Pedro Martinez to get ball in Game 2

By Eric Schwartz
for PhillySportsBlogs.com

Published: October 27, 2009

Pedro Martinez to get ball in Game 2 thumbnail

If someone had told you at the All-Star break that the Phillies would be in the World Series with Cliff Lee and Pedro Martinez pitching games one and two, what would your reaction have been?

Likely a little confused.

However the Phillies two big late-season pickups will be doing exactly that as Charlie Manuel announced that Pedro will get the ball in Game 2 on Thursday.

“To have 60,000 people looking at one guy to deliver that ball and all of them chanting ‘Pay-dro! Pay-dro!’ is a great honor,” Martinez recently said in an interview with The Associated Press. “To pitch at Yankee Stadium on one of the greatest stages to play on, it’s an unbelievable feeling.”
It is a feeling he knows well.

The Yankees have had some success in the past against Pedro. Frustrated at one point in his Boston career, Pedro called the Yankees “his daddy” in an infamous postgame interview.

That is hardly the case though. Martinez went 8-4 with a 2.95 ERA against the Yankees in the old stadium. The bad news is that Pedro has never one a playoff game in New York, going 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA.

We also know that this is not the same Pedro that pitched for the Red Sox five years ago. Then again, this is the same Pedro that pitched seven brilliant shutout innings against the Dodgers in Game 2, only to see the bullpen cough up a victory.

Most importantly we know that Pedro will not be intimidated — by anyone. That means those 60,000 fans can shout as loud as they want and taunt him merciless and it won’t bother him. Martinez is a true competitor. He lives for game’s like he will get Thursday.

If you need any more insurance that Pedro is the right guy to march into Yankee Stadium and deliver a victory just look back to this quote he issued in 2001 after beating the Yankees in a regular season game.

“I don’t believe in rivalries. I don’t believe in curses. Wake up the damn Bambino, maybe I’ll drill him in the (behind).”

Oh yes, Pedro will be ready.

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