I'm not a Red Sox fan, but I hope Pedro Martinez makes a complete comeback. His 1999 and 2000 Cy Young seasons were superb (23-4/313K/2.07 ERA and 18-6/284K/1.74 ERA respectively), and he was on his way in 2001 (7-3/163K/2.39 ERA) until the injury knocked him out. (The Red Sox still wanted him to pitch injured--what's wrong with these folks?)

Martinez is one of the most dominant pitchers in MLB, but I hope he's not rushing back; he's far more valuable completely healthy than...well, actually even at half-strength Pedro is still a force to reckon with given the state of major league pitching these days.

Photo of Pedro at spring training (he is so cute):

No Pedro fans out there? The best pitcher in the AL? Come on guys and girls....

Pedro Martinez is awesome. I had him on my fantasy baseball team early on when he was with Montreal. Like a General Manager that I was I knew he was going to be special. And it's cool watching this little guy with his tight baseball pants on (one of the tightest in baseball) mow down hitters.

(And while on the subject of Fantasy Baseball, I firmly believe I was one of the first to draft Mike Piazza. It was definitly before his first full Major League season)

[ March 04, 2002: Message edited by: amazin12 ]

Definitely NOT a Pedro fan, after his bean-balling started a brawl here at Tropicana Field...for which many Rays were ejected, but not Pedro! He's a great pitcher, but gets no respect from me. Can't stand players that are so full of themselves.

I'm worried about Pedro this season. He compares his shoulder problems with similar ones that ended his brother Ramon's career, and the way he's been talking about his years in the majors, it almost sounds like there's a bit of resignation in him. Like, if his career ended tomorrow, he's kind of expecting it and it wouldn't particularly bother him. Of course, a Pedro-less season would be devastating for the Red Sox -- imagine the Texas Rangers, but without the offense.

Pedro did more off-season conditioning than ever, working out with weights, something he's not really done before. Hopefully the weight training staves off injuries while still allowing him enough flexibility to whip off those wicked pitches. Like every naive Red Sox fan, I'm always full of hope during Spring Training.

What the hell was Duquette thinking when he forced Pedro to pitch hurt last year? Man, you got me. But that kind of arrogant stupidity is just one of a multitude of reasons that s**thead got s**tcanned.

From the pre-season reports I've seen, Pedro's shoulder appears to have healed, and the weight training has helped him. He didn't have the speed on his ball yesterday (it only reached 93-94 mph), but supposedly the velocity and spin were dazzling, and his curve just fell out of the strike zone. He surrendered only one hit. I think he's got 1-2 more Cy Youngs, and at least 5 more great years in him, especially if he has a manager who knows how to take care of that arm. Now, if only he pitched for the Cardinals (who have an awesome staff this year) or the Yankees (who are the Geriatrics, though there's nothing wrong with that....).

Pedro Martínez pitched to form tonight!!! He allowed only one hit, struck out six, and achieved his 2,000th strikeout faster than any other pitcher (including Johnson, Ryan, Clemens, Koufax, etc.) in Major League history!

Pedro remains key to the Red Sox's fortunes. I'd love to see a rematch of 1967: the Red Sox vs. the Cardinals. Pedro would take Gibson's role, I guess--he's certainly on his way to the Hall of Fame.

I'm also glad to see World Series champ Livan Hernandez pitching up to his talent (like his brother El Duque) with a 4-0 record. What is Al Leiter adding to his cutter? His ERA thus far is 0.38 or something astonishingly low like that.

Hey fantomas, big Pedro fan here. You started the thread while I was away, no fair!
Last night he showed what an intelligent pitcher he is. He had speed (96+), and a good fast curve, but his changeup is still not awesome, though. I know he pitched practically a no-hitter --the one hit was a power hitter's blooper that fell in short CF--, but he only struck out 6, and he needs his changeup to get double-digit strikeouts.
I liked the chemistry between him and Clark also; it was fun to watch.
PS By the way, good to see the giant finally look good at the plate.

gee, even if Pedro's only 90-95% of his old self, he still makes for one of the finest pitchers in baseball. For me, the most notable event of last night's performance was Pedro's 2000th strikeout, making him one of a very select fraternity (the other seven are either already HOFers, or sure-thing first-balloters). Even more impressive is that he notched up 2,000 punchados in fewer innings than anybody else.

Watching Pedro on the mound is a real treat. I know he rubs some folks the wrong way (the plunking, the bullying), but I just love watching El Maestro at work -- the command, the guile, the calm, the confidence, the beautiful mechanics. I would hope that even non-Red Sox fans would be able to appreciate the man's talents.

Any other Pedro fans think the guy's incredibly funny? He has such a dry wit in interviews, and he's a total goofball in the dugout. Just about every time I see the guy off the mound, he cracks me up.

