NESN unveils 'Best of Pedro' week schedule

June 5th, 2020

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, it seemed like every start was a vintage performance.

But there are a few that stood above the rest. NESN is going to show them next week in the form of six “Best of Pedro” performances. The games will air every evening from Monday through Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.

The series will kick off Monday with perhaps the most impressive start of Martinez’s Hall of Fame career. It's his outing on Sept. 10, 1999, when the dominating righty struck out 17 batters and allowed just one hit against a Yankees lineup that was in the middle of a dynasty.

On Tuesday, NESN shows a start that occurred just 11 days later at Fenway Park against the Blue Jays, when Martinez fired a three-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts -- the last of which was his 300th of his magical season.

The 1999 theme continues on Wednesday, with Martinez’s 23rd and final win of that year: a masterpiece (eight innings, one earned run, 12 K’s) against the Orioles.

On Thursday evening, viewers can relive a magical Saturday afternoon -- Game 3 of the 1999 American League Championship Series -- when an ailing Martinez soundly defeated the Yankees and Roger Clemens, 13-1.

There will always be a debate about which season was better for Martinez: 1999 or 2000. On June 12, NESN airs Martinez’s most magnificent outing of the latter, a May 12 start in which Pedro fired a two-hit shutout with no walks and 15 strikeouts vs. the Orioles.

"Best of Pedro" week wraps up on June 13, when Martinez can be seen throwing his final shutout for the Red Sox on Aug. 12, 2004. In that start, against Tampa Bay, Martinez allowed six hits, walked none and struck out 10.