World Series Game 6: Pedro’s career finale?
Tonight’s Game 6 of the World Series in the Bronx could very well be the career swansong for future Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez.
Martinez looked dominant at times in his first start of the series, in Game 2, finishing with eight strikeouts. He gave up three runs in six-plus innings. This time, the stakes will be higher, perhaps more so than in any start of Martinez’s storied career.
“I look at this situation as a blessing,” Martinez said. “I mean, what else would I want? I’m doing the job I love. I’m doing something that not everybody gets to do. Two months back, I was sitting at home not doing anything.
“None of you were thinking of me whatsoever, none of you were asking me questions. And today I am here, probably pitching in one of the biggest games ever in the World Series.”
In four playoff appearances at Yankee Stadium (new and old), the 38-year-old Martinez is 0-2 with a 5.75 ERA. And his Phillies are +175 betting underdogs on WagerWeb.com for Game 6 against Yanks starter Andy Pettitte.
Martinez, whom the Phillies say they want back, three Cy Young awards and eight All-Star game appearances on his resume. And he has shown he can still be effective. But his father died not too long ago due to brain cancer, and he doesn’t really want to leave his mother alone all season in the Dominican Republic.
A deeply religious and family-oriented man, Martinez believes strongly in loyalty. After pitching for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic, he returned home and spent a lot of time with his mother. Martinez had offers to play in the majors, but he wanted to pitch for a contending team.
“All that time I spent in the Dominican helped me so much with my mom,” Martinez said. “If I wasn’t there for my mom, I don’t know where she would be right now after my dad passed away. I got to spend time with her, build a garden with her. We had some workers help us, but I was out there digging and planting roses with her. We spent a month and a half building that garden and that distracted my mom from what happened. It helped her.”
Martinez hasn’t pitched anything close to a full season since 2005, so maybe he’ll come back for the second half of next season, but he has dropped hints that this could be it – especially if he adds another World Series ring.
Meanwhile, the cover of Wednesday’s New York Post shows Martinez in a diaper. The headline reads “Spank him, Yanks: Daddy to whup Pedro tonight.”
During Game 2, fans peppered him with “Who’s your daddy?” chants throughout. It dates back to a start years ago with Boston when Pedro sarcastically called the Yankees his “daddy” after a start.
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