One perhaps under emphasized aspect of Pedro's dominance in the 99-01 era, in particular, was the relative weakness of the rest of the Sox starting staff. I remember often thinking before Pedro starts that he had to win given his own level of dominance and what might reasonably happen in games he was not starting. Those teams were also not offensive juggernauts. A side by side of Boston's starting nine versus that of the MFYs in that period would never be all that flattering to the Red Sox. My point is that Pedro's performance in his peak years was all the more impressive given the pressure that he might have understandably felt to carry his fair share and then some.
