Rocket v. Pedro

An absolutely sensational post from FourZeroSix comparing Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez’s Sox careers.
“As far as Clemens/Pedro, there isn’t any doubt that Clemens has the better career numbers. I don’t know how anyone could consider Pedro the better all-around pitcher. Clemens is/was the complete package. Pedro used to be. All of Clemens’ rate statistics have been inflated over the last 5 years while Pedro has yet to really decline. I don’t know if Pedro will be around long enough for his numbers to inflate, so he may just retire with a career ERA around 2.60 while Roger’s has gone from under 3 to 3.19 the last few seasons. It’s always a debate of Dominance vs. Durability. A great example is Warren Spahn vs. Sandy Koufax; obviously Spahn was never as GOOD as Koufax, but he was a very good pitcher who was able to stay in the game longer so his career numbers crush Koufax.
As far as Clemens/Pedro for the SOX:

Roger Clemens
13 Seasons
382 Games Started
192-111
.634 WPCT
3.06 ERA
1.16 WHIP
2,776 IP
2,590 Strikeouts
856 Walks
3.03 K/BB
7.65 H/9 IP
8.40 K/9 IP
2.78 BB/9 IP
10.70 BR/9 IP

Pedro
6 seasons
168 Games Started
101-28
.783 WPCT
2.26 ERA
0.94 WHIP
1,166.2 IP
1,456 Strikeouts
248 Walks
5.87 K/BB
6.56 H/9 IP
11.23 K/9 IP
1.91 BB/9 IP
8.95 BR/9 IP

Postseason Statistics (With Boston)
Rocket: 1-2, 3.88 ERA, 55.2 IP
Pedro: 4-1, 3.10 ERA, 52.1 IP

Pedro’s ERA is inflated because of Game 7. Scratch that 8th inning and it is 2.60.
Based on the numbers and how long each played for the team, I’d say that Pedro has been the better pitcher for the Red Sox.
Another interesting debate is over who had the better single-season years. Pedro’s 1999 and 2000 are more than comparable to The Rocket’s prime years in Boston. Actually, the argument should be whether Roger’s best can stand up to Petey’s. The reason why his ’99 and ’00 seasons are so highly regarded by some is because of the extreme offensive state that the game was in that the time. The League ERA for the AL in 1999 and 2000 respectively was 4.86 and 4.92. Pedro’s ERA was 2.07 and 1.74. Very diluted. As for Adjusted ERA, Pedro has the all-time single-season best (Modern 1900-2003) for his 2000 year and the 5th best from 1999.
Rocket has been regarded as a better strikeout pitcher and I really don’t know why. His career K numbers are obviously higher because he is indeed a Strikeout Legend, but pales in comparison to the likes of Pedro or Randy Johnson as far as how quickly he can rack them up. His K per 9 IP isn’t close to Pedro and he has never struck out 300 batters despite throwing all those extra innings. You could say that Pedro took advantage of a more free-swinging era, but even in 1997-98 with Toronto Roger failed to accomplish the feat. Pedro managed to strikeout 313 in 1999, a K/9 of 13.20. He also K’ed 305 with Montreal in 1997.
I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve never seen anybody ever send them down like Pedro did in 1999, that was absolutely incredible. Every single game it seemed, Pedro was just blowing them away seemingly effortlessly. I remember he struck out 107 in his final 8 starts of the season. His ERA also went from 2.52 to 2.07 during that span.”