Once again you nailed it, Dirt. He who boos this man ought to ask themselves why they ever bother to cheer.
Great job Chad, you summed up exactly how I feel, much more eloquently then I could ever hope to. To boo Pedro would mean you are one of two things- a person so miserable and so quick to forget the joy Pedro brought you are truly hopeless; or a sycophantic follower of a certain bold font loving idiot canine. Not sure which is worse. Nonetheless, great job.
Pedro has that rare combination of superior athletic ability and raw, magnetic star quality.
Like the real, charismatic performers in Hollywood (Hanks, Steve Martin, Julia Roberts, Streep) it is impossible to ignore him in a room. You always knew where Pedro was, and missed him when he wasn't there. When he wasn't tucked in his between-start spot in the Fenway dugout, you knew it. The building could feel it. And when he was on the mound, your attention was on one spot.
Nothing will beat the simple joy of watching Pedro dance to "Mambo #5" on the dugout steps.
I hope Pedro hears my cheers from 300 miles away as he takes the mound tonight.
I also hope the angels hear my prayers for the other Pete. God bless, Peter Gammons.
Sometimes, I think that I'm older than dirt. When I talk about Jerry Toppazzini, Bill Spanswick, Artie Graham, or Gene Guarilia, most Boston fans shrug their shoulders incomprehensively. Over the past forty-seven years, I have seen every great player who has ever donned a Boston uniform, including Ted Williams, whom I saw play on television with my late father in September, 1960 (one of my first vivid memories).
Every once in a while, there would be that "I can't wait to see someone moment": Bill Russell smothering Wilt Chamberlain, netting as many rebounds as most superstars score in points during a game; Bobby Orr killing a penalty all by himself in Toronto for over a minute by himself in his own end, suddenly rushing up the ice ans scoring an improbable short-handed goal: Yaz approaching home plate during the approaching fall in that magical year of 1967, knowing that he will once again deliver in the clutch; Hawg Hannah knocking down half of Buffalo's defensive line on a sweep; Luis Tiant, swerving, gesturing, sliding, and dipping his ancient frame as a biting slider sails by the batter with chants of "Luis! Luis!" echoing throughout Fenway; Larry Bird, with blood in his eyes, holding the ball at the side of the key, down by a point with three seconds to go - and you know there's no way you can stop him; a young Roger Clemens with an 0-2 count against a defenseless batter, winding up and throwing premium gas; Tom Brady with no timeouts, seemingly impenetrable, marching his championship Patriots team up the field; David Ortiz approaching the batter's box with the game on the line - with no fear in his eyes - before settling in to come through once again.
Every start that Pedro Martinez made with the Boston Red Sox was looked forward by me with the same kind of anticipation. For that alone, he will always be one of the immortials.
I remember sitting in my living room back in 1999, watching in awe at the greatest pitching performance I ever saw - his seventeen strikeout game against a team that was in the midst of a mini-dynasty. With two outs in the ninth, I turned on the Yankees' broadcast - I was curious - and I heard the voices of John Sterling and Michael Kay.
Before the final pitch, Kay said, "This is an absolute tour de force."
Sterling then responded, "David cone pitched a perfect game here recently. Pedro's game tonight is more impressive."
I was so proud of the Red Sox fans who attended the game last evening. As usual, "they got it".
Chad, as always, you said what needed to be said with elegance, insight, and style.
Perfect.
very very well written. and judging by the ovation he got last night, just to lounge on the steps of the visitors' dugout & take in the game, i have every reason to believe that the crowd will greet him with a thunderous roar of adoration. and if they don't, i will be sorely disappointed.
Excellent piece. BDD and the other Pedro-bashers (why is the p.o.s. BDD still linked by the Globe?) should really shut up.
Chad, superb- you've outdone yourself.
Pedro single-handedly brought me back to baseball fandom.
I was a diehard Sox fanatic from 1977 to 1994. Then that player's strike hit, and for literally five years I didn't watch a single inning or read a single box score.
In 1999, unaware that the Sox were even in the playoffs, a Sox-fan frend of mine talked me into watching the famous Cleveland ALCS game. I was only vaguely aware of Pedro, and had no idea that his 1998 and 1999 ledgers were two of the best seasonal pitching performances in history.
