document_title: Beauty and the Beast (2017 film)

question_text: who voiced the beast in beauty and the beast 2017

text: Beauty and the Beast (2017 film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: In Rococo-era France, an enchantress disguised as an old beggar woman arrives at a castle during a ball and offers the host, a coldhearted prince, a rose for shelter. When he refuses, she transforms him into a beast and his servants into household objects, and erases the castle from the memories of their loved ones. She casts a spell on the rose and warns the prince that the curse will never lift unless he learns to love another, and earn their love in return, before the last petal falls.

text: Some years later, in the small town of Villeneuve, Belle dreams of adventure and brushes off advances from Gaston, an arrogant former soldier. Lost in the forest, Belle's father Maurice seeks refuge in the Beast's castle, but the Beast imprisons him for stealing a rose from his garden as a birthday gift to Belle. Belle ventures out in search for him, and finds him locked in the castle dungeon. The Beast agrees to let her take Maurice's place.

text: Belle befriends the castle's servants, who invite her to a spectacular dinner. When she wanders into the forbidden west wing and finds the rose, the Beast, enraged, scares her into the woods. She is ambushed by a pack of wolves, but the Beast rescues her, and is injured in the process. As Belle nurses his wounds, a friendship develops between them. The Beast shows Belle a gift from the enchantress, a book that transports readers wherever they want. Belle uses it to visit her childhood home in Paris, where she discovers a plague doctor mask and realizes that she and her father were forced to leave her mother's deathbed when her mother succumbed to the plague.

text: In Villeneuve, Gaston sees rescuing Belle as an opportunity to win her hand in marriage, and agrees to help Maurice. When Maurice learns of his ulterior motive and rejects him, Gaston abandons him to the wolves. Maurice is rescued by the herb-wife Agathe, but when he tells the townsfolk of Gaston's crime but is unable to provide solid evidence, Gaston convinces them to send Maurice to an insane asylum.

text: After sharing a romantic dance with the Beast, Belle discovers her father's predicament using a magic mirror. The Beast releases her to save Maurice, giving her the mirror to remember him with. At Villeneuve, Belle proves Maurice's sanity by revealing the Beast in the mirror to the townsfolk. Realizing that Belle loves the Beast, Gaston has her thrown into the asylum carriage with her father, and rallies the villagers to follow him to the castle to slay the Beast. Maurice and Belle escape, and Belle rushes back to the castle.

text: During the battle, Gaston abandons his companion LeFou, who then sides with the servants to fend off the villagers. Gaston attacks the Beast in his tower, who is too depressed to fight back, but regains his spirit upon seeing Belle return. He overpowers Gaston, but spares his life before reuniting with Belle. However, Gaston fatally shoots the Beast from a bridge, but it collapses when the castle crumbles, and he falls to his death. The Beast dies as the last petal falls, and the servants become inanimate. When Belle tearfully professes her love to him, Agathe reveals herself as the enchantress and undoes the curse, repairing the crumbling castle, and restoring the Beast's and servants' human forms and the villagers' memories. The Prince and Belle host a ball for the kingdom, where they dance happily.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Emma Watson as Belle, a young benevolent bibliophile woman who develops feelings for the Beast and begins to see the humanity within him.

Daisy Duczmal portrays an infant Belle.

Dan Stevens as The prince / Beast, a cold-hearted prince who is transformed into a beast and forced to earn back his humanity by learning to truly love and be loved in return.[11][12]

Adam Mitchell[3] portrays the younger version of the prince.

Luke Evans as Gaston, a narcissistic and arrogant hunter and veteran of the French Royal Army who is willing to go as far as it takes to have Belle as his trophy wife.
Kevin Kline as Maurice, Belle's protective widowed father.[13]

Jolyon Coy portrays the young Maurice.

Josh Gad as LeFou, Gaston's flamboyant and long-suffering sidekick who bolsters his friend's ego but gets very little in return.[14]
Ewan McGregor as Lumière, the Beast's charismatic bouteiller who has been transformed into a candelabra.[15]
Stanley Tucci as Maestro Cadenza, the neurotic court composer and Madame de Garderobe's husband who has been transformed into a harpsichord.[16]
Audra McDonald as Madame de Garderobe, a world-renowned opera singer and Cadenza's wife who has been transformed into a wardrobe.[17]
Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Plumette, one of the castle maids and Lumière's lover who has been transformed into a feather duster.[18]
Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, the Beast's gruff but loyal majordomo and the head of the household staff who has been transformed into a mantel clock.[19]
Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts, the castle's motherly head housekeeper who has been transformed into a teapot.[13]
Hattie Morahan as Agathe, an impoverished hermit and resident of Villeneuve who, in reality, is the enchantress responsible for cursing the Prince.[20] Morahan also narrates the prologue.

Rita Davies portrays the enchantress in her beggar woman form. The film is released posthumously after Davies' death.

Nathan Mack as Chip, Mrs. Potts' plucky son who has been transformed into a teacup.[21]
Adrian Schiller as Monsieur D'Arque, the sly warden of the local asylum who is bribed by Gaston to have Maurice institutionalized.[20]
Gerard Horan as Monsieur Jean Potts, an absent-minded potter and resident of Villeneuve who is later revealed to be Mrs. Potts' husband and Chip's father.
Haydn Gwynne as Clothilde, a fishmonger and resident of Villeneuve who is later revealed to be Cogsworth's wife.
Michael Jibson as the Tavern Keeper, the owner and keeper of Villeneuve's local tavern where Gaston and the village residents drink.
Ray Fearon as Père Robert, Villeneuve's local chaplain who encourages Belle to borrow the books in the chapel's meager library.
Sophie Reid, Rafaëlle Cohen, and Carla Nella as the Village Lasses, a trio of women who fawn over Gaston and have a jealousy for Belle.
Jimmy Johnston, Dean Street, and Alexis Loizon as Tom, Dick, and Stanley, a trio of men who serve as Gaston's henchmen.
Zoe Rainey as Belle's mother, Maurice's late wife who contracted the plague and died when Belle was an infant.
Clive Rowe as Cuisinier, the castle's head chef who has been transformed into a stove.
Gizmo as Frou-Frou, Maestro Cadenza's and Madame de Garderobe's pet Yorkshire Terrier who has been transformed into a footstool.
Thomas Padden as Chapeau, the prince's valet who has been transformed into a coat rack.
Tom Turner[4] as The King, the prince's father who, following his wife's death, raised his son to be just as selfish and arrogant as he was.
Harriet Jones as The Queen, the prince's mother who died of an illness when he was a child.
Dale Branston as Villeneuve's residential baker.
Chris Andrew Mellon as Nasty Headmaster, the unnamed headmaster of an all boys school in Villeneuve that disapproves of Belle teaching a young girl how to read.
Vivian Parry as the Village Lass' mother, an unnamed seamstress.

text: Cast notes[edit]

text: ^ In the initial theatrical release, Mitchell was miscredited as Rudi Gooman in the cast, but listed under his real name in the soundtrack credits.[22]

text: ^ In the initial theatrical release, Turner is miscredited as Henry Garrett in the cast.[22]

text: Stephen Merchant also appeared in the film as Monsieur Toilette, a servant who was turned into a toilet. This character was cut from the film, but is featured in the deleted scenes.[23]

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: Previously, Disney had begun work on a film adaptation of the 1994 Broadway musical.[24][25] However, in a 2011 interview, composer Alan Menken stated the planned film version of the Beauty and the Beast stage musical "was canned".[26]

text: By April 2014, Walt Disney Pictures had already begun developing a new live-action version and remake of Beauty and the Beast after making other live-action fantasy films such as Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, Cinderella and The Jungle Book.[27] In June 2014, Bill Condon was signed to direct the film from a script by Evan Spiliotopoulos.[28] Later in September of that same year, Stephen Chbosky (who had previously directed Watson in The Perks of Being a Wallflower) was hired to re-write the script.[29]

text: Before Condon was hired to direct the film, Disney approached him with a proposal to remake the film in a more radical way as Universal Studios had remade Snow White and the Huntsman (2012). Condon later explained that "after Frozen opened, the studio saw that there was this big international audience for an old-school-musical approach. But initially, they said, 'We're interested in a musical to a degree, but only half full of songs.' My interest was taking that film and doing it in this new medium—live-action—as a full-on musical movie. So I backed out for a minute, and they came back and said, 'No, no, no, we get it, let's pursue it that way.'"[30] Walt Disney Pictures president of production Sean Bailey credited Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan F. Horn with the decision to make the film as a musical: "We worked on this for five or six years, and for 18 months to two years, Beauty was a serious dramatic project, and the scripts were written to reflect that. It wasn't a musical at that time. But we just couldn't get it to click and it was Alan Horn who championed the idea of owning the Disney of it all. We realized there was a competitive advantage in the songs. What is wrong with making adults feel like kids again?"[31]

text: Casting[edit]

text: In January 2015, Emma Watson announced that she would be starring as Belle, the female lead.[32] She was the first choice of Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan F. Horn, as he had previously overseen Warner Bros. which released the eight Harry Potter films that co-starred Watson as Hermione Granger.[31] Two months later, Luke Evans and Dan Stevens were revealed to be in talks to play Gaston and the Beast respectively,[33][34] and Watson confirmed their casting the following day through tweets.[11][35] The rest of the principal cast, including Josh Gad, Emma Thompson, Kevin Kline, Audra McDonald, Ian McKellen, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Ewan McGregor and Stanley Tucci were announced between March and April to play LeFou, Mrs. Potts, Maurice, Madame de Garderobe, Cogsworth, Plumette, Lumière and Cadenza, respectively.[14][13][17][19][18][15][16][36]

