Instant PC: 10 Career-Defining Pedro Martinez Cards
With so many different base cards, subsets, parallels, memorabilia cards and autographs, building out a collection for a single player can be overwhelming.
Luckily, the 10-Card Instant PC article series is here to help.
There are 11,000 Pedro Martinez cards, according to the Beckett database.
So where does one begin putting together a Pedro Martinez PC?
These 10 cards serve as an excellent representation of his playing career and footprint on the hobby, making them a great place to start.
1990 Great Falls Dodgers Sports Pro #12 Pedro Martinez
The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Martinez out of the Dominican Republic on June 18, 1988, when he was just 16 years old. He made his pro debut during the 1990 season with the Great Falls Dodgers in the rookie ball Pioneer League, going 8-3 with a 3.62 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 77 innings.
His first licensed card is part of the Great Falls Dodgers team set that was released in 1990, and the 30-card checklist also includes 1994 NL Rookie of the Year Raul Mondesi.
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1991 Upper Deck Final Edition #2F Pedro Martinez RC
In 1991, Martinez put together one of the most dominant minor league seasons in history by a teenaged pitcher. He went 18-8 with a 2.28 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 192 strikeouts in 177.1 innings over three minor league levels, reaching Triple-A before his 20th birthday. Can you imagine a team letting a 19-year-old pitch 177.1 innings in the minors nowadays?
He didn’t receive a September call-up, but his breakout performance was enough to earn him a spot in the 1991 Upper Deck Final Edition update set. That stands as his only true Rookie Card, and the boxed set also includes rookies of Jim Thome, Ivan Rodriguez and Kenny Lofton.
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1992 Bowman #82 Pedro Martinez
After another strong season in the minors in 1992, Martinez made his MLB debut as a September call-up, allowing six hits and two earned runs with eight strikeouts in eight innings pitched in a pair of appearances.
While it’s not a true Rookie Card, the 1992 Bowman release is arguably the most sought-after early card in Martinez’s database. Outside of Rookie Cards of Mariano Rivera, Mike Piazza and Trevor Hoffman, it’s the most valuable card in the iconic set.
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1992 Upper Deck #79 Pedro Martinez/Ramon Martinez
While Pedro went on to have a Hall of Fame career, it was his brother Ramon who was the ace of the Los Angeles Dodgers staff in the early 1990s. The older Martinez brother was NL Cy Young runner-up in 1990, and he went 135-88 with a 3.67 ERA and 25.9 WAR in an underrated 14-year career.
The brothers have been pictured side-by-side on a handful of cards, including 1992 Upper Deck, 1993 Fleer, 1996 Collector’s Choice and 2003 Fleer Splendid Splinters.
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1993 Topps #557 Pedro Martinez
After his cup of coffee in 1992, Martinez was lights out as a swingman in the Dodgers bullpen the following year. In 107 innings of work spanning two starts and 63 relief appearances, he went 10-5 with two saves, 14 holds and a 2.61 ERA while piling up 119 strikeouts to finish ninth in NL Rookie of the Year voting.
It was not until the 1993 release that Topps finally included Martinez in its flagship set.
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1996 Leaf Signature Autographs #146 Pedro Martinez
Prior to the 1994 season, Martinez was traded to the Montreal Expos in a one-for-one deal for speedy second baseman Delino DeShields. For the Dodgers, it stands as one of the worst trades in MLB history, as Martinez emerged as an ace in Montreal and won NL Cy Young honors in 1997 when he went 17-8 with a 1.90 ERA and 305 strikeouts in 241.1 innings while recording 13 complete games.
Pedro’s first certified autograph card was part of the groundbreaking 1996 Leaf Signature Series set when he was still a member of the Expos. The base version has a print run of 3,500, while there are also silver (PR 1,000) and gold (PR 500) versions.
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1998 Topps #338 Pedro Martinez
Following his Cy Young win in 1997, Martinez was traded again in another ill-fated move, this time going to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for pitching prospects Carl Pavano and Tony Armas.
His first six seasons in Boston are arguably the greatest peak in MLB history by a pitcher. He went 101-28 with a 2.26 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 1,456 strikeouts in 1,166.2 innings at the height of the Steroid Era. Martinez won AL Cy Young in 1999 and 2000, and finished in the top three in balloting three other times during that stretch.
His first Topps card in a Red Sox uniform might not carry a steep price tag, but it’s a must-own for any Martinez collector.
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2000 Pacific Prism #23 Pedro Martinez
The 2000 season was the best of Pedro’s career and stands as one of the best in baseball history. He went 18-6 with a 1.74 ERA, 0.74 WHIP and 284 strikeouts in 217 innings with seven complete games and four shutouts. His 291 ERA+ that year ranks 16th all-time in baseball history and is the best single-season mark since 1950.
There are not many better looking sets than Pacific Prism, making it the perfect card to commemorate his historically great year. The card also offers a different sort of parallel rainbow with several background pattern variations.
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2005 Topps #575 Pedro Martinez
After going 16-9 with a 3.90 ERA and 227 strikeouts in 217 innings in 2004, Martinez departed in free agency and signed a four-year, $53 million deal with the New York Mets. He had one more elite-level season in 2005 before injuries started to take a toll. He pitched just 269.2 innings over the final three years of that contract.
Pedro signed on Dec. 17, 2004, which was early enough for him to be pictured in most 2005 sets as a member of the Mets.
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2009 Topps Updates #UH93 Pedro Martinez
Martinez did not sign during the 2008-09 offseason after playing out his contract with the Mets. He did pitch a showcase of sorts for the Dominican Republic team in the World Baseball Classic. Martinez eventually signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies on July 15, 2009, and went 5-1 with a 3.63 ERA in nine starts to put the finishing touches on his career.
He only has a handful of Phillies cards, as he was included in the 2009 SP Authentic, Topps Heritage, Topps Update, Upper Deck Update and Upper Deck Sweet Spot sets.
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