Apparently, He Wasn’t Fragile

If it wasn’t the worst trade in Dodger history, it was certainly in the top two, the 1993 deal that sent a young, skinny, supposedly fragile pitcher named Pedro Martinez to the Montreal Expos for second baseman Delino DeShields.

While DeShields spent three undistinguished years in Los Angeles, Martinez became one of baseball’s most dominating pitchers, a right-hander with a 95-mph fastball, a snap-hook of a curve, a wicked changeup and three Cy Young awards. It had to make the Dodgers cringe when they saw Martinez in the Red Sox dugout Friday night.

Martinez, who struck out the first five batters he faced in Thursday night’s 5-0 victory over San Diego and will not pitch against the Dodgers this weekend, has a much different perspective on the trade.

“Whenever I have a reason to smile about something in baseball, I have to think about the trade, because that’s the only way this would have happened,” said Martinez, who is in his 11th season and has a 140-61 career record, “I don’t think I would have developed into the pitcher I am. I would have been a closer.”

Martinez pleaded with then-manager Tom Lasorda to make him a starter in 1993, but Martinez, then 22, couldn’t crack a rotation of Orel Hershiser, Ramon Martinez (his brother), Pedro Astacio, Kevin Gross and Tom Candiotti.

The right-hander went 10-5 with a 2.61 earned run average in 65 games that season, primarily as a middle reliever. He lost his only two starts, to Colorado and Houston in September.

With the Dodgers in need of a second baseman, Martinez having undergone surgery on his left shoulder in 1992 and doubts among the medical staff and front office that the 5-foot-11, 175-pounder could withstand the physical rigors of being a starter, then-general manager Fred Claire shipped Martinez to Montreal that winter.

“Just let the numbers, my outings, dictate whether they were wrong or not,” Martinez said. “You can’t blame them for trusting their eyes and the odds.... I don’t blame anybody. At the time, it was the manager’s decision and the GM’s decision to trade me.

“I don’t even know who the scouts were who said I was too small. Was it Dr. Frank Jobe? As much as he knows, as much as I respect him, it’s different when you pitch, when you go out and play the game. I know how I feel .... They have to live with it. I don’t.”

*

Dodger outfielder Shawn Green on his mental gaffe that allowed Toronto’s Raul Mondesi to score from second base on a one-out fly to right in the Dodgers’ 2-1 victory Thursday night: “I thought there were two outs. I was very close to flipping the ball into the stands before I heard people yelling. I was praying no one would hit a home run to tie the game or put them ahead.... As long as it didn’t affect the game, I can laugh about it.” ... Dodger right-hander Darren Dreifort, continuing his rehabilitation from a second elbow reconstruction surgery, threw 67 pitches in the bullpen Friday and hopes to throw live batting practice by the end of the home stand.

TODAY

DODGERS’

OMAR DAAL

(4-3, 3.92 ERA)

vs.

RED SOX’S

DEREK LOWE

(11-2, 1.85 ERA)

Dodger Stadium, noon

TV--Channel 11. Radio--KXTA (1150), KWKW (1330).

Update--Daal, skipped in the rotation this past week because of biceps tendinitis, will make his first start since June 11. The left-hander has been rocked for 21 earned runs in 16 1/3 innings of three starts since replacing the injured Kevin Brown. Lowe, Boston’s closer-turned-starter, has given up only three earned runs, over 25 innings, in his last four starts, wins over the Yankees, Tigers, Rockies and Braves.

Tickets--(213) 224-1448.