Signed Ball of the Day : Pedro Martinez ( ROMLB Sweet Spot )

We come to the last of three posts this week pertaining to regrettable trades during my time as a fan of the Dodgers. Konerko wasn't  here long enough to leave an impression, Piazza gave us 6 plus great years of offensive greatness but Pedro was shipped out before we got to see his ascension even though we as fans saw it blossoming already. He is the little brother ( physically and age ) of fellow Dodger pitcher Ramon Martinez. Pedro came up through the minor leagues and promptly contributed to the big league club once he arrived. He was almost always used as a reliever rather than a starter even though he was better than most of the starting rotation. Due to the Dodgers needing a 2nd baseman and Tommy Lasorda's total lack of faith in Pedro being no more than a good reliever he was traded to Montreal for Delino DeShields. While Delino wasn't terrible the trade was. Decent middle infielders can be found much easier than a young budding starting pitcher. Pedro went on to become a very good staring pitcher in Montreal and then onto Boston where he took it to another level and became a premier pitcher. He was winning Cy Young awards with a ridiculous low ERA and WHIP in the middle of the steroid era. What could have been for the Dodgers. They had Piazza, Konerko and Pedro all at the same time and if they would have had a little patience and foresight you never know how the 90's would have been instead of the disappoint that we did get. On a side note, last year the Dodgers traded yet another young budding starter in Rubby De La Rosa to Boston as part of a mega deal. While the sting is not as bad as the Pedro one as we received stars in return I find it ironic that Pedro is now tutoring Rubby in Boston where Pedro became an icon. I don't think this will bite us in the ass as much as the Pedro trade but I think Rubby will become at worst a strong number two in any rotation.

Pedro's authenticated autographs have increasingly gone up in the last year or so and I could never find one that was under $80. I had a lot of other balls I was trying to acquire and I would always lose out on the eBay auctions for Pedro's signature. I finally locked into one that had an odd ending time and was estatic that I won a JSA authenticated version for $67. I am sure I just won an authenticated autograph from a future Hall of Famer that should have stayed a Dodger instead of reaching great heights elsewhere.