End of the road...?
The inevitable winter of the Red Sox’ discontent was stayed yesterday (or early this morning, depending on where you were at the time of the Sox’ hitters’ spiritual awakening), at least for a few hours.
This afternoon, Pedro Martinez takes the hill in Fenway for what may be his last start as a Red Sox. Bob Ryan turned in a concise and heartfelt ode to the man who may be the greatest pitcher ever to wear the Boston uniform.
As you all know, I was a student in Boston when Pedro was pitching in his prime (’98-’00), and honestly, I can’t think of a better time in their history to have been on such an intimate level with the Sox and their players. I lived in the Fens, on Park Drive, during my Sophomore year in school and the summer following, and was lucky enough on several occasions to witness Petey’s mastery over the American League first-hand. In a game against the Orioles that July, seated in the rightfield bleachers at Fenway (although saying I was seated is a misnomer—when Pedro pitched, you stood, simple as that) I watch a true master at work. You could see the Baltimore hitters shaking their heads leaving the batters box. He was simply TOO good. So good, people would wait to buy tickets to the game until the Sox set up their rotation and wait for every fifth day when the city would buzz with fervent whispers and jubilant cries of “Pedro’s pitchin’!” So good you would wait for the Sox to bat to go take a piss or get a beer, not wanting to miss a minute of his mastery.
Pedro finished the ’98 season 19-7 with an ERA under three, enough to elevate him to hero status in the Boston area and throughout the scattered outposts of America and the world that would later be come known as Red Sox Nation. But it was his performance over the next two seasons that would make him a legend. In 1999, he finished 23-4 with an ERA just a shade over two and 313 strikeouts. Read those numbers again. Simply astonishing. In the playoffs against Cleveland, his entrance from the bullpen to thrown six innings of shutout relief is a memory that will stay with me longer, I’m sure, than anything he could do today to prolong our collective suffering. In 2000, he might have been even better: despite an 18-6 record, his ERA was an eye-popping 1.74 and he recorded 284 strikeouts and four shutouts in two less starts than the year before (surely the beginning of the rued “summer vacations” that would plague his past few seasons in Boston before this year).
Much will be made in the off-season to come about where Pedro will end up next year. Obvious speculation puts him in New York, finally returning to the warm embrace of his self-proclaimed Daddies. Perhaps the Dodgers, the team that discarded him in 1993 for the immortal Delino DeShields, will make a run at him, or the pitching hungry Rangers or Anaheim or Philly will take a flier at a price tag way over the Sox’ heads.
For what it’s worth, Pedro is not the same pitcher he was during his hey-day. This past season, he gave up more earned runs, more hits, and allowed his highest ERA of his career and won less than 17 games when making all his starts for the first time since his days with the Expos in 1996. He self-destructed in his final start regular season start against the Yankees and then allowed himself to be beaten last week by a John Olerud 2-run homer in Game 2. Curt Schilling, pre-injury, had supplanted him as the team’s ace, and despite his calm demeanor and team-player talk, Pedro has to be seething at the thought of playing another year as second banana in a town he used to own outright.
Today at 5:19pm EST, Pedro Martinez will take the field for what may be his final hurrah as a member of Shaunnie’s beloved Olde Towne Team. For all that he’s done for this team over the past seven seasons, I for one am hoping to see vintage Pedro. Maybe a two-hit shutout with 14Ks and no runner getting past second is out of the question, but eight innings, three runs, 8Ks and a Sox victory would truly be sublime. We may never again see the Great Pedro of old, but if this is in fact The End, let’s hope we close the book with a smile on our face…and always the hope of another chapter yet to come.
This afternoon, Pedro Martinez takes the hill in Fenway for what may be his last start as a Red Sox. Bob Ryan turned in a concise and heartfelt ode to the man who may be the greatest pitcher ever to wear the Boston uniform.
As you all know, I was a student in Boston when Pedro was pitching in his prime (’98-’00), and honestly, I can’t think of a better time in their history to have been on such an intimate level with the Sox and their players. I lived in the Fens, on Park Drive, during my Sophomore year in school and the summer following, and was lucky enough on several occasions to witness Petey’s mastery over the American League first-hand. In a game against the Orioles that July, seated in the rightfield bleachers at Fenway (although saying I was seated is a misnomer—when Pedro pitched, you stood, simple as that) I watch a true master at work. You could see the Baltimore hitters shaking their heads leaving the batters box. He was simply TOO good. So good, people would wait to buy tickets to the game until the Sox set up their rotation and wait for every fifth day when the city would buzz with fervent whispers and jubilant cries of “Pedro’s pitchin’!” So good you would wait for the Sox to bat to go take a piss or get a beer, not wanting to miss a minute of his mastery.
Pedro finished the ’98 season 19-7 with an ERA under three, enough to elevate him to hero status in the Boston area and throughout the scattered outposts of America and the world that would later be come known as Red Sox Nation. But it was his performance over the next two seasons that would make him a legend. In 1999, he finished 23-4 with an ERA just a shade over two and 313 strikeouts. Read those numbers again. Simply astonishing. In the playoffs against Cleveland, his entrance from the bullpen to thrown six innings of shutout relief is a memory that will stay with me longer, I’m sure, than anything he could do today to prolong our collective suffering. In 2000, he might have been even better: despite an 18-6 record, his ERA was an eye-popping 1.74 and he recorded 284 strikeouts and four shutouts in two less starts than the year before (surely the beginning of the rued “summer vacations” that would plague his past few seasons in Boston before this year).
Much will be made in the off-season to come about where Pedro will end up next year. Obvious speculation puts him in New York, finally returning to the warm embrace of his self-proclaimed Daddies. Perhaps the Dodgers, the team that discarded him in 1993 for the immortal Delino DeShields, will make a run at him, or the pitching hungry Rangers or Anaheim or Philly will take a flier at a price tag way over the Sox’ heads.
For what it’s worth, Pedro is not the same pitcher he was during his hey-day. This past season, he gave up more earned runs, more hits, and allowed his highest ERA of his career and won less than 17 games when making all his starts for the first time since his days with the Expos in 1996. He self-destructed in his final start regular season start against the Yankees and then allowed himself to be beaten last week by a John Olerud 2-run homer in Game 2. Curt Schilling, pre-injury, had supplanted him as the team’s ace, and despite his calm demeanor and team-player talk, Pedro has to be seething at the thought of playing another year as second banana in a town he used to own outright.
Today at 5:19pm EST, Pedro Martinez will take the field for what may be his final hurrah as a member of Shaunnie’s beloved Olde Towne Team. For all that he’s done for this team over the past seven seasons, I for one am hoping to see vintage Pedro. Maybe a two-hit shutout with 14Ks and no runner getting past second is out of the question, but eight innings, three runs, 8Ks and a Sox victory would truly be sublime. We may never again see the Great Pedro of old, but if this is in fact The End, let’s hope we close the book with a smile on our face…and always the hope of another chapter yet to come.
posted by bd @ 10/18/2004 01:27:00 PM
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