Anyway, Pedro came in to pitch six hitless relief innings, and I marveled as I watched (even saying to my friend, "The Sox have this guy? No way!" and "Thanks for making me watch!") as I got hooked on baseball and the Sox again.
Since that day and that Pedro relief appearance, I've been as fanatical as I was when I was an eleven-year-old in '77... or even as a twelve-year-old in the Suicide Summer of Seventy-Eight.
Great, great piece. Thank you.
One small correction: Pedro dusted Matsui in Game 5, not Game 4, of the '04 ALCS.
Terrific piece Chad! Here's hoping Beckett pitches a gem while the Sox get shut down for 8.0 innings...and then LIGHT UP Billy Wagner on a Papi game-winner.
Nice work Chad...it seems our relationship with Pete was as complicated as the man himself.
But, in the end (and especially tonight)...nothing but love.
That said, let's chase him by the 4th! The Red Sox have a pennant to win.
Just one question.
Why is this site not linked to the Globe, rather that that obnoxious, horrific, imbecilic embarassment BDD?
Great piece, Chad. It was great to see sucha great standing ovation for Pedro last night. I hope you folks at Fenway really outdo yourselves tonight, and I'll be cheering for him from the other side of the world. And I hope he pitches seven vintage shutout innings, and the Sox win 1-0 in the ninth. Big Papi of course 
BDD isn't just a joke. He's a horrible, lame excuse of a "journalist".
dude. you're, like, famous.
work of art, as usual.
If you didnt get chills reading that at different points then well you are quite simply not a Red Sox fan. Well f'ing done Chad.
Awesome stuff ... I anticipated -- and was enthralled by -- Pedro's starts as much as the next guy, but with all the hype that has surrounded his return I feel like I didn't appreciate him quite enough. And for that reason, I wouldn't mind seeing him do it one more time tonight -- 8 or 9 innings, 10-12 ks, zero runs -- even if that means the Sox lose the game. You know you're nostalgic for a former player when an 'EEI radio highlight package featuring Troup gives you hair-raising chills ... here's to hoping that Charles Steinberg's dollar-thirsty marketing minions one day think to put out a Pedro's Greatest Games DVD.
Hey, thanks to all for the nice words, posts, and emails today. (And the correction, Drew.) It's great to realize that the majority of fans appreciate Pedro for all that he did. I didn't mention it in the piece, but I think my favorite thing he said during yesterday's press conference was how lucky he was to come to work at Fenway every day. He referred to it as a "shrine," and moreso than any player I can think of, he really comprehends how much baseball means to fans in Boston - probably because it means as much to him, too. For a while, Pedro and Boston was a perfect match, and I don't want to ever forget that.
An athlete in his prime physically manhandles a septuagenerian, and that's somehow laudable? Come on.
You might also have noted that now that Pedro is back in the NL and has to bat, he's not the headhunter he used to be. He hit 16 men his last year with the Sox, four last year.
Nice piece though, Chad. Pedro doesn't deserve booing any more than ARod, a/k/a Little Papi, does.
Septuagenerian? Is that some fancy editor's word for "gerbil"?
(I woulda kicked him. Twice. Once for Bill Lee, and once for Fergie Jenkins.)
Stuck at work tonite, missing the game on ESPN2, came over here to read the "epic" while the gamecast loaded in another window.
Read the whole thing before flipping back to see what was up with the game, and I was dismayed to see the Sox building a snowman on Pedro.
Eight runs. Ouch.
I always want the Sox to win, but I would have made an exception tonite. At the very least, I wanted the old Pedro in a duel with Beckett and have Wagner give up the bomb to Papi in the ninth. Sox win 1-0.
Nobody wanted to see Pedro come back and get shelled. Clemens? Yeah. Petey? Never.
Great piece, Chad.
pure perfection
Best-case scenario last night, huh? Pedro gets all the applause he deserves, the Sox offense turns his appearance into a cameo, and Beckett dominates. Not much to complain about these days.
Great piece (as always), but when can we expect the heart-warming post about the return of Darren Oliver and Chad Bradford?
Oh, definitely the next time the Mets come to town. (Cue sappy music): I'll never forget Darren's courageous 1 2/3-inning, six-walk performance against the Devil Rays in the splendid summer of '02 . . .
George King of that News Corp Controlled Kitty-Litter Liner, The NY Post, was the Duplicitous One, causing for the Election of a Noted Juicer named Pudge Rodriguez.
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