Winning World Series titles, breaking records and making game-winning plays are all great, but the single highest honor an athlete can achieve is to be elected into the Hall of Fame.

Baseball's Hall of Fame, located in Cooperstown, New York, is reserved for the best players to ever play the game.

And this year, Pedro Martinez, one of the greatest pitchers in Major League Baseball history is up for election into the Baseball Hall of Fame this year.

Martinez began playing baseball at a young age in his home country, the Dominican Republic. His older brother, Ramon Ramirez, played in the big leagues, and eventually Pedro would follow in his footsteps. His father also played on the island, as well. Standing just 5-foot-11, a lot of general managers and scouts doubted Martinez and thought he was too small to play in MLB.

Eventually, in 1993, Martinez got his chance.And he took advantage of it.

In 1993, Martinez pitched 107 innings for the Los Angeles Dodgers, recording 10 wins and just five losses. That season, Martinez posted an outstanding 2.61 earned runs against average.

Throughout the next 10 years, Martinez inserted himself as one of the best pitchers in the game. With the Montreal Expos, Martinez struck out 843 batters, while walking just 248 in the process. Even though Martinez put together some of the best statistics in the game at the time, he didn't get a lot of recognition because the Expos never made the playoffs.

In June of 1995, Martinez pitched one of the most memorable games ever. Facing the San Diego Padres, Martinez didn't allow a single batter to reach base in nine innings of play, thus a perfect game was looming. Unfortunately, the game was tied 0-0, and it went to extra innings, where Martinez allowed a hit.

In 1997, Martinez was traded to the Boston Red Sox.

With the Red Sox, Martinez was phenomenal, winning two Cy Young Awards, leading the league in wins, and of course, ending the infamous 86-year World Series drought in Boston. In Game 3 of the 2004 World Series, Martinez pitched seven innings, not allowing a single run against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Martinez finished his career with a 2.93 ERA, 219 wins, a World Series championship and three Cy Young Awards.

With a wide variety of pitches consisting of fastballs, curveballs, cutters and changeups, Martinez is often touted as one of the most dominant pitchers to ever play the game. If Martinez is successfully elected, he would become the second Dominican-born pitcher in the Baseball Hall of Fame. The other being Juan Marichal, who was elected in 1983.

In order to be elected, a player must receive at least 75 percent of the vote. This will be Martinez's first time up for election. Other notables who are up for their first election include Randy Johnson, Tim Raines John Smoltz, Craig Biggio and Mike Piazza. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are on the ballot again, but steroid allegations have halted voters from showing support for them. A maximum of 10 players can be elected each year.

Without a doubt, Martinez is Hall of Fame-worthy in most people's eyes. His numbers and accomplishments speak for themselves, and he did win a World Series. Nobody (not even Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron) receives 100 percent of the vote, but Martinez should easily get enough votes to find a spot in Cooperstown.

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