Memories of Pedro special for Odgen coach Cuellar

Bobby Cuellar was hired to be the pitching coach of the Montreal Expos in 1997.

“I didn’t really know anything about Montreal,” he said. “I’d been in the American League all my life (most recently pitching coach for the Seattle Mariners). Felipe Alou was the manager.”

One day in spring training a fellow coach said to Cuellar: Watch these two guys throwing. They’re pretty good.

“One was Carlos Perez, and the other was a guy named Pedro Martinez,” Cuellar recalled. “I really didn’t know Pedro from Adam. Long story short, we formed a relationship and he was one of the best competitors – if not THE best competitor – that I’ve ever been around.”

Cuellar is now the pitching coach of the Ogden Raptors, who wrapped up a Pioneer League series with the Great Falls Voyagers on Wednesday night. Longtime baseball fans in these parts are not surprised to hear him speak in glowing terms of Martinez.

Because we knew the slightly built righthander was something special when as an 18-year-old for the Great Falls Dodgers in 1990 Martinez went 8-3 with a 3.62 earned-run average and 82 strikeouts in 77 innings.

Cuellar, 64, has a rich history in baseball. He not only worked at the major league level as a pitching coach for the Expos and Mariners, the latter for which he tutored Randy Johnson, but Cuellar also worked for the Minnesota Twins for a long time and is credited with teaching Johan Santana how to throw his devastating changeup.

Santana, Johnson, Martinez. That’s three Cy Young Award winners. Johnson and Martinez are in the baseball Hall of Fame.

Cuellar said he has great memories of all three. And what about Martinez specifically?

“Pedro was not a guy you walked up to and said, ‘Do this, do that …’ He was a guy who was very intelligent and knew his stuff and what he wanted to do. The only time he’d get in trouble was when he’d lose himself a little or maybe get a little upset. My only job whenever I went to the mound was say, ‘Hey, take it easy, relax and do what you know how to do best.’

“Pedro was not a guy you put the thumb on. You just helped him the best you could.”

Cuellar, who is not related to the former Baltimore Orioles’ great Mike Cuellar, said Alou had a tremendous relationship with Martinez.

“Felipe was like a second father to Pedro,” Cuellar said.

The Twins sent Santana down to Triple-A one year Cuellar was there. And what about teaching the great lefty the changeup that later helped him win two Cy Youngs?

“You were dealing with a very smart young man and a great athlete,” Cuellar said. “I guess the only rule he really had was he couldn’t throw the changeup at 3-and-0.”

Cuellar deflected credit for teaching Santana the pitch.

“He was such a great athlete, all he had to do was throw it,” Cuellar said. “He found a way where he felt comfortable and confident where he could throw it anytime or anyplace – except 3-and-0.”

Cuellar smiled.

“There was a game in New Orleans (at Triple-A) where he struck out 16 of 17 in seven or eight innings, and I knew there was one inning where he struck out the side and used one fastball,” Cuellar said. “The rest were changeups. That’s when you really knew how great that pitch could be.”

The Twins acquired Santana as a Rule 5 draft from Houston, which means the Astros didn’t protect him. Martinez, of course, was traded away from the Dodgers for Montreal’s Delino DeShields, who was not a bad ballplayer but certainly not a superstar bound for the Hall of Fame.

“Stuff happens in baseball,” Cuellar smiled. “That’s all I know about the game.

“When you meet special people like that, like Pedro or Johan – and believe, there’s more, because I’ve been doing this a long time – but you mention those two guys and they both had the tenacity, the same competitiveness on the mound. That’s the biggest thing people don’t understand about good pitchers. They take that responsibility on that this is my game, it’s my job and I’m going to do it.”

Great Falls fans were fortunate nearly 30 years ago to see Pedro Martinez up close. Cuellar later saw the superstar up close and got to know him personally.

“I don’t think he ever smiled on the mound or changed expression very much,” Cuellar said. “But all you had to do was look in his eyes. Once you did, you knew where he was.”

NOTES: The Voyagers took a four-game winning streak into Wednesday night’s game with Ogden (see www.grtrib.com for details). Manager Tim Esmay’s club is led by slugging outfielder Craig Dedelow, who was hitting .333 (third in the league) entering Wednesday’s play. Dedelow had 10 homers and 35 RBIs ... The Voyagers have also received great offense this summer from Anthony Villa, who was at .329 with league-leading totals of 13 homers and 37 RBIs prior to Wednesday.