Editing Pedro Martínez (section)

==Early life==
Martínez grew up in the Dominican Republic in the Santo Domingo suburb of [[Manoguayabo, Santo Domingo|Manoguayabo]]. He was the fifth of six siblings living in a palm wood house with a tin roof and dirt floors. His father, Pablo Jaime Abreu,{{refn|group=note|His father, Pablo Jaime Abreu, is first-cousin of folk merengue musician Cheché Abreu.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Díaz Jáquez|first1=Leonardo|last2=Jáquez Torres|first2=Mario Julio |title=Genealogía del inmortal Pedro Martínez |url=http://hoy.com.do/genealogia-del-inmortal-pedro-martinez/ |access-date=July 25, 2015|agency=Instituto Dominicano de Genealogía|publisher=Hoy|date=July 24, 2015|language=es}}</ref>}} worked odd jobs. His mother, Leopoldina Martínez, worked for traditionally wealthy families, washing their clothes. When Martínez was old enough to work, he held a job as a mechanic.<ref name=Fields>{{cite news|last1=Macur|first1=Juliet|title=The fields of Pedro's dreams|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/23/sports/baseball/23pedro.html|access-date=December 7, 2014|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=December 23, 2004}}</ref>

He did not have enough money to afford baseballs, so he improvised with oranges. His older brother, [[Ramón Martínez (pitcher)|Ramón Martínez]], was pitching at a [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] baseball camp in the Dominican Republic. As a young teenager, Martínez carried his brother's bags at the camp. One day at the camp, Ramón Martínez clocked his 14-year-old brother's pitches at between 78 and 80 miles per hour.<ref name=Globe>{{cite web|last1=Grossfeld|first1=Stan|title=Pedro Martinez building hope in the Dominican|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2013/08/08/pedro-martinez-building-hope-dominican/NojooveTxbSvkSPfuf7MYN/story.html|work=[[The Boston Globe]]|access-date=December 7, 2014|date=August 9, 2013}}</ref>

Martínez debuted professionally with the [[Tigres del Licey]] of the [[Dominican Winter League]] during the 1989–90 season. He then pitched briefly for the [[Azucareros del Este]], before rejoining Licey in 1991–92 in a nine-player transaction that included [[George Bell (outfielder)|George Bell]], [[José Offerman]] and [[Julio Solano]], among others.<ref>[http://www.listindiario.com/el-deporte/2015/09/25/389543/pedro-martinez-jugo-brevemente-con-los-tigres-del-licey-en-los-anos-del-1990-al-1996 Pedro Martínez Jugó brevemente con los Tigres del Licey en los años del 1990 al 1996] (Spanish). ''Listin Diario''. Retrieved on February 9, 2016.</ref>