Pedro Martinez sees a lot of himself in Yankees ace Gerrit Cole
Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole throws to a Red Sox batter during the first inning of a game at Fenway Park on Sept. 24 in Boston. Credit: AP/Mary Schwalm
The last time the Yankees and Red Sox met in a winner-take-all playoff game, on Oct. 20, 2004, Pedro Martinez pitched for the Red Sox. He allowed two runs in one inning in Boston’s 10-3 victory in Game 7 of the ALCS.
Now he is an analyst for Turner but would love to be on the mound one last time for Tuesday’s night’s American League wild-card game at Fenway Park.
When Turner host Ernie Johnson asked Martinez on a video conference with reporters on Tuesday how much he would want the ball for a game such as that, Martinez let out a long "Ooooooooh!"
Then he added he would hear a lot of "Who’s your Daddy?" taunts, a reference to a long-ago Martinez postgame quote. "But that doesn’t bother me," he said. "I love it."
That 2004 game was at Yankee Stadium, of course. Most of the taunting on Tuesday night figures to be aimed at Gerrit Cole, the visiting starter.
Martinez does not expect that to bother Cole. When asked which player in the postseason he most identifies with and reminds him of himself, Martinez quickly named Cole.
"I wanted the challenge," Martinez said. "I wanted to have Yankee Stadium rocking, ‘Who’s your Daddy?!’ Giving me middle fingers and all that and wanting to fight with me and all I wanted to was to beat the Yankees.
"That role about facing that game against a good team that you know is going to give you knuckles, for some of us as competitors, as athletes, I loved being in that moment.
"Today Nathan Eovaldi and Gerrit Cole are facing one of the most unique games you could ever have . . . You are the one chosen from the moment they signed you to get these kinds of moments. Those moments I lived for."
What does Martinez expect from the big game?
"It’s going to be a nail-biter," he said. "I hope the underdog sends the Yankees home, but I think it’s going to be a nail-biter. I think it’s going to be a great game, a lot of fun."
But, he added, "It seems unfair that two teams are going to go head-to-head all year and now one of them needs to go home after one game when we would love to see those teams go deep in the postseason and see what they can do."
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
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