text: Susan Egan originated the role of Belle on Broadway, commented on the casting of Watson as "perfect".[37] Paige O'Hara, who voiced Belle in the original animated film and its sequels, offered to help Watson with her singing lessons.[38]

text: According to The Hollywood Reporter, Emma Watson was reportedly paid $3 million upfront, together with an agreement that her final take-home pay could rise as high as $15 million if the film generated gross box office income similar to Maleficent's $759 million worldwide gross.[39]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Principal photography on the film began at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, United Kingdom, on May 18, 2015.[13][40][41] Filming with the principal actors concluded on August 21.[42][43] Six days later, co-producer Jack Morrissey confirmed that the film had officially wrapped production.[44]

text: The Beast was portrayed with a “more traditional motion capture puppeteering for the body and the physical orientation", where actor Dan Stevens was "in a forty-pound gray suit on stilts for much of the film". The facial capture for the Beast was done separately in order to "communicate the subtleties of the human face" and "[capture the] thought that occurs to him" which gets "through [to] the eyes, which are the last human element in the Beast.” The castle servants who are transformed into household objects were created with CGI animation.[6]

text: Before the release of the film, Bill Condon refilmed one certain sequence in the "Days of the Sun" number, due to confusion among test audiences caused by actress Harriet Jones, who looked similar to Hattie Morahan, who portrayed Agathe. In the original version of the scene, it was Jones's character, the Prince's mother, who sings the first verse of the song, with Rudi Goodman playing the young Prince and Henry Garrett playing his father; but in the reshot version of the scene, the singing part is given to the Prince (now played by Adam Mitchell). The King was also recast to Tom Turner, although Harriet Jones was still the Queen, albeit with dark hair. Both Goodman and Garrett's names were mistakenly featured in the original theatrical release's credits, but was later corrected in home releases.[22]

text: Music[edit]

text: When released in 1991, Beauty and the Beast marked a turning point for Walt Disney Pictures by appealing to millions of fans with its Oscar-winning musical score by lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken. In Bill Condon's opinion, that original score was the key reason he agreed to direct a live-action version of the movie. "That score had more to reveal", he says, "You look at the songs and there's not a clunker in the group. In fact, Frank Rich described it as the best Broadway musical of 1991. The animated version was already darker and more modern than the previous Disney fairytales. Take that vision, put it into a new medium, make it a radical reinvention, something not just for the stage because it's not just being literal, now other elements come into play. It's not just having real actors do it".[45]

text: Condon initially prepared on only drawing inspiration from the original film, but he also planned to include most of the songs composed by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice from the Broadway musical, with the intention of making the film as a "straight-forward, live-action, large-budget movie musical".[46] Menken returned to score the film's music, which features songs from the original film by him and Howard Ashman, plus new material written by Menken and Tim Rice.[47] Menken said the film will not include songs that were written for the Broadway musical and instead, created four new songs.[48] However, an instrumental version of the song "Home", which was written for the musical, is used during the scene where Belle first enters her room in the castle.[49]

text: On January 19, 2017, it was confirmed by both Disney and Céline Dion—singer of the original 1991 Beauty and the Beast duet song, with singer Peabo Bryson—that Dion would be performing one of the new original songs "How Does a Moment Last Forever" to play over the end titles.[50] She originally had doubts about whether or not to record the song due to the recent death of her husband and manager René Angélil, who had previously helped her secure the 1991 pop duet. While ultimately accepting the opportunity, she said: "[The] first Beauty and the Beast decision was made with my husband. Now I'm making decisions on my own. It's a little bit harder. I couldn't say yes right away, because I felt like I was kind of cheating in a way". She eventually felt compelled to record the song because of the impact Beauty and the Beast has had on her career. According to Dion, "I was at the beginning of my career, it put me on the map, it put me where I am today". Also, Josh Groban was announced to be performing the new original song "Evermore" on January 26, 2017.[51][52][53][54]

text: The 2017 film features a remake of the 1991 original song Beauty and the Beast recorded as a duet by Ariana Grande and John Legend.[55][56] Grande and Legend's updated version of the Beauty and the Beast title song is faithful to the original, Grammy-winning duet, performed by Céline Dion and Peabo Bryson for the 1991 Disney film.[57]

text: Emma Thompson also performed a rendition of "Beauty and the Beast", which was performed by Angela Lansbury in the original 1991 animated film release.[58]

text: Disney debuted the music video for Ariana Grande and John Legend's interpretation of the title song "Beauty and the Beast" on Freeform television network on March 5, 2017, and it has since attained over 100 million video views on the Vevo video-hosting service.[58]

text: Release[edit]

text: On March 16, 2015, Disney announced the film would be released in 3D on March 17, 2017.[13] The first official presentation of the film took place at Disney's three-day D23 Expo in August 2015.[59]

text: The world premiere of Beauty and the Beast took place on February 23, 2017, at Spencer House in London, United Kingdom;[60] and the film later premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California, on March 2, 2017. The stream was broadcast onto YouTube.

text: A sing along version of the film released in over 1,200 US theaters nationwide on April 7, 2017.[61] The United Kingdom received the same version on April 21, 2017.[citation needed]

text: Marketing[edit]

text: Disney spent around $140 million for marketing the film worldwide.[62] Following an announcement on May 22, 2016,[63] Disney premiered the first official teaser trailer on Good Morning America the next day.[64] In its first 24 hours, the teaser trailer reached 91.8 million views, which topped the number of views seen in that amount of time in history, including for the teasers for other films distributed by Disney such as Avengers: Age of Ultron, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Captain America: Civil War.[65] This record has since been broken by Thor: Ragnarok and It.[66] The first official teaser poster was released on July 7, 2016.[67] On November 2, 2016, Entertainment Weekly debuted the first official image on the cover of their magazine for the week along with nine new photos as well.[68][69] One week later, Emma Watson and Disney debuted a new poster for the film.[70] On November 14, 2016, the first theatrical trailer was released again on Good Morning America.[71] The trailer reached 127.6 million views in its first 24 hours, setting a new record as the trailer with the most views in one day, beating out Fifty Shades Darker.[72] This record has since been broken again by The Fate of the Furious.[73] A TV spot with Watson singing was shown during the 74th Golden Globe Awards.[74] Disney released the final trailer on January 30, 2017.[75] BMW and Mini partnered with the film to promote it globally; including teasers, a television commercial featuring Mini Hatch John Cooper Works, BMW M2, Mini Clubman, BMW M3 and BMW M4, online exclusives, in-store and in-theater advertisements.

text: Home media[edit]

text: Beauty and the Beast was released on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD on June 6, 2017.[76] The film debuted at No. 1 on the NPD VideoScan overall disc sales chart, with all other titles in the top 20, collectively, selling only 40% as many units as Beauty and the Beast.[77] The movie regained the top spot on the national home video sales charts during its third week of release.[78] The movie became available on Netflix on September 19, 2017.

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: Beauty and the Beast grossed $504 million in the United States and Canada and $759.4 million in other territories for a worldwide gross of $1.263 billion.[a] With a production budget of $160 million, it is the second-most expensive musical ever made; only Hello, Dolly! (1969) with a budget of $25 million ($165 million in 2016 dollars) cost more.[4] In just ten days, it became the highest-grossing live-action musical of all time, beating the nine-year-old record held by Mamma Mia!. It is currently the second-biggest musical ever overall, behind Disney's Frozen (2013).[80] Worldwide, the film proved to be a global phenomenon, earning a total of $357 million over its four-day opening weekend from 56 markets. Critics said the film was playing like superhero movies amongst women. It was the second biggest March global opening, behind only Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the thirteenth-biggest worldwide opening ever and the seventh-biggest for Disney.[81] This includes $21 million from IMAX plays on 1,026 screens, a new record for an IMAX PG title.[82] It surpassed the entire lifetime total of the original film in just six days.[83][84]

text: Beauty and the Beast is the 300th digitally remastered release in IMAX company's history, which began with the re-release of Apollo 13 in 2002. Its robust global debut helped push the company past $6 billion for the first time,[85] and led to analysts believing that the film had a shot of passing $1 billion worldwide from theatrical earnings.[86][87][88][89] On April 12, it passed the $1 billion threshold, becoming the first film of 2017, the fourteenth Disney film, and the twenty-ninth film overall to pass the mark. It became the first film since Rogue One (also a Disney property) in December 2016 to make over a billion dollars, and did so on its twenty-ninth day of release.[90][91][92] It is currently the highest-grossing film of 2017,[93] the highest-grossing March release,[94] the highest-grossing remake of all-time,[95] and the fifth-biggest Disney film.[96] Even after inflation adjusted, it is still ahead of the $425 million gross ($760 million in 2017 dollars) of the original film.[95]

text: North America[edit]

text: In the United States and Canada, Beauty and the Beast topped Fandango's pre-sales and became the fastest-selling family film in the company's history, topping the studio's own animated film Finding Dory released the previous year. Early tracking had the film grossing around $100 million in its opening weekend, with some publications predicting it could reach $130 million.[97][98][99] By the time the film's release was 10 days away, analysts raised projections to as high as $150 million.[100][101] It earned $16.3 million from Thursday previews night, marking the biggest of 2017 (breaking Logan's record), the biggest ever for a Disney live-action film (breaking Maleficent's record), the second biggest ever for both a G or PG-rated film (behind the sixth Harry Potter film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince which also starred Watson), and the third biggest ever in the month of March (behind Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and The Hunger Games).[102] An estimated 41% of the gross came from IMAX, 3D and premium large format screenings which began at 6 pm, while the rest—59%—came from regular 2D shows which began at 7 p.m.[103] The numbers were considered more impressive given that the film played during a school week.[104]

