Was Pedro Martinez's 2000 season best ever in modern era?

Pedro Martinez was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday in a no-brainer of a selection on his first attempt via the BBWAA vote. Last December and January, we discussed the merits of his career and even his insane seven-season stretch, but let's zero in on one single year right now: 2000.

There's an argument to be made that it was the single best season in baseball history for a starting pitcher. So let's make it!
Now, here it comes. I've gone and done it. The reactions from the old guard will range from temper tantrums to simple condescension. I'm either some young punk who doesn't understand the game, I'm ignorant or both. I use newfangled stats and blah blah blah.
How about simple context with the very simple long-standing run prevention stat, though?
Pedro Martinez had a 1.74 ERA in 2000 with the Boston Red Sox. Roger Clemens had a 3.70 ERA. Why do I bring up Rocket? Because he finished second in the AL in ERA. Clemens was the runner-up for the ERA crown by a wider gap than the 35th-best ERA was to Clemens. Only five pitchers in the entire AL had an ERA better than 4.00. Remember, this was the height of the PED era. And the spindly Martinez still had a 1.74 ERA.
Now throw out Bob Gibson's 1.12 ERA. Go ahead (in fact, I'm gonna guess people have already done so in the comments before even getting to this part of the article).
Gibson had one of the best seasons in baseball history and there's no argument here, but the 1.12 isn't better than 1.74 if we allow context into the discussion. First off, remember how there only five AL pitchers in 2000 with ERAs under 4.00? There were seven NL pitchers in 1968 at 2.20 or better.Click Here!