He threw a fine ballgame in game two last Thursday, and Pedro Martinez takes to the Yankee Stadium mound tonight trying to extend the Phillies season. Does he have the same zip on his fastball? Probably not. But he’s as crafty as ever, and off the field, he is an absolute treat to listen to.

He had a few gems in his press conference yesterday:

• On Red Sox fans: “I know they don’t like the Yankees to win, not even in Nintendo games.”
• On his legacy: “”I’m pretty sure my name will be mentioned. I don’t know in which way. But maybe after I retire, because normally when you die, people tend to actually give you props about the good things. But that’s after you die. So I’m hoping to get it before I die. I don’t want to die and hear everybody say, ‘Oh, there goes one of the best players ever.’ If you’re going to give me props, just give them to me right now.”

These follow up some other gems he had last week…

• On Yankees fans: “I know they really want to root for me. It’s just that I don’t play for the Yankees, that’s all. I’ve always been a good competitor and they love that. I’m a New Yorker, as well. If I was on the Yankees, I’d probably be a king over here.”
• “I’m older and wiser. The game remains the same, the game doesn’t change.”
• “I don’t know if you realize this, but becasue of you guys (the media), I might be at times, the most infulential player that ever stepped in Yankee Stadium.”

I thought this was brilliantly put by the Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham on Twitter: No matter what team you root for, I think we can all agree that baseball is more fun when Pedro is playing. What a character.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 11:12 am and is filed under General Baseball, Phillies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.