text: On its opening day, the film made $63.8 million from 4,210 theaters across 9,200 screens, marking the third biggest in the month of March, trailing behind Batman v Superman ($81.5 million) and The Hunger Games ($67 million).[105][106] It was also the biggest opening day ever for a film that wasn't PG-13, displacing the $58 million opening Wednesday of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Its opening day alone (which includes Thursday's previews) almost matched the entire opening weekend of previous Disney live-action films, Maleficent ($69.4 million) and Cinderella ($67.9 million).[107] Unlike all previous four Disney live-action films witnessing a hike on their second day, Saturday, Beauty and the Beast actually fell 2%, but nevertheless, the dip was paltry, and the grosses are so much bigger compared to the other titles.[85] Earning a total of $174.8 million on its opening weekend, it defied all expectations and went on to set numerous notable records.[108] This includes the biggest opening of the year as well as the biggest for the month of March and pre-summer/spring opening, beating Batman v Superman,[109][110] the biggest start ever for a PG title (also for a family film), surpassing Finding Dory,[111] the biggest debut of all time for a female-fueled film, ahead of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,[112] the biggest for a Disney live-action adaptation, ahead of Alice in Wonderland[112] and the biggest musical debut ever, supplanting Pitch Perfect 2. Furthermore, it is also Watson's highest-opening, beating Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 same with Emma Thompson, director Bill Condon's biggest debut ever ahead of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 and the biggest outside of summer, save for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, not accounting for inflation.[108]

text: It became the forty-third film to debut with over $100 million and the fifteenth film to open above $150 million. Its three-day opening alone surpassed the entire original North American run of the first film ($146 million; before the 3D re-release), instantly becoming the second-biggest film of the year, behind Logan ($184 million), and also the second-highest-grossing musical, behind Grease's $188 million cumulative gross in 1978.[113] Seventy percent of the total ticket sales came from 2D showings signifying that people who don't go to theaters frequently came out in bulk to watch the film. About 26% of the remaining tickets were for 3D. IMAX accounted for 7% ($12.5 million) of the total weekend's gross, setting a new record for a PG title, ahead of Alice in Wonderland ($12.1 million) while PLF repped 11% of the box office.[85] Seventy percent of the film's opening day demographic was female, dropping to 60% through the weekend.[112] According polling service PostTrak, about 84 percent of American parents who saw the film on its opening day said they would "definitely" recommend it for families.[114][115] The film's opening was credited to positive word of mouth from audiences, good reviews from critics, effective marketing which sold the title not just as a family film but also as a romantic drama, the cast's star power (especially Emma Watson), lack of competition, being the first family film since The Lego Batman Movie a month earlier, nostalgia, and the success and ubiquity of the first film and Disney's brand.[114][116]

text: On Monday, its fourth day of release, the film fell precipitously by 72% earning $13.5 million. The steep fall was due to a limited marketplace where only 11% K-12 and 15% colleges were off per ComScore. Nevertheless, it is the second-biggest March Monday, behind Batman v Superman ($15 million).[117] This was followed by the biggest March and pre-summer Tuesday with $17.8 million, a 32% increase from its previous day. The same day, the film passed $200 million in ticket sales.[118] It earned $228.6 million in the first week of release, the sixth-biggest seven-day gross of all time.[119] In its second weekend, the film continued to maintain the top positioning and fell gradually by 48% earning another $90.4 million to register the fourth-biggest second weekend of all time, and the third-biggest for Disney.[120] In terms of percentage drop, its 48% decline is the third-smallest drop for any film opening above $125 million (behind Finding Dory and The Force Awakens).[80] The hold was notable considering how the film was able to fend off three new wide releases: Power Rangers, Life, and CHiPs.[121] As a result, it passed the $300 million threshold becoming the first film of 2017 the pass said mark.[122] The film grossed $45.4 million in its third weekend, finally being overtaken for the top spot by newcomer The Boss Baby ($50.2 million).[123] On April 4, 2017, its nineteenth day of release, it passed the $400 million threshold becoming the first film of 2017 to do so.[124] By its fourth weekend, the film began was playing in 3,969 cinemas, a fall of 241 theaters from its previous weekend. Of those, approximately 1,200 cinemas were sing-along versions. It earned $26.3 million (-48%) and retained second place. By comparison, previous Disney films Moana (−8%) and Frozen (−2%) both witnessed mild percentage declines the weekend their sing-alone versions were released.[125] Its seventh weekend of release was in contemporaneous with another Emma Watson-starring new film The Circle.[126] That weekend, The Circle was number four, while Beauty and the Beast was at number six.[127] By May 28, the film had earned over $500 million in ticket sales becoming the first (and currently only) film of 2017, the third female-fueled film (after The Force Awakens and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story followed by Wonder Woman) and the eighth overall film in cinematic history to pass the mark.[128][129][130]

text: It has already become the biggest March release, dethroning The Hunger Games (2012),[131] the biggest musical film (both animated and live-action),[132] as well as the biggest film of 2017.[133]

text: Outside North America[edit]

text: Internationally, the film began playing on Thursday, March 16, 2017. Through Sunday, March 19, it had a total international opening of $182.3 million from 55 markets, 44 of which were major territories, far exceeding initial estimations of $100 million and opened at No. 1 in virtually all markets except Vietnam, Turkey, and India. Its launch is the second-biggest for the month of March, behind Batman v Superman ($256.5 million). In IMAX, it recorded the biggest debut for a PG title (although it carried varying certificate amongst different markets) with $8.5 million from 649 screens, the second-biggest for a PG title behind The Jungle Book.[134] In its second weekend, it fell just by 35% earning another $120.6 million and maintaining its first position hold. It added major markets like France and Australia.[135] It topped the international box office for three consecutive weekends[136] before finally being dethroned by Ghost in the Shell and The Boss Baby in its fourth weekend. Despite the fall, the film helped Disney push past the $1 billion thresold internationally for the first time in 2017.[137][92]

text: It scored the biggest opening day of the year in Hong Kong and the Philippines, the biggest March Thursday in Italy ($1 million, also the biggest Disney Thursday debut), the biggest March opening day in Austria, and the second-biggest in Germany ($1.1 million), Disney's biggest March in Denmark, the biggest Disney live-action debut in China ($12.6 million), the UK ($6.2 million), Mexico ($2.4 million) and Brazil ($1.8 million) and the third-biggest in South Korea with $1.2 million, behind only Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.[138][139] In terms of opening weekend, the largest debut came from China ($44.8 million), followed by the UK ($24.3 million), Korea ($11.8 million), Mexico ($11.8 million), Australia ($11.1 million), Brazil ($11 million), Germany ($10.7 million), France ($8.4 million), Italy ($7.6 million), Philippines ($6.3 million), Russia ($6 million) and Spain ($5.8 million).[134][135]

text: In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the film recorded the biggest opening ever for a PG-rated film, the biggest Disney live-action opening of all time, the biggest March opening weekend, the biggest opening for a musical (ahead of 2012's Les Misérables), the number one opening of 2017 to date and the fifth-biggest-ever overall with £19.7 million ($24.5 million) from 639 theatres and almost twice that of The Jungle Book (£9.9 million).[140] This included the second-biggest Saturday ever (£7.9 million), only behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens.[141] It witnessed a decline in its second weekend, earning £12.33 million ($15.4 million). Though the film was falling at a faster rate than The Jungle Book, it had already surpassed the said film and its second weekend is the third-biggest ever (behind the two James Bond films Skyfall (2012) and Spectre).[142][135] In India, despite facing heavy competitions from four new Hindi releases, two Tamils films and a Malayalam and a Punjabi release, the film managed to take an occupancy of 15% on its opening day, an impressive feat despite tremendous competitions.[143][144][145] It earned around ₹1.5 crore (US$230,000) nett on its opening day from an estimated 600 screens which is more than the three Hindi releases—Machine, Trapped, and Aa Gaya Hero—combined.[146] Disney reported a total of ₹9.26 crore (US$1.4 million) gross for its opening weekend there. It was ahead of all new releases and second overall behind Bollywood film Badrinath Ki Dulhania.[147][148][149] In Russia, despite receiving a restrictive 16 rating, the film managed to deliver a very successful opening with $6 million.[150]

text: In China, expectations were high for the film. The release date was announced on January 24, giving Disney and local distributor China Film Group Corporation ample time—around two months—to market the film nationwide. The release date was strategically chosen to coincide with White Day. Preliminary reports suggested that it could open to $40–60 million in its opening weekend. Largely driven by young women, its opening day pre-sales outpaced that of The Jungle Book.[151] The original film was, however, never widely popular in the country.[152] Although China has occasionally blocked gay-themed content from streaming video services, in this case, Chinese censors decided to leave the gay scene intact. According to local box office tracker Ent Group, the film grossed an estimated $12.1 million on its opening day (Friday), representing 70% of the total receipts. Including previews, it made a total of $14.5 million from 100,000 screenings, which is 43% of all screenings in the country.[153] It climbed to $18.5 million on Saturday (102,700 showings) for a three-day total of $42.6 million, securing 60% of the total marketplace. Disney on the other hand reported a different figure of $44.8 million.[154][155] Either ways, it recorded the second-biggest opening for a Disney live-action film,[152] with $3.4 million coming from 386 IMAX screens.[134] Japan—a huge Disney market—served as the film's final market and opened there on April 21.[135] It debuted with a better-than-expected $12.5 million on its opening weekend helping the film push past the $1.1 billion threshold. An estimated $1.1 million came from IMAX screenings, the fourth-biggest ever in the country.[156][157] The two-day gross was $9.7 million, outstripping Frozen's previous record of $9.5 million.[158] Due to positive reviews, good word-of-mouth and benefitting from the Golden Week, the film saw a 9% increase on its second weekend. The hold was strong enough to fend off newcomer The Fate of the Furious from securing the top spot. The total there is now over $98 million after seven weekends[159][160][161] and is the biggest film release of the year and, overall, the eleventh-biggest of all time.[162] It topped the box office there for eight consecutive weekends.[163][164]

