"If Sandy Koufax has the left arm of God, then Pedro Martinez has the right.

Martinez, who at his prime was arguably the most dominant starting pitcher the game has ever seen, said Saturday that he intends to make his retirement official, two years after his last big league start.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner, now 40, had never fully closed the door on a potential return after his last Major League outing, in Game 6 of the 2009 World Series with the Phillies. Even Saturday, after staging a holiday toy drive in Bedford, Mass., Martinez said he still has a desire to play, but he made clear that the draw of home life in Miami and his native Dominican Republic -- his family, his charity, his boat -- supersedes everything else. "