June 4, 1990: Dodgers phenom Ramón Martínez realizes potential with 18-strikeout game

The 22-year-old right-hander struck out 18 Atlanta Braves over nine innings, giving up only three hits and one walk. He tied Sandy Koufax for the most strikeouts thrown in one game by a Dodgers pitcher, but fell one strikeout short of the NL record held jointly by Steve Carlton and Tom Seaver, and two behind the major-league baseball record of 20 strikeouts by Roger Clemens. Koufax had struck out 18 batters on August 31, 1959, against the San Francisco Giants, and repeated the feat against the Chicago Cubs on April 24, 1962.1 As of 2023 Martínez remained the only pitcher to strike out at least 18 in a game at Dodger Stadium,2 and he did this in his first full big-league season.

Martínez is one of only 16 major-league pitchers to strike out 18 or more batters in a nine-inning game. The feat has been accomplished only 23 times, making it slightly rarer than a perfect game.3 Martínez remarkably completed all 18 strikeouts in the eighth inning, with four outs remaining. Despite the opportunities to add to his total, Martínez could not retire another batter via strikeout, falling short of the NL record and major-league record.4 The game serves as a microcosm of his injury-plagued career, reflecting his pitching brilliance while also prompting questions of what might have been.

The only other pitchers to record 18 strikeouts in the first eight innings are Roger Clemens (twice), Max Scherzer, Kerry Wood, Corey Kluber, and Randy Johnson (three times).5 Of those six pitchers, only Johnson (September 27, 1992), Kluber, and Martínez were unable to add to their total in the ninth inning. Kluber was removed from his game after eight frames, and Johnson was the losing pitcher in an away game, so neither had an opportunity to chase the record in the ninth inning.6

The 6-foot-4-inch, 165-pound Martínez gave an admirable effort with his four remaining outs, reaching two strikes on a batter once in the eighth inning and twice in the ninth inning. Braves catcher Greg Olson said, “I looked at the scoreboard, I saw where he tied Koufax, and all I could tell myself was, great, here we go, I’m going to become the answer to a trivia question.”7 Olson drew two strikes before ending the inning on a groundout to first base. Despite receiving support from cheering fans and teammates, Martínez completed the ninth inning without recording an additional strikeout.8 After the game, Martinez said, “I still got the complete game and the shutout and we won. And I am with a superstar like Sandy Koufax. I feel honored.”9

Advanced stats have only increased the public’s appreciation for the strikeout in the years since Martínez pitched this game. Weak contact is valuable, and low walk rate is helpful, but strikeouts leave less to chance.

When using Bill James’s Game Score10 as the primary metric for determining the greatest pitching performances at Dodger Stadium, this win ranks third all-time with a score of 98.11 The game is eclipsed only by Clayton Kershaw’s 15-strikeout no-hitter (102) in 2014, and Sandy Koufax’s perfect game (101) in 1962. Jake Arrieta’s no-hitter in 2015 is the only other Dodger Stadium pitching performance to match Martínez’s game score of 98.

The game itself was not highly anticipated, but Martínez’s emergence certainly was, and his performance that night only heightened expectations for the rest of the season. This Braves-Dodgers tilt became a ceremonial changing of the guard, as the young right-hander became the new face of a historically pitching-rich franchise. An underwhelming 22,097 fans were present to see the realization of Martínez’s promise on June 4, but 36,800 would attend his next home start, followed by 31,000 on June 20. The Dodgers’ Opening Day starter was a dominant Orel Hershiser, followed by young Tim Belcher, who struck out 200 batters the previous season and was expected to continue his ascent to ace status. Despite boasting a roster that still included Hershiser, Belcher, and team legend Fernando Valenzuela, the Dodgers would complete the season with a new bona fide ace in Martínez.

Martínez was named Pitcher of the Month for June12 and made his first and only All-Star Game appearance in July. Pitching to batterymate Mike Scioscia, he threw one scoreless inning for the NL squad.13 That year, he led the league in complete games and closed the season with a 20-6 record, finishing second to Doug Drabek in 1990 Cy Young Award voting. By September it was clear to Dodgers fans that Ramón’s reign as top Dodgers hurler had officially begun. His star would never shine brighter than it did throughout the 1990 season.

Injuries intermittently derailed and disrupted his career for the next three seasons. Martínez won 17 games and threw a career-high four shutouts in 1991. An injury to his right hip and elbow cut his 1992 season short, but he rebounded in 1993 with another season with over 200 innings pitched.

After the players strike of 1994, Martínez had a renaissance in 1995, throwing a no-hitter at Dodger Stadium against the Marlins on July 14,14 in the midst of a resurgent 17-win season. He was awarded a lucrative long-term contract but never threw 200 innings again. He retired as the second-winningest Dominican-born pitcher in major-league history, behind Juan Marichal, and as of 2024 ranked sixth on that list.

