Sports Fan Paradise

Wednesday November 4th, 2009

8:05 PM: "Whooo's yoouur daaaddy!?!" chants are reigning down on a 38-year-old Pedro Martinez as he takes the mound in the House That Taxpayer Dollars Built. He looks calm and confident. He may have lost a few mph on his fastball, and his change-up is no longer the unhittable anomaly that it was in the late-90s, but the bravado is still there.

Curt Schilling once famously said that "I'm not sure I can think of any scenario more enjoyable than making 55,000 people from New York shut up." Schill and his bloody sock did just that in another Game 6 half a decade ago, and Pedro looks to do the same tonight, but with all due respect to Curt in the Car, he will never be viewed in the same light as Martinez.

8:06 PM: Fox's scouting report on Pedro calls him "wily and creative." Not exactly the adjectives that the once-dominant ace used to receive, another clue that this is not the same Pedro that once came out of the bullpen to throw 6 no-hit innings and win the deciding game of the 1999 ALDS.

Pedro was always the guy that opposing fans loved to hate, and nowhere was that sentiment stronger than in the Big Apple. There have always been certain athletes that seemed to thrive when playing in front of thousands of angry fans that wanted nothing more than to see them fail (Reggie Miller in Madison Square Garden comes to mind). Pedro has always been one of those guys, a man who would never shy away from the New York media or fail to give the type of soundbite that could cause riots.

8:33 PM: Joe Buck reflects that "Pedro Martinez could be pitching his biggest game in that career ..." as Fox flashes his career resume filled with Hall of Fame numbers accolades. Then, just as Buck mentions Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS and how he "didn't have enough that night," Pedro grooves a 3-2 fastball into Hideki Matsui that the Yankee's DH promptly deposits into the second deck in right field, well over the short porch. 2-0 Yankees.

He was the guy that said that if somebody woke up the damn Bambino he would bean him in the ass. He got away with it because he was the most intimidating 170 lb man in baseball history.

8:39 PM: Martinez retires Nick Swisher on a fly ball to left to end the bottom of the 2nd.

If a young Boston sports fan asked me what it was like to watch Pedro in his prime, I would tell him this: Pretend Tom Brady only played quarterback for the Patriots one out of every five games. That's what it was like.

8:46 PM: A Jimmy Rollins sac-fly scores Carlos Ruiz. 2-1 Yankees.

There weren't the type of tears for Martinez upon his departure from Beantown that there were for the likes of Ray Bourque and Nomar Garciaparra, but that was Pedro. He was the kind of guy that you loved because he was your on your side, but you knew you would probably despise if he ever changed uniforms (Rodney Harrison comes to mind).

9:00 PM: Martinez drills Mark Teixeira to load the bases for Alex Rodriguez. This has all the makings of a game-making or game-breaking at-bat. Those 55,000 plus have not shut up yet.

My defining Pedro Moment was the 1999 All Star Game in Fenway Park, when he struck out five in two no-hit innings. To put his dominance that night in perspective, Mark McGwire was the only strikeout victim not to win an NL MVP award.

9:04 PM: Pedro strikes A-Rod out looking on an outside fastball that is only called a strike for a handful of pitchers. Luckily for Pedro (and Philadelphia and Boston) he is one of them.

Wednesday night will most likely be the last time that Pedro pitches in the Bronx, and possibly the last time we ever see him take the mound. It's an interesting conflict, because the bravado that keeps him thinking that he can compete will be the same bravado that won't let himself go out there if he doesn't truly think he can be effective.

9:07 PM: Matsui lines a 2-out single that plates a pair. As Tim McCarver astutely puts it, "4-1 Matsui." This is fitting, he always kills the Sox.

As Buck said, this could be the biggest game of Pedro's career, and it's difficult to argue that Game 6 of a World Series isn't as important as it gets. That said, and maybe it's the Sox fan in me talking, but I can't believe that any game occurring after 2004 could have equal importance in Pedro's mind as any of the heroic gems he through during his Boston years.

9:44 PM: Chad Durbin takes over for Phillies to start the bottom of the 5th. Four runs, 3 hits, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts, a hit batsman and a home run. Not the type of line that will make 55,000+ Yankees fans do anything but prepare to party like it's 1999.

Tonight was not the Pedro Martinez that I remember, and there was no reason it should have been. It must have been like watching Muhammad Ali lose by unanimous decision to Trevor Berbick in '81. Of course, I don't remember that fight, I wasn't born for another few years. I came of age as a sports fan during The Pedro Era, and I'm thrilled to be able to say that.