text: The only markets where the film did not top the weekend charts were Vietnam (behind Kong: Skull Island), Turkey (with two local movies and Logan ahead) and India (where Badrinath Ki Dulhania retained No. 1).[134] It topped the box office for four straight weekends in Germany, Korea, Austria, Finland, Poland, Portugal, Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, Switzerland and the UK (exclusive of previews).[137][165] In the Philippines, it emerged as the most successful commercial film of all time—both local and foreign—with over $13.5 million.[166] In just five weeks, the film became one of the top 10 highest-grossing film of all time in the United Kingdom and Ireland, ahead of all but one Harry Potter film (Deathly Hallows – Part 2) and all three The Lord of the Rings movies (which also starred Ian McKellen).[167] It is currently the eighth-biggest grosser with £70.1 million ($90 million), overtaking Mamma Mia! to become the biggest musical production ever there.[156][168] The biggest international earning markets following the UK are Japan ($108 million), China ($85.8 million), Brazil ($41.5 million), Korea ($37.5 million), and Australia ($35 million).[163] In Europe alone, the cumulative total is $267 million to become the second-highest-grossing film in the past year (behind Rogue One: A Star Wars Story).[156][159][169]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: Beauty and the Beast received generally positive reviews, with praise for the faithfulness to the original film with a few elements of the Broadway musical version, cast performances, visuals, Jacqueline Durran's costume designs, production design, Alan Menken's musical score and songs, though the designs of the Beast and the servants' household object forms received mixed reviews..[9][10] On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 71% based on 299 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "With an enchanting cast, beautifully crafted songs, and a painterly eye for detail, Beauty and the Beast offers a faithful yet fresh retelling that honors its beloved source material."[170] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 65 out of 100, based on 47 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[171] In CinemaScore polls, audiences gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[172][173]

text: Leslie Felperin of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "It's a Michelin-triple-starred master class in patisserie skills that transforms the cinematic equivalent of a sugar rush into a kind of crystal-meth-like narcotic high that lasts about two hours." Felperin also praised the performances of Watson and Kline as well the special effects, costume designs and the sets while commended the inclusion of Gad's character of LeFou as the first LGBT character in Disney.[174] Owen Gleiberman of Variety, in his positive review of the film, wrote: "It's a lovingly crafted movie, and in many ways a good one, but before that it's an enraptured piece of old-is-new nostalgia." Gleiberman compared Steven's character of the Beast to a royal version of the titular character in The Elephant Man and the 1946 version of the Beast in Jean Cocteau's original adaptation.[175] A. O. Scott of The New York Times praised the performances of both Watson and Stevens, and wrote: "It looks good, moves gracefully and leaves a clean and invigorating aftertaste. I almost didn't recognize the flavor: I think the name for it is joy."[176] Likewise, The Washington Post's Ann Hornaday complimented Watson's performance, describing it as "alert and solemn" while noting her singing ability as "serviceable enough to get the job done".[177] Richard Roeper of Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film three and a half stars, lauded the performances of Watson and Thompson which he drew a comparison to Paige O'Hara's and Angela Lansbury's performances in the 1991 animated version while appreciating the performances of the other cast and also pointing out on its usage of the combination of motion capture and CGI technology as a big advantage which he stated: "Almost overwhelmingly lavish, beautifully staged and performed with exquisite timing and grace by the outstanding cast".[178] Mike Ryan of Uproxx praised the cast, production design and the new songs while noting the film doesn't try anything different, saying: "There's certainly nothing that new about this version of Beauty and the Beast (well, except it isn't a cartoon anymore), but it's a good recreation of a classic animated film that should leave most die-hards satisfied."[179] In her A- review, Nancy Churnin of The Dallas Morning News praised the film's emotional and thematic depth, remarking: "There's an emotional authenticity in director Bill Condon's live-action Beauty and the Beast film that helps you rediscover Disney's beloved 1991 animated film and 1994 stage show in fresh, stirring ways."[180] James Berardinelli of ReelViews described the 2017 version as "enthralling".[181]

text: Brian Truitt of USA Today commended the performances of Evans, Gad, McGregor and Thompson alongside Condon's affinity with musicals, the production design, visual effects featured in some of the song numbers including new songs made by the composers Alan Menken and Tim Rice, particularly Evermore which he described the new song with a potential for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.[182] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone rated the film three out of four stars which he deemed it as an "exhilarating gift" while he remarked that "Beauty and the Beast does justice to Disney's animated classic, even if some of the magic is M.I.A (Missing in Action)."[183] Stephanie Zacharek of Time magazine gave a positive review with a description as "Wild, Vivid and Crazy-Beautiful" as she wrote "Nearly everything about Beauty and the Beast is larger than life, to the point that watching it can be a little overwhelming." and added that "it’s loaded with feeling, almost like a brash interpretive dance expressing the passion and elation little girls (and some boys, too) must have felt upon seeing the earlier version."[184] The San Francisco Chronicle's Mick LaSalle struck an affirmative tone, calling it one of the joys of 2017, stating that "Beauty and the Beast creates an air of enchantment from its first moments, one that lingers and builds and takes on qualities of warmth and generosity as it goes along" while referring the film as "beautiful" and also praised the film for its emotional and psychological tone as well Steven's motion capture performance.[185] Tim Robey of The Daily Telegraph gave the film four stars out of five and wrote that "It dazzles on this chocolate box of a picture that feels almost greedy yet to make this film work, down to a sugar-rush finale to grasp the nettle and make an out-an-out, bells-and-whistles musical" while he praised the performances of Watson, McKellen, Thompson, McGregor, Evans and Gad.[186] Mark Hughes of Forbes also similarly praised the film which he wrote that "it could revive the story in a faithful but entirely new and unique way elevating the material beyond expectations, establishing itself as a cinematic equal to the original" and also complimented the importance of undertaking a renowned yet problematic masterpiece as well addressing changes in the elements of the story while acknowledging the film's effectiveness in resonating to the audiences.[187]

text: Several critics regarded the film as inferior to its 1991 animated predecessor. David Sims of The Atlantic wrote that the 2017 film "feels particularly egregious, in part, because it’s so slavishly devoted to the original; every time it falls short of its predecessor (which is quite often), it’s hard not to notice".[188] Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune said that the 2017 film "takes our knowledge and our interest in the material for granted. It zips from one number to another, throwing a ton of frenetically edited eye candy at the screen, charmlessly." Phillips wrote that the film featured some "less conspicuously talented" performers who are "stuck doing karaoke, or motion-capture work of middling quality", though he praised Kline's performance as the "best, sweetest thing in the movie; he brings a sense of calm, droll authority".[189] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian praised Watson's performance and wrote that the film was "lit in that fascinatingly artificial honey-glow light, and it runs smoothly on rails—the kind of rails that bring in and out the stage sets for the lucrative Broadway touring version." In the same newspaper, Wendy Ide criticized the film as "ornate to the point of desperation" in its attempt to emulate the animated film.[190][191]

text: Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B-, writing that while the film looks "exceptionally great", the new songs were "not transporting". He felt the film needed more life and depth, but praised Watson's and Steven's performances as the "film’s stronger elements".[192] Dana Schwartz of The New York Observer felt that some of the characters, such as Gaston and the Beast, had been watered down from the 1991 film, and that the additional backstory elements failed to "advance the plot or theme in any meaningful way" while adding considerable bloat. Schwartz considered the singing of the cast to be adequate but felt that their voices should have been dubbed over, especially for the complex songs.[193]

text: Accolades[edit]

text:
Award
Date of ceremony
Category
Recipient(s) and nominee(s)
Result
Ref.

