Pedro is no longer the Pedro of legend. His athletic mortality has been clear during the 20 innings he has pitched in the 2004 playoffs. The Pedro of legend would not have given up 20 hits and 12 earned runs in those 20 innings, and he surely would not have walked 11 batters. As a starter, he has a win, a loss, and a no-decision, and he also had that curious inning of work in Yankee Game 7, a 20-pitch effort that arched eyebrows around the globe (no exaggeration). Few people are buying Terry Francona's story, which was that they needed someone to pitch the seventh inning and Pedro was the only candidate, especially since by so doing Francona was removing Pedro from the mix as the Game 1 starter against the Cardinals. The suspicious among us have chosen to believe that Pedro pitched because Pedro wanted to pitch.
As Chuck Daly would say, whatever . . .
The future will sort itself out. The relevant time frame is the present, and the relevant question is, just what can management, his manager, his teammates, the media, and the entirety of Red Sox Nation expect from the 2004 autumn Pedro Martinez, who has won just once in his last seven starts?
"I would think that, this being his first time in a World Series, he would embrace the moment," maintained pitching coach Dave Wallace, who goes back farther with Pedro than anyone in the Red Sox organization. Wallace is our resident Pedro-ologist.
Wallace knew, for example, the pre-Pedro Pedro, before he had acquired one-name status. Wallace knew, as he puts it, "a 17-year-old kid in a sugar-cane field in the Dominican Republic," as opposed to the 33-year-old (as of yesterday) man he has become. When Wallace, then in the employ of the Dodgers, first encountered Pedro, the lad was better known as "Ramon's little brother."
Whatever his private thoughts about the current quality of Pedro's repertoire, Wallace continues to believe in Pedro's competitiveness. Wallace expects Pedro to pitch well tonight.
Jason Varitek makes two. Don't bother citing the recent statistics to his catcher. Varitek believes he'll be catching a very good pitcher tonight.
