Chris Sale vs Pedro Martinez/Roger Clemens thru 25 starts of their best seasons with the Red Sox

Chris Sale has started his Boston Red Sox career and this season with one of the all-time seasons seasons on record Red Sox history. And as far as K's go, MLB history.

So how does Sale stack up with the best of Pedro Martinez ('98, .99, '00, '02, '03) and Roger Clemens ('86, '88) as Boston Red Sox through their 25 games started in a single season?

You be the judge.

Overall, sorted by year

YEAR	PLAYER	GS	IP	ERA	WHIP	BB	K
1986	Clemens	25	198 1/3	2.54	0.95	53	186
1988	Clemens	25	198 1/3	2.50	0.98	39	235
1998	Martinez	25	176 1/3	2.91	1.09	49	186
1999	Martinez	25	175 1/3	2.26	0.98	33	251
2000	Martinez	25	190	1.66	0.75	28	250
2002	Martinez	25	168	2.20	0.89	32	206
2003	Martinez	25	159 2/3	2.48	1.09	42	178
2017	Sale	25	175 1/3	2.62	0.89	32	250

Red Sox W-L record when each pitched

YEAR	PLAYER	GS	W	L	PCT
1986	Clemens	25	21	4	0.840
1999	Martinez	25	20	5	0.800
2000	Martinez	25	19	6	0.760
2002	Martinez	25	19	6	0.760
1998	Martinez	25	18	7	0.720
1988	Clemens	25	18	7	0.720
2017	Sale	25	18	7	0.720
2003	Martinez	25	14	11	0.560

Players W-L record

YEAR	PLAYER	GS	W	L	PCT
2002	Martinez	25	16	3	0.842
1999	Martinez	25	19	4	0.826
1986	Clemens	25	19	4	0.826
2000	Martinez	25	16	4	0.800
1998	Martinez	25	15	4	0.789
2017	Sale	25	14	5	0.737
2003	Martinez	25	11	4	0.733
1988	Clemens	25	15	6	0.714

Innings pitched

YEAR	PLAYER	GS	IP
1986	Clemens	25	198 1/3
1988	Clemens	25	198 1/3
2000	Martinez	25	190
1998	Martinez	25	176 1/3
1999	Martinez	25	175 1/3
2017	Sale	25	175 1/3
2002	Martinez	25	168
2003	Martinez	25	159 2/3

ERA

YEAR	PLAYER	GS	ERA
2000	Martinez	25	1.66
2002	Martinez	25	2.20
1999	Martinez	25	2.26
2003	Martinez	25	2.48
1988	Clemens	25	2.50
1986	Clemens	25	2.54
2017	Sale	25	2.62
1998	Martinez	25	2.91

WHIP

YEAR	PLAYER	GS	WHIP
2000	Martinez	25	0.75
2002	Martinez	25	0.89
2017	Sale	25	0.89
1986	Clemens	25	0.95
1999	Martinez	25	0.98
1988	Clemens	25	0.98
2003	Martinez	25	1.09
1998	Martinez	25	1.09

K per 9 IP

YEAR	PLAYER	GS	K per 9
1999	Martinez	25	12.9
2017	Sale	25	12.8
2000	Martinez	25	11.8
2002	Martinez	25	11.0
1988	Clemens	25	10.7
2003	Martinez	25	10.0
1998	Martinez	25	9.5
1986	Clemens	25	8.4

BB per 9 IP

YEAR	PLAYER	GS	BB per 9
2000	Martinez	25	1.3
2017	Sale	25	1.6
1999	Martinez	25	1.7
2002	Martinez	25	1.7
1988	Clemens	25	1.8
2003	Martinez	25	2.4
1986	Clemens	25	2.4
1998	Martinez	25	2.5

K/BB

YEAR	PLAYER	GS	K/BB
2000	Martinez	25	8.9
2017	Sale	25	7.8
1999	Martinez	25	7.6
2002	Martinez	25	6.4
1988	Clemens	25	6.0
2003	Martinez	25	4.2
1986	Clemens	25	3.5
1998	Martinez	25	3.8

HR per 9 IP

YEAR	PLAYER	GS	HR/9
1999	Martinez	25	0.4
2003	Martinez	25	0.4
1988	Clemens	25	0.5
2002	Martinez	25	0.6
2000	Martinez	25	0.7
2017	Sale	25	0.8
1986	Clemens	25	0.9
1998	Martinez	25	1.1

Tale of the tape - New England Patriots ('01-'16) vs San Francisco 49ers ('81-'96)

Are the ('01-'16) New England Patriots the most successful dynasty in NFL history over a 16 year period?

Most frequently the bar set is the San Francisco 49ers from ('81-'96). Nobody ever thought another team would have a run even close to what the 49ers did. Especially when the NFL implemented the salary cap in 1994.

Opinions vary over which team is better.

Let's get rid of opinions and look at facts.

How do the 2 teams stack up? Let's see.

Criteria	Adv	Patriots ('01-'16)	49ers ('81-'96)	Adv
Reg Season record	√	(196-60-0, .759)	(182-65-1, .736)
Playoffs	√	(25-9, .735)	(20-9, .690)
Avg Finish - Division	√	1.13	1.38
Avg Conference seed	Tie	1.7	1.7	Tie
Made playoffs	Tie	14 of 16	14 of 16	Tie
Made Conference finals	√	11 of 16	9 of 16
Made Super Bowl	√	7	5
Won Super Bowl	Tie	5	5	Tie
Avg Rank - Offense		5	4	√
Avg Rank - Defense		8	5	√
Avg Rank - SOS	Tie	20	20	Tie
Avg of SOS	√	0.485	0.474
vs Playoff teams (reg/post)	√	(75-40, .652)	(72-41, .637)
vs teams w/win record (reg/post)		(87-50, .635)	(82-44, .651)	√
QB Rating (reg/post)	√	94.0	93.3	.

Winner - New England Patriots

Chris Sale vs other big name acquisitions for the Red Sox thru 5 starts

Much is made of the "pressure of pitching in Boston". Conventional wisdom is that the media will make any Red Sox player crack. Big name players just turn to mush on arrival.

Chris Sale, to this point, hasn't been affected by the noise.

Here is how Chris Sale stacks up to other big name pitchers that the Red Sox have acquired over the years thru their first 5 games started.

Category leader in yellow.

YEAR	PITCHER	GS	W	L	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	K/9	K/BB
2017	Chris Sale	5	1	2	37.2	23	5	1	6	52	1.19	0.77	12.4	8.7
1998	Pedro Martinez	5	2	0	37.1	22	7	2	10	51	1.69	0.86	12.3	5.1
2004	Curt Schilling	5	3	1	35.1	36	13	3	6	39	3.31	1.19	9.9	6.5
2010	John Lackey	5	2	1	30.0	35	15	2	12	17	4.50	1.57	5.1	1.4
2006	Josh Beckett	5	3	1	32.0	27	16	6	13	21	4.50	1.25	5.9	1.6
1978	Dennis Eckersley	5	0	1	35.1	43	20	6	11	12	5.09	1.53	3.1	1.1
2016	David Price	5	3	0	29.2	30	19	3	8	46	5.76	1.28	14.0	5.8