MTV Movie & TV Awards
May 7, 2017
Movie of the Year
Beauty and the Beast
Won
[194]

Best Actor in a Movie
Emma Watson

Best Kiss
Emma Watson and Dan Stevens
Nominated

Best Duo
Josh Gad and Luke Evans

Golden Trailer Awards
June 6, 2017
Best Animation/Family
Beauty and the Beast
[195]

Best Original Score

Best Animation/Family TV Spot

Best Fantasy Adventure TV Spot

Teen Choice Awards
August 13, 2017
Choice Movie: Fantasy
Won
[196]
[197]

Choice Movie: Fantasy Actor
Dan Stevens
Nominated

Choice Movie: Fantasy Actress
Emma Watson
Won

Choice Movie Villain
Luke Evans

Choice Movie Ship
Emma Watson and Dan Stevens

Choice Liplock

Choice Scene Stealer
Josh Gad
Nominated

Choice Hissy Fit
Luke Evans

Dan Stevens

Hollywood Film Awards
November 5, 2017
Costume Design Award
Jacqueline Durran
Won
[198]

Make-Up & Hair Styling Award
Jenny Shircore

Hollywood Music in Media Awards 2017
November 16, 2017
Best Original Song - Animated Film
"How Does a Moment Last Forever" - Alan Menken and Tim Rice
Pending
[199]

Best Soundtrack Album
Beauty and the Beast

text: Controversies[edit]

text: Gay character[edit]

text: Controversy erupted after director Bill Condon said there was a "gay moment" in the film, when LeFou briefly waltzes with Stanley, one of Gaston's friends.[200] Afterwards in an interview with Vulture.com, Condon stated, "Can I just say, I’m sort of sick of this. Because you've seen the movie—it's such a tiny thing, and it's been overblown." Condon also added that Beauty and the Beast features much more diversity than just the highly talked-about LeFou: "That was so important. We have interracial couples—this is a celebration of everybody's individuality, and that's what’s exciting about it.”[201] GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis praised the move stating, "It is a small moment in the film, but it is a huge leap forward for the film industry."[202]

text: In Russia, Vitaly Milonov agitated the culture minister for banning the film,[203] but instead it was given a 16+ rating (children under the age of 16 can only be admitted to see it in theaters with accompanying adults).[204] Additionally, a theater in Henagar, Alabama did not screen the film because of the subplot.[205] In Malaysia, the Film Censorship Board insisted the "gay moment" scene be cut, prompting an indefinite postponement of its release by Disney, followed by their decision to withdraw it completely if it could not be released uncensored.[206][207][208] The studio moved the release date to March 30, to allow more time for Malaysia's censor board to make a decision on whether or not to release the film without changes.[209] The distributors and producers then submitted an appeal to the Film Appeal Committee of Malaysia, which allowed the film to be released without any cuts and a P13 rating on the grounds that the "gay element" was minor and did not affect the positive elements featured in the film.[210][211] In Kuwait, the movie was withdrawn from cinemas by National Cinema Company which owns most of the cinemas in the country. A board member of the company stated that the Ministry of Information's censorship department had requested it to stop its screening and edit it for things deemed offensive by it.[212]

text: There were also a number of boycotts against the film. A call to boycott on LifePetitions received over 129,000 signatures,[213] while the American Family Association featured a petition to boycott with the film, asking the public to help crowdfund a CGI version of Pilgrim's Progress instead.[214]

text: The film also received criticsm over its portrayal of LeFou, as many felt that it relied on stereotypes[215] and was used as a way of teasing LGBT+ viewers without providing adequate representation.[216] LeFou's status as a sidekick to the main villain brought about criticism over Disney's queercoding of villains in the past, and his infatuation with Gaston was seen as relying on a stereotype of gay men being predatory towards straight men.[217] Furthermore, the only gay interaction LeFou has is a three second clip of him dancing with another man at the end of the film. Many saw this as Disney cheating its LGBT+ audiences.[218]

text: Belle and the Beast's relationship[edit]

text: Disney has sought to portray Belle as an empowered young woman,[219] but a debate questioning whether it is possible to fall in love with someone who is holding you prisoner, and whether this is a problematic theme, has resulted.[220] As was the case with the original animated film, one argument is that Belle suffers from Stockholm syndrome (a condition that causes hostages to develop a psychological alliance with their captors as a survival strategy during captivity). Emma Watson studied whether Belle is trapped in an abusive relationship with the Beast before signing on and concluded that she does not think the criticism fits this version of the folk tale.[221][222] Watson described Stockholm Syndrome as "where a prisoner will take on the characteristics of and fall in love with the captor. Belle actively argues and disagrees with [Beast] constantly. She has none of the characteristics of someone with Stockholm Syndrome because she keeps her independence, she keeps that freedom of thought", also adding that Belle defiantly "gives as good as she gets" before forming a friendship and romance with the Beast.[223]

text: Psychiatrist Frank Ochberg, who coined the term "Stockholm syndrome", said he does not think Belle exhibits the trauma symptoms of prisoners suffering from the syndrome because she does not go through a period of feeling that she is going to die.[224] Some therapists, while acknowledging that the pairing's relationship does not meet the clinical definition of Stockholm syndrome, argue that the relationship depicted is dysfunctional and abusive and does not model healthy romantic relationships for young viewers.[225][226] Constance Grady of Vox writes that Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's Beauty and the Beast was a fairy tale originally written to prepare young girls in 18th-century France for arranged marriages, and that the power disparity is amplified in the Disney version.[227] Anna Menta of Elite Daily argued that the Beast does not apologize to Belle for imprisoning, hurting, or manipulating her, and his treatment of Belle is not painted as wrong.[228]

text: Notes[edit]

text: ^ Jump up to: a b Beauty and the Beast at Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 14, 2017.

tag: ol


document_title: Pedro Martínez

question_text: who did the dodgers get for pedro martinez

question_tokens: who did the dodgers get for pedro martinez

root

text: Pedro Martínez

text: Early life[edit]

text: Martínez grew up in the Dominican Republic in the Santo Domingo suburb of Manoguayabo. He was the fifth of six siblings living in a palm wood house with a tin roof and dirt floors. His father, Pablo Jaime Abreu,[note 1] worked odd jobs. His mother, Leopoldina Martínez, worked for traditionally wealthy families, washing their clothes. When Pedro was old enough to work, he held a job as a mechanic.[16]

tag: p

text: He did not have enough money to afford baseballs, so he improvised with oranges. His older brother, Ramón Martínez, was pitching at a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball camp in the Dominican Republic. As a young teenager, Martínez carried his brother's bags at the camp. One day at the camp, Ramón Martínez clocked his 14-year-old brother's pitches at between 78 and 80 miles per hour.[17]

text: Martínez debuted professionally with the Tigres del Licey of the Dominican Winter League during the 1989-90 season. He then pitched briefly for the Azucareros del Este, before rejoining Licey in 1991-92 in a nine-player transaction that included George Bell, José Offerman and Julio Solano, among others.[18]

text:
[show]Ancestors of Pedro Martínez

8. Otilio Jaime (1880–?)

17. Eusebia Remigio

4. Vicente Jaime Encarnación

9. Virginia Encarnación (1885–?)

19. Dolores Encarnación

2. Paulino Jaime Abréu (1929–2008)

10. Basilio Abreu

5. Julia Abréu Martínez (1906–1973)

11. María Martínez

1. Pedro Jaime Martínez (1971)

24. Francisco Taveras

12. Nicolás Taveras Pérez

25. Paula Pérez

6. Guillermo Taveras Ubiera (1886–?)

13. Cándida Ubiera

3. Leopoldina Martínez Taveras (1945)

7. Inés Martínez García (†1964)

Source: Instituto Dominicano de Genealogía—Hoy[15]

tag: table

text: Career[edit]

text: Los Angeles Dodgers[edit]

text: Martínez was originally signed by the Dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1988. After pitching in the Dodgers farm system for several years, he made his MLB debut on September 24, 1992 for the Dodgers against the Cincinnati Reds, working two scoreless innings of relief. He made his first start for the Dodgers on September 30, taking the loss while giving up two runs in a 3–1 loss to the Reds.

text: Although Pedro's brother Ramón, then a star pitcher for the Dodgers, declared that his brother was an even better pitcher than he, the younger Martínez was thought by manager Tommy Lasorda too small to be an effective starting pitcher at the MLB level; Lasorda used Pedro Martínez almost exclusively as a relief pitcher.[19] Lasorda was not the first to question Martínez's stature and durability; in the minor leagues, the then-135-pound pitcher was threatened with a $500 fine if he was caught running. Martínez turned in a strong 1993 season as the Dodgers' setup man, going 10–5 with a 2.61 ERA and 119 strikeouts, in 65 games; his 107 innings led all NL relievers.[20] With the Dodgers in need of a second baseman after a contract dispute with Jody Reed, Martínez was traded to the Montreal Expos for Delino DeShields before the 1994 season.

text: Montreal Expos[edit]

text: It was with the Expos that Martínez developed into one of the top pitchers in baseball. Despite possessing a live fastball, he had difficulty maintaining control. It was during a bullpen session that manager Felipe Alou encouraged him to modify his primary grip on the fastball from two fingers to four. The transformation was dramatic: the fastball − already among the fastest in the game − now was thrown with near-impeccable control and break that routinely overwhelmed hitters. On April 13, 1994, Martínez took a perfect game through 7 1⁄3 innings until throwing a brushback pitch at Reggie Sanders that led Sanders to immediately charge the mound, starting a bench-clearing brawl. Martínez ended up with a no-decision in the game, which the Expos eventually won 3–2.

text: On June 3, 1995, Martínez pitched nine perfect innings in a game against the San Diego Padres, before giving up a hit in the bottom of the 10th inning. He was immediately removed from the game, and was the winning pitcher in Montreal's 1–0 victory. [See Memorable Games]

text: In 1996, during a game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Mike Williams attempted to hit Martínez with retaliatory pitches for an earlier hit batter but failed with two consecutive attempts. After the second attempt, Martínez charged the mound, and started a bench-clearing fight.

text: In 1997, Martínez posted a 17–8 record for the Expos, and led the league in half a dozen pitching categories, including a 1.90 ERA, 305 strikeouts and 13 complete games pitched, while becoming the only Expo ever to win the National League Cy Young Award. The 13 complete games were tied for the second-highest single-season total in all of baseball since Martínez's career began (Curt Schilling had 15 in 1998; Chuck Finley and Jack McDowell also reached 13 in a year). However, this 1997 total is by far the highest in Martínez's career, as he only completed more than 5 games in one other season (7, in 2000). Martínez was the first right-handed pitcher to reach 300 strikeouts with an ERA under 2.00 since Walter Johnson in 1912.

text: Boston Red Sox[edit]

text: Pedro Martínez's number 45 was retired by the Boston Red Sox in 2015.

