’ meeting.

“I told the guys that it’s not about me, it’s about us,” Thomas said. “I felt then that if we worked hard and stayed together, we could win this thing. I still feel that way.”

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The misery continues for the Detroit Tigers, who had scored two or fewer runs in 27 of their 56 games through Friday, lost 14 times when one of their pitchers made a quality start (six innings giving up three runs or fewer) and were last in the league in runs.

“We’re pitching in 2000, but we’re hitting in the 1960s,” Manager Phil Garner said of that low-scoring decade. “We’ve got to figure out a way to win if we’re going to hit like this.”