I'm not a fan of Pedro Martinez but I do think he's cute
and would love to nail his sweet brown ass.
That aside . . . I think he's an arrogant ass****. And I'm
hoping that when he pitches in a NL game later this
year, in interleague play, he gets drilled good and hard
by a 98 mph fastball in his left ear.

I do hope the Red Sox beat the Yanks this year and win
their division. . . but I would love to see him get plunked,
in the noggin and ass, in interleague play.

So there!!

Go Mets !!

Alfonso

[quote]Originally posted by Alfonso:
I'm not a fan of Pedro Martinez but I do think he's cute
and would love to nail his sweet brown ass.
That aside . . . I think he's an arrogant ass****. And I'm
hoping that when he pitches in a NL game later this
year, in interleague play, he gets drilled good and hard
by a 98 mph fastball in his left ear.

I do hope the Red Sox beat the Yanks this year and win
their division. . . but I would love to see him get plunked,
in the noggin and ass, in interleague play.

So there!!

Go Mets !!

Alfonso

---

Alfonso, why do you think Pedro is "arrogant"? He comes off in interviews as decent enough and earlier this season, when he wasn't pitching well, he said that he was "human" and that he wasn't "perfect." I mean, Roger Clemens (who I like) is arrogant. Bob Gibson was arrogant. Juan Marichal, who once beat Johnny Roseboro over the head with a bat, was arrogant.

I don't see Pedro as arrogant as much as that he pitches to *win,* which is why he has taken his talent so far. Randy Johnson is an overpowering pitcher who used to not go after hitters the way he does now; he was once criticized for lacking the toughness that would take Seattle to the World Series. But since he moved to the NL, he has stepped up, and is now the most overpowering pitcher in the NL. Pedro's much smaller and works with a slower fastball, but he can be just as intimidating. That's a great thing for a pitcher, and for his team.

I don't want to see Pedro get hit in the head--that's horrifying. It would destroy his career. He's the second great Dominican pitcher of all time, and one of the best of his era. I want to see him win more Cy Youngs and then waltz into the Hall of Fame. With or without the Red Sox.

Go Cards, go Yankees!

I think there are two different Pedro's, when he's on the mound and when he's off the mound. The "Off The Mound" Pedro seems like a pretty decent, normal guy who just so happens to be supremely confident in his abilities (pre-injury, anyway). He's always said that he's willing to throw any pitch, on any count, to any hitter in baseball. Is that arrogant? Well, if you look at his Sandy Koufax-esque domination before last year's injury, it was clear that he was capable of doing just that, and being very successful at it. If you got the walk to back up the talk, I don't think you can call it arrogance.

Once he steps onto the mound, Pedro transforms. Forget the jokes, forget the goofball antics, he's all business and becomes a different person. Yeah, he's the King of the Brushback Pitch, because he's staking out the inside of the plate as his territory and his alone. Sure, he bullies the hitters, but that's all part of the game and part of what makes him so great. Once he's done, he puts on his jacket, sits back with his teammates, and starts making funny faces to his friends in the opposing dugout.

Hey, no denying ... I'm probably the most biased person on this board in favor of Pedro, but that's my take on the guy.

[quote]Originally posted by BoSoxRudy:
... I'm probably the most biased person on this board in favor of Pedro...

---

This is the only thing in your post I don't agree with
Well said.
And for all the talk about beanballing, Pedro only does it after one of his teammates has been hit. Other than that he just pitches inside, and with good results.
Anybody looking forward to a Pedro-Everett confrontation?

I see Pedro as the new Roger Clemens - a superb pitcher, albeit incredibly arrogant and uncaring about his flagrant headhunting on the mound. He's the kind of guy you love when he's on your team, and despise when he's on the opposition.

Boo is 5-0 now, and struck out 12 last night! I hope Pedro can get to 18-0 or so; that would be phenomenal. A final record à la Guidry would be the best of all: 25-3 or something along those lines. As for the Sox in the series, only if they get to face the St. Louis Cardinals!

"10-0, we're due." -- Lou Pinella 5/18/02

Right, Lou... As of this afternoon at Fenway, Pedro has a 10-0 career record against the Mariners, ERA 0.94. He threw nine pitches in the first inning, three up, three down. Untouchable.

The M's brought Seattle weather with them, wish they'd brought Safeco along too!

Since I didn't know if I'd be home in time for the first pitch, the VCR was recording the game as I was watching. I'm so glad that I didn't bother shutting it off right away because I just had to watch that first half-inning again! Nine pitches, three Ks, against the top of Seattle's order. Did you see the pitch against Ichiro that had the guy spinning out of the batter's box like a drunk getting tossed out of a bar? Amazing stuff. All the discussion as to whether Pedro is back to his old self is academic right now. His shoulder seems healthy, he's a lot stronger, and he's dominating the opposition ... that's all that matters to us Sox fans.