text: Approaching free agency, Martínez was traded to the Boston Red Sox in November 1997 for Carl Pavano and Tony Armas, Jr., and was soon signed to a six-year, $75,000,000 contract (with an option for a seventh at $17 million) by Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette, at the time the largest ever awarded to a pitcher. Martínez paid immediate dividends in 1998, with a 19–7 record, and finishing second in the American League in ERA, WHIP, strikeouts, and the Cy Young voting.

text: In 1999, Martínez finished 23–4 with a 2.07 ERA and 313 strikeouts (earning the pitching Triple Crown) in 31 games (29 starts), pitching 213⅓ innings. He led the entire major leagues with K/9 and K/BB ratios of 13.20 and 8.46 and his Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) (a defense independent pitching statistic measuring a pitchers effectiveness to limit walks, homers and hits and accumulate strikeouts) of 1.39 was the lowest in modern major league history and the third lowest in history behind Christy Mathewson in 1908 and Walter Johnson in 1910 (by comparison the next best FIP in baseball was Randy Johnson's 2.76 and no one else in the American League had an FIP below 3.20). unanimously winning his second Cy Young Award (this time in the American League), and coming in second in the Most Valuable Player (MVP) ballot.[citation needed][21] The MVP result was controversial, as Martínez received the most first-place votes of any player (8 of 28), but was omitted from the ballot of two sportswriters, New York's George King and Minneapolis' LaVelle Neal. The two writers argued that pitchers were not sufficiently all-around players to be considered. (However, George King had given MVP votes to two pitchers just the season before: Rick Helling and David Wells; King was the only writer to cast a vote for Helling, who had gone 20–7 with a 4.41 ERA and 164 strikeouts.) MVP ballots have ten ranked slots, and sportswriters are traditionally asked to recuse themselves if they feel they cannot vote for a pitcher. "It really made us all look very dumb", said Buster Olney, then a sportswriter for the New York Times. "People were operating under different rules. The question of eligibility is a very basic thing. People were determining eligibility for themselves."[22] The Times does not permit its writers to participate in award voting. Martínez finished second to Texas Rangers catcher Iván Rodríguez, by a margin of 252 points to 239. Rodríguez had been included on all 28 ballots. When asked about the result by WEEI-FM radio in January 2012, Martínez said, "I'm not afraid to say that the way that George King and Mr. LaVelle Neal III went about it was unprofessional."[23]

text: In 1999, Martínez became just the 9th modern pitcher to have a second 300-strikeout season, along with Nolan Ryan (6 times), Randy Johnson (third time in 1999, and three more times since), Sandy Koufax (3 times), Rube Waddell, Walter Johnson, Sam McDowell, J. R. Richard, Steve Carlton, and Curt Schilling; Schilling would later add a third 300-K season. An anomaly in power pitching annals, Martínez is the only 20th-century pitcher to notch 300 strikeouts in a season without being at least six feet tall.

text: Between August 1999 and April 2000, Martínez had ten consecutive starts with 10 or more strikeouts. Only three pitchers have had as many as seven such starts in a row, and one of those was Martínez himself, in April–May 1999. He averaged more than 15 strikeouts per nine innings during his record 10-game streak.[24] During the 1999 season, he set the record for most consecutive innings pitched with a strikeout, with 40. For his career, Martínez has compiled 15 or more strikeouts in a game ten times, which is tied with Roger Clemens for the third-most 15-K games in history. (Nolan Ryan had 27, and Randy Johnson had 29.)

text: Martínez was named the AL Pitcher of the Month in April, May, June and September 1999 – 4 times in a single season. Martínez punctuated his dominance in the 1999 All-Star Game start at Fenway Park, when he struck out Barry Larkin, Larry Walker, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Jeff Bagwell in two innings. It was the first time any pitcher struck out the side to start an All-Star Game, and the performance earned Martínez the All-Star Game MVP award. Martínez later said that the 1999 All-Star break was especially memorable for him because he was able to meet the members of the MLB All-Century Team and get an autograph from Ted Williams.[25]

text: Martínez was a focal point of the 1999 playoffs against the Cleveland Indians. Starting the series opener, he was forced out of the game after 4 shutout innings due to a strained back with the Red Sox up 2–0. The Red Sox, however, lost the game 3–2. Boston won the next two games to tie the series, but Martínez was still too injured to start the fifth and final game. However, neither team's starters were effective, and the game became a slugfest, tied at 8–8 at the end of 3 innings. Martínez entered the game as an emergency relief option. Unexpectedly, Martínez neutralized the Cleveland lineup with six no-hit innings for the win. He struck out eight and walked three, despite not being able to throw either his fastball or changeup with any command. Relying totally on his curve, Martínez and the Red Sox won the deciding game 12–8.

text: In the American League Championship Series, Martínez pitched seven shutout innings to beat Red Sox nemesis Roger Clemens and the New York Yankees in Game 3, handing the World Champions their only loss of the 1999 postseason.

text: Following up 1999, Martínez had perhaps his best year in 2000. Martínez posted an exceptional 1.74 ERA, the AL's lowest since 1978, while winning his third Cy Young Award. His ERA was about a third of the park-adjusted league ERA (4.97). No other single season by a starting pitcher has had such a large differential. Roger Clemens' 3.70 was the second-lowest ERA in the AL, but was still more than double that of Martínez. Martínez also set a record in the lesser known sabermetric statistic of Weighted Runs allowed per 9 innings pitched (Wtd. RA/9), posting a remarkably low 1.55 Wtd. RA/9. He gave up only 128 hits in 217 innings, for an average of just 5.31 hits allowed per 9 innings pitched: the third lowest mark on record.

text: Martínez's record was 18–6, but could have been even better. In his six losses, Martínez had 60 strikeouts, 8 walks, and 30 hits allowed in 48 innings, with a 2.44 ERA and an 0.79 WHIP, while averaging 8 innings per start. Martínez's ERA in his losing games was less than the leading ERA total in the lower-scoring National League (Kevin Brown's 2.58). The Yankees' Andy Pettitte outdueled Martínez twice; Martínez's other four losses were each by one run. Martínez's first loss of the year was a 1–0 complete game in which he had 17 strikeouts and 1 walk. All of Martínez's losses were quality starts, and he pitched 8 or more innings in all but one of his losses. Martínez received 2 runs or fewer of run support in 10 of his starts (over one third of his starts), in which his ERA was a minuscule 1.25 with 4 complete games and 2 shutouts, but his win-loss record was 4–5.

text: Martínez's WHIP in 2000 was 0.74, breaking both the 87-year-old modern Major League record set by Walter Johnson, as well as Guy Hecker's mark of 0.77 in 1882. The American League slugged just .259 against him. Hitters also had a .167 batting average and .213 on-base percentage, setting two more modern era records. Martínez became the only starting pitcher in history to have more than twice as many strikeouts in a season (284) as hits allowed (128). Martínez also set an American League record in K/BB, with a ratio of 8.88, surpassing the previous record set by Martínez in 1999 of 8.46.

text: On May 6 of that 2000 season, Martínez struck out 17 Tampa Bay Devil Rays in a 1–0 loss. In his next start six days later, he struck out 15 Baltimore Orioles in a 9–0, two-hit victory. The 32 strikeouts tied Luis Tiant's 32-year American League record for most strikeouts over two games.

text: In the span of 1999 and 2000, Martínez allowed 288 hits and 69 walks in 430 innings, with 597 strikeouts, an 0.83 WHIP, and a 1.90 ERA. Some[6] statisticians believe that in the circumstances — with lefty-friendly Fenway Park as his home field, in a league with a designated hitter, during the highest offensive period in baseball history — this performance represents the peak for any pitcher in baseball history.

text: Though he continued his dominance when healthy, carrying a sub-2.00 ERA to the midpoint of the following season, Martínez spent much of 2001 on the disabled list with a rotator cuff injury as the Red Sox slumped to a poor finish. Martínez finished with a 7–3 record, a 2.39 ERA, and 163 strikeouts, but only threw 116 innings.

text: Healthy in 2002, he rebounded to lead the league with a 2.26 ERA, 0.923 WHIP and 239 strikeouts, while going 20–4. However, that season's American League Cy Young Award narrowly went to 23-game winner Barry Zito of the Oakland A's, despite Zito's higher ERA, higher WHIP, fewer strikeouts, and lower winning percentage. Martínez became the first pitcher since the introduction of the Cy Young Award to lead his league in each of those four statistics, yet not win the award.

text: Martínez's record was 14–4 in 2003. He led the league in ERA for the fifth time with 2.22, also led in WHIP for the fifth time at 1.04, and finished second to league leader Esteban Loaiza by a single strikeout. Martínez came in third for the 2003 Cy Young Award, which went to Toronto's Roy Halladay.

text: Martínez went 16–9 in 2004, despite an uncharacteristic 3.90 ERA, as the Red Sox won the American League wild card berth. He pitched effectively in the playoffs, contributing to the team's first World Series win in 86 years. Martínez again finished second in AL strikeouts, and was fourth in that winter's Cy Young voting.

text: The seven-year contract he received from the Red Sox had been considered a huge risk in the 1997 offseason, but Martínez had rewarded the team's hopes with two Cy Young Awards, and six Top-4 finishes. Martínez finished his Red Sox career with a 117–37 record, the highest winning percentage any pitcher has had with any team in baseball history.

