Yankees fans can chant “Who’s your daddy?” until they’re blue in the face tonight.
Pedro Martinez won’t care, because the three-time Cy Young winner can hardly imagine a place he would rather be than starting the Phillies’ do-or-die World Series Game 6 matchup at Yankee Stadium.
“I look at this situation as a blessing,” Martinez said yesterday. “I mean, what else would I want? I’m doing the job I love, and I’m doing something that not everybody gets to do.”
It’s precisely that attitude that prompted Phillies manager Charlie Manuel to start Martinez in Game 2 in The Bronx last week and again in Game 6 this evening against Andy Pettitte.
Pedro has seen it all in 18 mostly spectacular seasons in the big leagues, and he is more apt to revel in the intense spotlight and the pressure that comes with that than any of Manuel’s other possibilities beyond ace Cliff Lee.
Martinez, who struck out eight and allowed just three runs in six innings against the Yankees in Game 2 despite coming away with a 3-1 loss, broke into a boyish grin yesterday when recalling the unusual path he took this season to get to this spot.
When the Mets refused to give in to what they considered his exorbitant contract demands, Martinez waited until late July to sign with the Phillies and made just nine starts in the regular season.
Now, a mere three months later, the fate of the Phillies’ season rests in his hands.
“[Three] months back, I was sitting at home not doing anything, none of you [reporters] were thinking of me whatsoever, none of you were asking me questions, and today I am here, probably pitching one of the biggest games ever in the World Series,” Martinez said.
Manuel didn’t hesitate a bit going back to Martinez once the Phillies forced the series back to The Bronx on Monday with an 8-6 win at Citizens Bank Park. Pedro has pitched just 13 innings combined in two starts this postseason (he was equally sensational in Game 2 against the Dodgers in the NLCS), but Manuel expects the 37-year-old right-hander to be as sharp as ever in his rematch with the Yankees.
“I’d look for him to definitely put us in a place where we can win the game,” Manuel said.
It could prove to be Martinez’s swan song, too. He has said he would strongly consider retiring if the Phillies come back to win the World Series and give him his second championship ring.
If so, Martinez plans to do it for the Phillies and the Yankees’ hated rival in his old Boston stomping grounds.
“I know [Red Sox fans] don’t like the Yankees to win, not even in Nintendo games,” he said. “I’m pretty sure that every Boston fan out there can feel proud that I’m going to try to beat the Yankees.”