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Pedro Martinez calls Hall of Fame induction ‘a great honor’

(Boston Globe) Pedro Martinez inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. (By Alan Miller, Globe Staff)
(Boston Globe) Pedro Martinez inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. (By Alan Miller, Globe Staff)

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Pedro Martinez was the last of the four Hall of Famers to deliver his induction speech Sunday, but when Randy Johnson finished you could feel the buildup for what was to come.

Martinez had the most support among the estimated 45,000 fans on the lawn of the Clark Center. His Dominican fans, who were enthusiastically waving the country’s flag, and his Boston fans let it be known which of the four inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame — Craig Biggio and John Smoltz were the others — was the most popular.0

Martinez performed a little dance as he waited to give his speech and after commissioner Rob Manfred had read the wording on his plaque out loud.

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There were red K signs in the backdrop, just like the ones that used to pop up at Fenway Park during Martinez’s illustrious tenure as a Red Sox.

Martinez, wearing a blue suit with a red, white, and blue tie, and patches on each shoulder paying tribute to the United States and the Dominican Republic, was true to his word that he wanted to honor his native country and his many Dominican fans, some of whom traveled from the country to attend.

“I would like to thank God for the opportunity of being here,” Martinez said. “I would like all of you to not look at me as numbers, as baseball, as achievements. I would like you to actually see me as a sign of hope for a Third World country, for Latin America, someone that you can really look up to, and feel comfortable enough to say, ‘I’m proud of you.’ ”

He added, “I would like to thank God for all the teammates I had. Jason Varitek, Kevin Millar, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz. So many names that I could mention today. I would like to thank all of you. The ones that I played with, the ones that I competed against, you guys helped me on the field, helped me defeat those other teams, and at the same time you guys built my courage, strength, and desire to go out there and beat you. The competition, I want to acknowledge you, and I want to tell you that I respected you, even though sometimes by the pitches you wouldn’t tell that.”

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Martinez acknowledged all the teams he played for, but he did not mention Red Sox owners John Henry and Tom Werner, both of whom were seated near the stage.

He thanked his four children and other family members, including his older brother Ramon and his wife Carolina for bringing some 100 family members together, some traveling from the Dominican.

Martinez, who will have his number 45 retired at Fenway on Tuesday, spoke first in English and then in Spanish.

Throughout the speech, Martinez said he wanted to emphasize “two words — God and thank you.”

“The two words I chose today were ‘God’ and ‘thank you,’ ” he said. “I chose God because he’s the reason we’re all here. He is the one that allows us to be here. He’s the one that pretty much builds the way for you to make it here, to actually become who you are. I have here the reason why Pedro was so determined out there. I have here the glory of God with me, and I can only look to my left a little bit, and I have all the motivation I needed to be the way I was in baseball — my family, my kids.”

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Martinez said he probably didn’t win the 2002 Cy Young Award because he didn’t make a start, deciding he wanted to give it to rookie Josh Hancock on Sept. 26 of that year.

Hancock died on April 29, 2007, while with the Cardinals. Martinez told the story because he felt bad that his brother Jesus never had the opportunity to pitch in a major league game and felt there should have three Martinezes represented in major league baseball.

“In 2002, I wasn’t given a Cy Young supposedly because I missed the start,” Martinez said. “Well, that Cy Young I didn’t win because I chose to give an opportunity to a kid named Josh Hancock. And why do I bring it up? Because out of four brothers that we are, Ramon, Nelson, me, and eventually Jesus, three of us made it to the big leagues. But Jesus is not in the record books because the organization he was playing for did not find the chance to give him one pitch in the big leagues so that he could be in the records. That was the main reason why I decided not to take that outing, but to give it to Josh Hancock. I felt bad that my brother Jesus did not experience what it was like to pitch in that game that day. So, Jesus, don’t feel bad. We pitch enough for you. We’re here. So love you. Baseball is yours, too. What we get is ours.”

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Martinez had a couple of funny lines. He said of the 6-foot-10-inch Johnson, “Randy Johnson, the Big Unit, my brother from another mother. I just want to ask you, how does the weather feel when you stand up?”

Former Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette and one of Martinez’s coaches in Montreal, Tommy Harper, a former Red Sox player, coach, and current team special instructor, were in attendance.

“I have a gentleman here that I think is crazy. I have a gentleman here whose name is Dan Duquette. He was crazy to trade twice for the same little player, and both times he ended up looking great. And he wanted me for a third time, but I was too old. So, Dan, thank you so much for having so much faith in me, trusting that I was going to make you look good. I thought you were good looking without me, but I guess I shape you more.”

About Harper, Martinez said, “[Montreal manager] Felipe [Alou] gave me the opportunity. I was trying to take advantage of it. There was a time where I felt like I wasn’t performing up to the level. You gave me [some] of the best advice I could ever take with me. Thank you for telling me that the organ kept on playing because at that moment I felt like I was failing, and you just told me, ‘That’s only a little slump. How do you get into the slump? You got into the slump pitching. Well, that’s the same way you have to come out of it.’ I kept my faith and I kept my head up and I kept working. Today I can say I thank you for that. The organ, yes, kept on playing.”

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(Boston Globe) Pedro Martinez’s plaque installed in the Hall of Fame. (By Alan Miller, Globe Staff)
(Boston Globe) Pedro Martinez's plaque installed in the Hall of Fame. (By Alan Miller, Globe Staff)

He then singled out his catcher in Boston, Varitek, who could not make the ceremony because of his involvement in Red Sox trade talks. He also mentioned his longtime trainer, Chris Correnti, Ramirez, and Ortiz.

“It’s great honor to be here. It’s great moment not only for me, for my family, it’s a great moment for the Dominican Republic and Latin America,” Martinez said.

Martinez, who pitched for the Red Sox from 1998 to 2004, made a point to express thanks for his years in Boston. “Boston, I don’t have enough words to say how much I love you,” he said.

The words on his plaque, chosen by representatives of the Baseball Hall of Fame, read as follows:

“Featuring an electric arsenal of pitches that vanquished batters during an era of high octane offense, the fiery righty from the Dominican Republic owned the inside part of the plate with an exploding fastball and confounding change-up. Led league in E.R.A. five times and strikeouts three times en route to three Cy Young Awards and eight All-Star Selections. First pitcher to retire with 3,154 strikeouts in fewer than 3,000 innings. Won 219 games with an astounding .687 winning percentage. Posted 117-37 record in Boston, helping to lead Red Sox to 2004 World Series Championship.”

Martinez continued to emphasize, as he did on Saturday, that he wanted to be seen as a vehicle of hope for his countrymen.

“I feel proud to be from Dominican Republic,” Martinez said. “I give this to all the fathers in the Dominican because today is Father’s Day in the Dominican. The day I got called to be in the Hall of Fame is Jan. 6, which is Kid’s Day. To all the fathers in the Dominican Republic, feel like this is your gift today.

“I thank you all for your patience. I would like to do something that will probably break the protocol, but I would like to give my people an opportunity that we don’t get very often, and we had to wait for 32 years for us to do. So I would like to invite Mr. Juan Marichal to come forward and give the Dominican Republic a gift they waited 32 years to get.”

It was the Dominican flag, which they both held up as the crowd went crazy.

Pedro Martinez and fellow Dominican Hall of Famer Juan Marichal held their country’s flag after the ceremony.Jim Davis/Globe Staff/Globe Staff
Pedro Martinez fans celebrated before the induction ceremony.Elsa/Getty Images/Getty

Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickcafardo.