As temperamental and fragile as he was talented, Pedro Martinez went from the most dominating pitcher in the game—and scourge of the Yankees—to an aging and oft-injured veteran for the Mets. He finally retired in 2009 as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies

Born in the Dominican Republic, the atypically small Martinez got his start in the MLB with the LA Dodgers, the same team as his brother, pitcher Ramon Martinez. After a few years with their farm team, Pedro officially entered the majors in 1992, and although Ramon insisted that Pedro was a better pitcher than he, Pedro spent most of his time with the Dodgers as a relief pitcher. Martinez was traded to the Montreal Expos in 1994, where he was he first Expo to win a National League Cy Young Award. But he didn't garner national attention until his years with the Boston Red Sox. Racking up accolades and climbing records lists, like most consecutive starts with ten or more strikeouts or back-to-back 300 strikeout seasons, Martinez was a major component in making the Red Sox competitive in the early aughts and was a member of the curse-breaking World Series winning team in 2004. However, much to many fans' surprise, Martinez signed on with the New York Mets immediately after the World Series, and even though he started off his time with the Mets at the top of his game, he quickly crumbled with a number of spotty starts and a series of injuries. Martinez soldiered on through, and spent a year with the Phillies before officially retiring. Although he left the game on a sour note, Martinez has one of the highest winning percentages of any 200+ win pitcher, and he has the lowest WHIP and highest ERA+ of any pitcher in modern baseball. [Image via Getty]