text: New York Mets[edit]

text: After Boston's World Series triumph in 2004, Martínez became a free agent and signed a 4-year, $53 million contract with the New York Mets. In 2005, his first season as a Met, Martínez posted a 15–8 record with a 2.82 ERA, 208 strikeouts, and a league-leading 0.95 WHIP. It was his sixth league WHIP title, and the fifth time that he led the Major Leagues in the category. Opponents batted .204 against him.

text: Martínez started the 2006 season at the top of his game. At the end of May, he was 5–1 with a 2.50 ERA, with 88 strikeouts and 17 walks and 44 hits allowed in 76 innings; Martínez's record was worse than it could have been, with the Mets bullpen costing him two victories. However, during his May 26 start against the Florida Marlins, Martínez was instructed by the umpires to change his undershirt. He slipped in the corridor, injuring his hip, and his promising season curdled. The effect was not immediately apparent; although Martínez lost the Marlins game, his following start was a scintillating 0–0 duel with Arizona's Brandon Webb. But after that, beginning on June 6, Martínez went 4–7 with a 7.10 ERA in a series of spotty starts interrupted twice by stays on the disabled list. A right calf injury plagued him for the last two months of the season. After Martínez was removed from an ineffective September 15 outing, television cameras found him in the Mets dugout, apparently crying.[26] Subsequent MRI exams revealed a torn muscle in Martínez's left calf, and a torn rotator cuff. Martínez underwent surgery which sidelined him for most of the 2007 season.[27]

text: On November 3, 2006, Martínez stated that if he could not return to full strength, he might end up retiring after the 2007 season. "It's getting better, and progress is above all what is hoped for", Martínez told the Associated Press. "To go back, I have to recover, I have to be healthy. But if God doesn't want that, then I would have to think about giving it all up." Martínez added, "It's going to be a bitter winter because I am going to have to do a lot of work. The pain I feel was one of the worst I have felt with any injury in my career." But by December 30, 2006, Martínez was more optimistic: "The progress has been excellent. I don't have problems anymore with my reach or flexibility, and so far everything is going very well. The problem has to do with the calcification of the bone that was broken with the tear, and that had to be operated on. You have to let it run its course." Martínez also reported bulking up as part of his recuperative regimen: "I've put on about 10 pounds of muscle, because that's one of our strategies."[28]

text: On September 3, 2007, Martínez returned from the disabled list with his 207th career win, allowing two earned runs in five efficient innings and collecting his 3000th career strikeout, becoming the 15th pitcher to do so. "I thought I was going to have butterflies and like that", said Martínez, "but I guess I'm too old." Martínez's comeback was considered a great success, as the right-hander went 3–1 in five starts with a 2.57 ERA. But his last start was a crucial 3–0 loss to St. Louis in the final week of the 2007 Mets' historic collapse; Martínez provided a good pitching performance (7 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 8 K) but his teammates failed to score.

text: Martínez became just the fourth pitcher to reach 3,000 strikeouts with fewer than 1,000 walks (in Martínez's case, 701). Ferguson Jenkins, Greg Maddux and Curt Schilling had previously done likewise. Martínez also joined Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson to become the third 3,000-strikeout pitcher to have more strikeouts than innings pitched, and is also the first Latin American pitcher to have 3,000 strikeouts.

text: His unexpectedly strong finish in 2007 raised hopes, but 2008 was a lost season for Martínez. He was injured just four innings into his first game of the season, an April 1 no-decision against the Florida Marlins. He later told reporters he'd felt a "pop" in his left leg. Martínez was diagnosed with a strained hamstring[29] and did not return to action for more than two months. Following his return, his fastball typically topped out in the 90–91 mph range,[30] a lower velocity than he'd had during his prime but slightly higher than in recent seasons. Martínez finished the season on a low note, losing all three of his decisions in September en route to a 5–6 record, the first losing record of his career. (Martínez was 0–1 in two appearances in 1992.) His 5.61 ERA and 1.57 WHIP were also Martínez's worst ever, and for the first time in his career, he failed to strike out at least twice as many batters as he walked (87–44).

text: During his four-year Met contract, Martínez was 32–23 in 79 starts, with a 3.88 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP.

text: Philadelphia Phillies[edit]

text: A free agent, Martínez did not sign with a major league team during the winter. In March, he joined the Dominican Republic's squad for the 2009 World Baseball Classic, in an attempt to showcase his arm. Martínez pitched six scoreless innings with 6 strikeouts and no walks, but the team was quickly eliminated from the tournament and no MLB contract was forthcoming. In July 2009, Phillies scouts evaluated Martínez in two simulated games against the Phillies DSL team, leading to a one-year, $1-million contract.[31] Martínez told reporters, "I would just like to be the backup. If I could be the backup, that would be a great thing to have—a healthy Pedro behind everybody else, in case something happens. That would be a great feeling to have on a team, eh?"[32]

text: Replacing Jamie Moyer as a starter in the Phillies rotation on August 12, Martínez won his 2009 debut. In his return to New York on August 23, Martínez's win against the Mets was preserved by a rare unassisted triple play by second baseman Eric Bruntlett in the bottom of the ninth inning. With his win on September 3—his third as a Philadelphia Phillie and his 100th as a National Leaguer—Martínez became the 10th pitcher in history to win at least 100 games in each league.[33][34] On September 13, Martínez pitched eight innings to beat the Mets again, by a final score of 1–0. His 130 pitches were the most he had thrown in a game since the ALDS in October 2003. Philadelphia won each of Martínez's first seven starts, the first time in franchise history that this had occurred with any debuting Phillies pitcher.[35] In the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers, he pitched seven shutout innings while allowing just two hits, but the Philadelphia bullpen faltered in the following inning, costing Martínez the win.

text: Intense media interest preceded Martínez's "return to Yankee Stadium" in Game 2 of the World Series. At the pre-game press conference, he seemed to relish the attention, telling reporters, "When you have 60,000 people chanting your name, waiting for you to throw the ball, you have to consider yourself someone special, someone that really has a purpose out there."[36] Martínez pitched effectively in his second-ever World Series start, but left the game in the 7th inning trailing, 2–1, and wound up taking the loss. Before his second start of the Series, Martínez called himself and opposing pitcher Andy Pettitte "old goats", and acknowledged that Red Sox fans were rooting for him: "I know that they don't like the Yankees to win, not even in Nintendo games."[37] However, Martínez allowed 4 runs in 4 innings, falling to 0–2 as the Phillies lost the sixth game and the 2009 World Series to the New York Yankees.

text: Following the Series, Martínez announced that he had no intention of retiring,[38] but the 2010 season came and went without his signing with a team. Media reports surfaced that the Phillies had been discussing a deal to bring Martínez back for another half-season,[39] but Martínez's agent announced in July that he would not be pitching at all in 2010, while remaining interested in a 2011 return.[40] In December 2010, Martínez told a reporter for El Día "I'm realizing what it is to be a normal person. ... It's most likely that I don't return to active baseball ... but honestly I don't know if I'll definitively announce my retirement."[41] The pitcher received some initial inquiries during the winter, but did not sign with any team for 2011. On December 4, 2011, he officially announced his retirement.

text: In December 2009, Sports Illustrated named Martínez as one of the five pitchers in the starting rotation of its MLB All-Decade Team. In February 2011, the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery announced that it had acquired an oil painting of Martínez for its collection.[42]

text: After retirement[edit]

text: On January 24, 2013, Martínez joined the Boston Red Sox as a special assistant to general manager Ben Cherington.[43]

text: Martínez was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in January 2015 with 91.1% of the votes. His Hall of Fame plaque will have the cap of the Boston Red Sox. "I cannot be any prouder to take Red Sox Nation to the Hall of Fame with the logo on my plaque", Martínez said in a statement. "I am extremely proud to represent Boston and all of New England with my Hall of Fame career. I'm grateful to all of the teams for which I played, and especially fans, for making this amazing honor come true."[44]

text: In 2015, Martínez was hired by the MLB Network as a studio analyst and also released an autobiography, Pedro, which he coauthored with Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald.[45][46] Reflecting on his career, he named Barry Bonds, Edgar Martínez, Derek Jeter, Kenny Lofton and Ichiro Suzuki as the most difficult hitters he had to face.[47]

text: On June 22, 2015, it was announced that Martínez' number 45 would be retired by the Red Sox on July 28, two days after his Hall of Fame induction. Red Sox principal owner John Henry stated, "to be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame upon his first year of eligibility speaks volumes regarding Pedro’s outstanding career, and is a testament to the respect and admiration so many in baseball have for him."[48]

text: Memorable games[edit]

text: Imperfect hit-by-pitch[edit]

text: On April 13, 1994, in his second start as a Montreal Expo, Martínez lost a perfect game with one out in the eighth inning when he hit Cincinnati's Reggie Sanders with a pitch. An angered Sanders charged the mound, and threw Martínez to the ground, before both teams cleared the benches and broke up any potential fight. Sanders was later ridiculed in the press for assuming that a pitcher would abandon a perfect game in order to hit a batter intentionally. Martínez allowed a leadoff single in the ninth inning, breaking up his no-hitter, and was removed for reliever John Wetteland (who loaded the bases, then allowed two sacrifice flies, thus saddling Martínez with a no-decision).[49] Three years later, in 1997, Martínez had a one-hitter against the Reds; the one hit came in the 5th inning.[50]

text: Nine perfect innings[edit]

text: On June 3, 1995, while pitching for Montreal, he retired the first 27 Padres hitters he faced. However, the score was still tied 0–0 at that point and the game went into extra innings. The Expos scored a run in the top of the 10th, but Martínez surrendered a double to the 28th batter he faced, Bip Roberts. Expos manager Felipe Alou then removed Martínez from the game, bringing in reliever Mel Rojas, who retired the next three batters.[51] Martínez officially recorded neither a perfect game nor a no-hitter. Until 1991, the rules would have judged it differently; however, a rule clarification specified that perfect games, even beyond nine innings, must remain perfect until the game is completed for them to be considered perfect. This retroactively decertified many no-hit games, including Ernie Shore's perfect relief stint in 1917 and Harvey Haddix's legendary 12 perfect innings in 1959 (lost in the 13th).

