BOSTON (AP) – Pedro Martinez’s Hall of Fame career took off in the late 1990s in a ballpark usually know for offensive numbers.

From Ted Williams to Carl Yastrzemski to Jim Rice, the Boston Red Sox have retired numbers — placing them along the facade of the right-field roof deck in hitter-friendly Fenway Park.

All these years of playing in Fenway Park made it tough for pitchers. The Boston Red Sox haven’t found one worth of a retired number, until they send Pedro Martinez’s No. 45 to the Fenway Park Facade on Tuesday night. AP photo

The seven retired Red Sox numbers are all of everyday players.

That all changes Tuesday night when the club will place the first number of a pitcher along with the other Red Sox greats – retiring Martinez’s number 45.

Martinez’s number will be retired in a pregame ceremony before Boston faces the Chicago White Sox.

Martinez was inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame on Sunday along with Randy Johnson, John Smoltz, and Craig Biggio.

Now, he’ll be honored in place where his flamboyant style and dominating pitching earned him a place in Copperstown.

“As excited as I am about the Hall of Fame, I’m equally excited about having my number retired,” Martinez said when he learned of the decision. “I think it’s a great honor. I don’t have enough words to thank the Red Sox.”

Martinez won five ERA titles in an offensive-rich era, dominating hitters putting up crazy numbers.

One of his biggest moments was in the 1999 All Star Game — in Fenway, no less — when he started and struck out five of the six NL hitters he faced. Each of them were putting up gaudy offensive numbers.

“The fact that he was so elite in an offensive era, he was as dominate as anyone at any stage of the game’s history,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said over the weekend.

But it wasn’t just his pitching that his teammates remember. Slugger David Ortiz, a teammate with Martinez on the 2004 team that ended an 86-year World Series drought, felt like he learned so much just being with the right-hander.

“Pedro is the most unbelievable human being that I’ve ever been around,” Ortiz said after a career-best, seven-RBI night Sunday. “Everything he told me made me a better player, a better person.”

Now, the Red Sox and their fans will get to honor him where the 43-year-old right-hander shot onto the scene.

SHANE VICTORINO TRADED TO ANGELS

The Los Angeles Angels acquired veteran outfielder Shane Victorino and more than $3.8 million from the Boston Red Sox on Monday for infielder Josh Rutledge.

The 34-year-old Victorino is a two-time World Series champion, a two-time All-Star and a four-time Gold Glove winner. He has spent the past three years in Boston, batting .245 in just 33 games this season with two stints on the disabled list.

Overall, Victorino has hit .276 with 108 home runs, 486 RBIs and 229 stolen bases in 12 major league seasons, including stints with the Padres, Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers and the Red Sox.

Boston will pay the Angels $3,801,639 as part of the trade. By the time Victorino reports Tuesday, he will be owed $5,655,737 of his $15 million salary this year.

Victorino mostly played right field for Boston, but is likely to play in left field against left-handers for the Angels. Los Angeles has struggled at the position since owner Arte Moreno got rid of Josh Hamilton in April.

Matt Joyce was expected to be the primary starter in left, but he is batting .178 in an awful season. Joyce also might have incurred a concussion in Sunday’s win over Texas. Rutledge has spent this season in the minors after playing in 105 games for the Angels last season.

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