Player (MVP) ballot. The MVP result was controversial, as Martínez received the most first-place votes of any player (8 of 28), but was omitted from the ballot of two sportswriters, New York's George King and Minneapolis' LaVelle Neal. The two writers argued that pitchers were not sufficiently all-around players to be considered. (However, George King had given MVP votes to two pitchers just the season before: Rick Helling and David Wells; King was the only writer to cast a vote for Helling, who had gone 20–7 with a 4.41 ERA and 164 strikeouts.) MVP ballots have ten ranked slots, and sportswriters are traditionally asked to recuse themselves if they feel they cannot vote for a pitcher. "It really made us all look very dumb", said Buster Olney, then a sportswriter for The New York Times. "People were operating under different rules. The question of eligibility is a very basic thing. People were determining eligibility for themselves." The Times does not permit its writers to participate in award voting. Martínez finished second to Texas Rangers catcher Iván Rodríguez, by a margin of 252 points to 239. Rodríguez had been included on all 28 ballots. When asked about the result by WEEI-FM radio in January 2012, Martínez said, "I'm not afraid to say that the way that George King and Mr. LaVelle Neal III went about it was unprofessional." In 1999, Martínez became just the 9th modern pitcher to have a second 300-strikeout season, along with Nolan Ryan (6 times), Randy Johnson (third time in 1999, and three more times since), Sandy Koufax (3 times), Rube Waddell, Walter Johnson, Sam McDowell, J. R. Richard, Steve Carlton, and Curt Schilling; Schilling would later add a third 300-K season. An anomaly in power pitching annals, Martínez is the only 20th-century pitcher to notch 300 strikeouts in a season without being at least six feet tall. He was not afraid to pitch inside. On May 1, 1999, against Oakland, he came inside to Olmedo Saenz, hitting him. Previously, Saenez had hit a three-run homer off him. Questioned after the game he said ``I have no reason to hit [Saenz], But believe me ... if you get fresh with me or do something to show me up, I'll drill your ass.Between August 1999 and April 2000, Martínez had ten consecutive starts with 10 or more strikeouts. Only three pitchers have had as many as seven such