text: All-Star strikeout streak[edit]

text: Martínez was selected as the starting pitcher for the American League All-Star team in 1999. The game, on July 13, 1999, was at Fenway Park, Martínez's home field. Martínez struck out Barry Larkin, Larry Walker, and Sammy Sosa consecutively in the first inning. He then struck out Mark McGwire leading off the 2nd, becoming the first pitcher to begin an All-Star game by striking out the first four batters. (The National League's Brad Penny matched the feat in 2006.) The next batter, Matt Williams, managed to reach first base from an error by Roberto Alomar. Martínez then proceeded to strike out Jeff Bagwell while Williams was caught stealing.

text: Yankee Stadium one-hitter[edit]

text: Martínez again came close to a perfect game on September 10, 1999, when he beat the New York Yankees, 3–1. He faced just 28 batters while striking out 17 and walking none (Martínez hit the Yankees' first batter, Chuck Knoblauch, but he was then caught stealing). Only a solo home run by Chili Davis separated Martínez from a no-hitter. The Davis home run came in the second inning, eliminating any suspense, but this may have been Martínez's most dominant day on the mound.[52] Sportswriter Thomas Boswell called it the best game ever pitched at Yankee Stadium.[53]

text: Hitless clincher[edit]

text: On October 11, 1999, in Game 5 of the ALDS, Charles Nagy started for Cleveland and Bret Saberhagen started for Boston, both on only three days rest. Boston jumped out to a quick two-run lead in the top of the first inning, but Cleveland responded with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the innings. The hitting continued, knocking Saberhagen out of the game in the second inning having allowed five runs, and then Nagy out of the game after only finishing only three innings and allowing eight runs. Going into the fourth inning, manager Jimy Williams opted to replace Derek Lowe with the ailing Pedro Martínez, who had left Game 1 with a back injury. This decision would prove to be wise, as Martínez threw six hitless innings in relief to win and clinch the ALDS.[54]

text: 1999 ALCS[edit]

text: Game 3 of the American League Championship Series was the long anticipated matchup between Pedro Martínez and Roger Clemens. The Red Sox scored first. After a leadoff triple by Offerman, Valentin homered to put the Red Sox ahead 2–0. The onslaught continued as the Red Sox scored in all but two innings. Clemens was done in the third inning and the Red Sox would go on to win 13–1 and make the series two games to one. When Clemens was knocked out, Red Sox fans chanted "Where is Roger?" and then a response chant of "In the Shower". Martínez struck out twelve Yankees in seven scoreless innings and allowing just two hits, to beat Red Sox nemesis Roger Clemens and the New York Yankees in Game 3, handing the World Champions their only loss of the 1999 postseason. Martínez finished 1999 with a streak of seventeen scoreless innings in the playoffs.

text: Faceoff vs. Roger Clemens on ESPN[edit]

text: On May 28, 2000, Martínez and Roger Clemens had a dramatic duel on ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" telecast. Both pitchers shone, combining to allow only 9 hits and 1 walk while striking out 22. A 0–0 game was finally broken up in the 9th inning by Trot Nixon's home run off Clemens. In the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees loaded the bases against a tiring Martínez, but New York could not score, as Martínez completed the shutout.[55]

text: Another close call[edit]

text: On August 29, 2000, Martínez took a no-hitter into the 9th against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, losing it on a leadoff single by John Flaherty. Martínez had begun the night by hitting the leadoff batter, Gerald Williams, in the hand. Williams started towards first base before charging the mound and knocking down Martínez; in the scrum, Williams was tackled by Boston catcher Jason Varitek. Martínez then retired the next 24 hitters in a row until allowing Flaherty's single, and finished with a one-hitter. He had 13 strikeouts and no walks in the game; the Flaherty single would have broken up a perfect game, if not for the leadoff hit batsman.[56] Pedro Martínez never threw an official no-hitter. He did however throw a combined perfect game in Spring training earlier that year on March 15, 2000.[57] He has though professed a lack of interest in the matter: "I think my career is more interesting than one game."

text: Martínez vs. Zimmer[edit]

text: In the testy Game 3 of the 2003 ALCS, after allowing single runs in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th innings, Martínez hit Yankees right fielder Karim García near the shoulders with a pitch, sparking a shouting match between Martínez and the New York bench. Directing his attention at Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, Martínez jabbed a finger into the side of his own head, which some, including an enraged Yankee bench coach Don Zimmer, interpreted as a threatened beanball. Emotions remained high in the bottom of the inning, which was led off by Boston slugger Manny Ramírez. Ramirez became irate over a high strike from Roger Clemens, and both benches cleared. During the ensuing commotion, the 72-year-old Zimmer ran towards Martínez in an attempt to knock him down; Martínez sidestepped Zimmer and threw him to the ground.[58] Later, Martínez claimed that he was not indicating that he would hit Posada in the head, but that he would remember what Posada was saying to him.[59] In 2009, Martínez claimed that he regretted the incident but denied being at fault. Zimmer did not give much credence to Pedro's statements.[60] Martínez wrote in 2015 that the altercation with Zimmer was his only regret of his entire career.[61]

text: Grady Little's visit[edit]

text: Martínez was also on the mound for Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS versus the Yankees. With the Red Sox ahead 5–2 at the start of the 8th inning, a tiring Martínez pitched his way into trouble. He was visited on the mound by manager Grady Little, but was left in to pitch, in a controversial non-move. The Yankees tied the score against Martínez in that inning on four successive hits, leading to a dramatic extra-inning, series-ending victory for New York, costing Grady Little his job with the Red Sox as his contract was not renewed.[62]

text: World Series debut[edit]

text: After a comparatively lackluster season in 2004 (though still a solid season by general standards), Pedro Martínez got the win in Game 3 of the World Series. He shut out the St. Louis Cardinals through seven innings, recording his final 14 outs consecutively in what would turn out to be his last game for Boston.[63]

text: Mets[edit]

text: With the Mets, on April 10, 2005, at Turner Field, Martínez outdueled John Smoltz, pitching a two-hit, one-run, complete game en route to his first Mets victory. On August 14, 2005, against the Dodgers, he pitched 7 1⁄3 hitless innings, but ended up losing the no-hitter and the game.[64]

text: Return to Fenway[edit]

text: In June 2006, the Mets played an interleague series against the Red Sox, which was Martínez's first appearance at Fenway Park since leaving the team. The Red Sox gave their former ace a two-minute video tribute on June 27, but showed no courtesies to Martínez the following night. In his June 28, 2006 start, Martínez lasted only 3 innings, and was rocked for 8 runs (6 earned) on 7 hits, losing his worst game as a Met just before going onto the disabled list.[65] It was Martínez's only career appearance against the Red Sox, the only Major League team against which he did not record a victory.

text: Who's Your Daddy?[edit]

text: In both the 2004 ALCS and the 2009 World Series, Martinez was greeted with the chant "Who's your daddy?" from New York Yankees fans whenever Pedro was pitching due to his statement earlier in the 2004 ALCS saying, "They beat me. They're that good right now. They're that hot. I just tip my hat and call the Yankees my daddy."

text: Quotes[edit]

text: "I'm not afraid of hitting anyone, because I can put the ball where I want to. I only hit nine guys last year. When I do hit them, it's usually just a nibble. I can nibble their jersey with the ball. That's how much I can control the ball."

text: − Martinez to Sports Illustrated[66]

text: Pitching style[edit]

text: Martínez's pitching style was atypical as he commanded an arsenal of "out" pitches. His fastball, slider, power curveball, screwball, splitter, and circle changeup were all well above average; combined with his historically excellent control, they proved to be an overpowering package. Martínez threw from a low three-quarters position (nearly sidearm) that hid the ball very well from batters, who have remarked on the difficulty of picking up Martínez's delivery. Additionally, Martínez threw three different types of fastballs - a straight high-velocity four-seam fastball he used to overpower hitters, a two-seamer that ran to his throwing arm side, and a cut fastball that ran away from his throwing arm side - each with the pinpoint control that defined him.

text: Early in his career, Martínez's fastball was consistently clocked in the 95–97 mph range. Using it in combination with his devastating changeup and occasionally mixing in his curveball, he was as dominant a pitcher as the game has ever seen. Sports Illustrated's Joe Posnanski wrote, "There has never been a pitcher in baseball history—not Walter Johnson, not Lefty Grove, not Sandy Koufax, not Tom Seaver, not Roger Clemens—who was more overwhelming than the young Pedro."[67]

text: As injuries and the aging process took their toll, Martínez made the adjustment to rely more on finesse than power. His fastball settled into the 85–88 mph range, although he was able to occasionally reach 90–91 mph when the need arose. Martínez continued to use a curveball, a circle changeup, and an occasional slider. With his command of the strike zone, he remained an effective strikeout pitcher despite the drop in velocity. Baseball historian Bill James described Martínez as being substantially more effective than his pitching peers due to his variety of pitches, pitch speeds, pinpoint control, and numerous modes of deception.[citation needed][68]

text: Personal life[edit]

text: His son, Pedro Martínez Jr., signed with the Detroit Tigers as an international free agent in September 2017.[69]