It is impossible to discuss this Braves-Dodgers game without mentioning the league-altering events of earlier that afternoon. The Braves and Dodgers organizations had already participated in the first round of the 1990 amateur draft by the time the first pitch was thrown at 7:37 P.M. The Dodgers took left-handed pitcher Ronnie Walden with the ninth pick. The Braves took advantage of their first overall pick, choosing high-school slugger Chipper Jones over popular pitching prospect Todd Van Poppel.15 Over the next decade and a half, the Braves would prove they won the day. The franchise-altering events of that afternoon would not impact the game that evening. Even so, it would be irresponsible to write a game story about the long-expected emergence of a hopeful Dodgers pitching powerhouse without also mentioning that the Braves were themselves on the precipice of a dynasty. For the Dodgers and their fans, June 4 felt like the beginning of a new era. It’s a testament to this beautiful and unpredictable sport that this proved to be far truer for the lineup that struck out 18 times.

The Braves of the 1990s is associated with National League dominance, but this Atlanta team had not yet glimpsed that greatness. It team was coming off a last-place NL finish in 1989 and was on its way to another cellar-dwelling season in 1990. It was the last Atlanta team to finish anywhere but first until 2006. In fact, the Dodgers and Braves spent the summer of 1991 battling for first until the final days of the season, with the Braves ultimately seizing their first of 14 consecutive division championships.

Baseball players are constantly in development, and teams can only hope that their success will eventually be worth the wait. In 1984 a lanky 16-year-old Ramón Martínez pitched on the mound at Dodger Stadium as a member of the Dominican Republic Olympic baseball team.16 Dodgers scouts originally thought he would be too skinny to develop an effective fastball, but chose to sign him shortly after the Olympics.17 He rewarded the team six years later when he stood on that same mound and struck out 18 batters, including Braves legends Dave Justice, Jeff Blauser, Dale Murphy, Ron Gant, and Tom Glavine. It would be wrong to infer that Martínez was merely the older brother of Pedro Martínez, arguably his generation’s greatest pitcher. This historic game serves as proof that Ramón Martínez was a genuine ace in his own right.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN199006040.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1990/B06040LAN1990.htm

Notes

1 Stathead Baseball, https://stathead.com/baseball/player-pitching-game-finder.cgi?request=1&ccomp%5B1%5D=gt&cval%5B1%5D=12&cstat%5B1%5D=p_so&team_id=LAD.

2 Stathead Baseball, https://stathead.com/baseball/player-pitching-game-finder.cgi?request=1&ccomp%5B1%5D=gt&cval%5B1%5D=12&cstat%5B1%5D=p_so&venue_id=LOS03.

3 Stathead Baseball, https://stathead.com/baseball/player-pitching-game-finder.cgi?request=1&ccomp%5B1%5D=gt&cval%5B1%5D=17&cstat%5B1%5D=p_so&ccomp%5B2%5D=lt&cval%5B2%5D=9&cstat%5B2%5D=p_ip.

4 Associated Press, “Martinez Strikes Out 18 as Dodgers Defeat Braves,” New York Times, June 5, 1990: B19.

5 Stathead Baseball, https://stathead.com/baseball/player-pitching-game-finder.cgi?request=1&ccomp%5B1%5D=gt&cval%5B1%5D=17&cstat%5B1%5D=p_so&ccomp%5B2%5D=lt&cval%5B2%5D=9&cstat%5B2%5D=p_ip.

6 Stathead Baseball, https://stathead.com/baseball/player-pitching-game-finder.cgi?request=1&ccomp%5B1%5D=gt&cval%5B1%5D=17&cstat%5B1%5D=p_so&ccomp%5B2%5D=lt&cval%5B2%5D=9&cstat%5B2%5D=p_ip.

7 Bill Plaschke, “Martinez Strikes Out 18, Ties Koufax,” Los Angeles Times, June 5, 1990: 1.

8 Plaschke.

9 Plaschke.

10 Explanation of Game Score can be found here: David Schoenfield, “The Best Pitching Performance Ever for All 30 Teams,” ESPN.com, March 28, 2020, https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/23861547/the-best-pitching-performance-ever-all-30-teams. Accessed October 27, 2023.

11 Stathead Baseball, https://stathead.com/baseball/player-pitching-game-finder.cgi?request=1&order_by=p_game_score&ccomp%5B1%5D=gt&cval%5B1%5D=95&cstat%5B1%5D=p_game_score&ccomp%5B2%5D=lt&cval%5B2%5D=9&cstat%5B2%5D=p_ip&venue_id=LOS03.

12 “Pitcher of the Month,” MLB.com, https://www.mlb.com/awards/pitcher-of-the-month (Accessed October 27, 2023).

13 “Ramon Martinez All-Star Stats,” baseballalmanac.com, https://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/playerpost.php?p=martira02&ps=asg, accessed October 30, 2023.

14 Steve Dilbeck, “Martinez Throws 1st No-Hitter,” San Bernardino County (California) Sun, July 15, 1995, https://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/92362581/?terms=ramon%20martinez%20no-hitter&pqsid=jqnzgEpRpOCEHloGkXIXoQ%3A27472%3A1593193646, accessed October 27, 2023.

15 ESPN, “MLB First Round Draft Picks – 1990,” https://www.espn.com/mlb/draft/history?year=1990, accessed October 21, 2023.

16 Sam McManis, “A Dandy Dominican,” Los Angeles Times, February 26, 1988: III, 10.

17 McManis.