August 29, 2000

Some remember the date, others remember the event, no matter it was in the middle of a period the Red Sox may never see again. Let me bring you back, Jerald Williams-Pedro Martinez. That should say enough. If it doesn't, this game is what a classic Pedro game is made of: sheer concentration, a little drama, and pure dominance. Pedro takes a no-hitter into the ninth inning against Tampa Bay, in a game that Brian Daubach was thrown at 3 times, four Tampa pitchers are ejected, two bench clearing brawls, and again a Van Gogh type performance from a shoe-in Hall of Famer.

You may ask why I bring up such an obscure event such as this, well, NESN is replaying it and I find myself glued to the TV like the gum on your shoe. Since his glory days on the Red Sox are over, and his career is winding down, I ask myself and you, will Boston ever see a pitcher of this caliber again?

Pedro finished with a the following line: 9.0 IP 1H 0R 13K. Impressive? By MLB standards, yes. To Pedro, this was simply a good start and it doesn't even crack into the pantheon of classic Pedro starts. He was dominating whether or not he hit 95 on the gun. As the time has progress and Petey has moved on, the Red Sox have ushered in a new era of starting pitchers in Boston. All of whom have very high ceilings and expectations. However, in this group, is there a Pedro. Will there be in the near future? I will tell you there is not and there won't be for the foreseeable future.

Quick note: If you were wondering who broke up the no-hit bid on that faithful night. I had forgotten myself. It was John Flaherty, yea the one that turned himself into a hidden Red Sox killer. Why do ball players of John Flaherty's caliber end up killing the Red Sox, case and point, Bucky Dent.

Now let me delve into the persona of Pedro Martinez. As the American league can attest, Pedro Martinez wreaked havoc on any lineup he faced, yes, including the Yankees (17 K performance). His change up is comparable if not better than Johan Santana's when Petey was in his prime. His fastball had a range between 96-90 Mph but that has nothing do do with the sheer nastiness of his Terminator. It moved like a Tim Wakefield knuckle ball in All-Star Baseball; the league's best hitter's, never mind the Jason Tyners of the world, never had a chance to make contact. To round off his repertoire he encompassed a curve ball that in itself could strike out 10 batters.

We fans know he has awesome stuff, you could see it most every time he stood on the bump, but this isn't what made Pedro the player he was. We've had guys that can pitch: Clemens, Schilling, Tiant, and Cy, but I would argue that none embodied the sheer dominance that Pedro did? Not because of stuff, but rather demeanor made him the most feared pitcher for many years. That 5'10" Latino frame glared in at you as if you blasphemed against Dio or his Madre. Once anyone saw that only one thing from there on in was obvious. It was on. He was going to strike you out. The K-men had ammo ready. You should just concede defeat. This is what would happen every five days for the Sox when he was healthy. He would take the ball, load up that rubber band arm and mix cheese with Pitches that would quite literally seem to stop before they got to the mound as if the ball itself was admiring what Petey had done to it.

Not only did he take names and kick ass but he loved the city and the city loved him. Bostonians believe it or not we love divas. Petey, Lowe, Ortiz, Clemens, Manny (though his game is getting old), Bledsoe, Law, Milloy just to name a few. The city attaches themselves to these people and I tell you with the exception of Papi no one was more loved in Boston than Pedro. Business was business every five days for the Dominican Hurler (unless it was around the All-Star break because apparently million dollar athletes need three weeks off in the summer). Every other day however, you could find Pedro laughing, pulling pranks, duct taping himself to posts, it didn't matter he had fun. And if he wasn't then his midget Nelson (R.I.P) was for the sake of the team. He kept the team and city light and on their toes enjoying every minute of his tenure in Boston. He won us a Championship and he seemed to be as relieved as the elderly fans that waited 86 years to experience the Ecstasy again. He personified the city and we loved him for it.

Now that his career is coming to a close with the Mets, I think it's time that we give him due diligence as fans an understand what he did for us. He also has to realize that we love him, management just didn't think he was worth 53 million dollars (who was right in that argument?). Pedro had a Hall of Fame career just in Boston. He will be honored in Cooperstown some day, wearing a Sox cap and remembered as one of the top-5 most dominating pitchers of the modern era. Stand up and applaud this man whenever you see him, he gave us amazing memories and if you get the chance re-watch almost any game he pitched between 1999-2001 and relive the magic that was Petey.

Side note: this last paragraph is written a month after the rest of the piece I have no idea anymore where I was going with it so I ended it the only way I knew how. If only I could fade to black...

Wait turn the lights back on I remember, will we ever see a pitcher like him again? No! Dice won't do it and Beckett looks like if he will emulate anyone it will be Clemens (Hint: teach him the Splitter). Pitchers like Pedro barely ever come around, his decades Pedro is Johan Santana but it's doubtful we will see him pitch for the Sox so that one's out. No one can match what Pedro brought so consider yourself lucky to have seen it and move on. Thank you. I'm done.