The Producer's Perspective: Pedro Martinez Gets the Call
On the latest episode of In the Moment, Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martínez sits down with David Greene to talk about Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS.
Hey, everybody! As you’ve probably seen in our typical Friday newsletters, ROS recently launched a new podcast called In the Moment with David Greene. Each week, a star athlete sits down with David Greene, the former host of NPR’s Morning Edition, to examine one of the greatest moments in their careers—and all the moments that led up to it.
These interviews have been incredible illuminating (check out David’s sit-down with UFC heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou if you haven’t already), and to make sure that all of you loyal readers don’t miss them—and to give a little bit of background into each episode—I’m turning over the newsletter today to ITM producer Sarah McCrory, who’s going to tell you all about Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez.
Enjoy, and let me know what you think! We just might make these a regular feature. -Joe
As a New York Yankees die-hard from birth, I’m still licking my wounds from this week’s ALCS sweep by the Houston Astros. So no, I'm not here to talk about how lifeless the Yankees were in that short-lived series, but to revisit a different— yet still gut wrenching—one from a decade ago.
It pains me to articulate how much I enjoyed our conversation with famed Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martínez. He recently spoke to David Greene for our show, In the Moment, about the 2004 season, when he helped lead the Boston Red Sox to win their first World Series in 86 years, breaking the infamous “Curse of the Bambino.”
A tale as old as time, Yankees vs. Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS. You probably know the story, which has been repeated to the point that it’s nearly become a myth: After the Yanks took the first three games of the series, the Red Sox stormed back, winning three in a row for the first time in MLB history. Soon it was a do-or-die Game 7 in The Bronx, and the Sox were up 7-2 in the seventh inning. That’s when the Red Sox unexpectedly put Martínez on the mound, with nothing less than the fate of the season on the line.
Yet when we asked Martínez about that moment, his reaction surprised me. He had just pitched in the last game, and the Sox had a fresh bullpen ready to go. So why him? As a starter, he very rarely made relief appearances like this one. “I'm going to, for the first time, reveal this,” he said. “I had my cleats off. [I sat] close to the heater, because I was cold. And I never thought—it never came across my mind—that I would go into the game.”
After being welcomed by nearly 60,000 Yankees fans chanting, “Who’s your daddy?”, Martínez made it out of the inning, notching a huge strikeout in the process, and the Sox eventually won the ‘04 World Series (ugh). But here’s what people easily forget about that game: Few have ever dominated as a pitcher quite like Pedro Martínez, yet by 2004, he was on the back-end of his career. The World Series would be the final time he ever suited up for Boston. He’d play only five more middling seasons before retiring in 2009.
Our show is about examining the moments that shape an athlete's career, and it struck me that of all the moments from Pedro Martinez’s career—his 17 strikeouts against my Yankees in 1999, his immaculate inning, his five strikeouts in front of Ted Williams at the All Star Game—it’s odd how perhaps our most enduring memory came so late, at a point when his powers were diminished, in a game he wasn’t even supposed to enter. It’s funny how moments just sometimes happen like that. If I’ve learned anything from working on this show, it’s that you can’t predict when your greatest triumphs will occur. You just have to prepare yourself to make the most of every opportunity, and as Martinez told us, to “never be afraid to fail.”
“I don't know,” Martínez said during our interview. “Why did ‘Tito’ [Red Sox manager Terry Francona] decide to bring me in? I'm still searching. Why? What was the reason?”
Maybe he’s asking the wrong question. Maybe it’s not about, “Why did I get the call?” but rather, “What did I do with my chance?” The answer to the second question—that just might be the true secret to greatness.
Listen to our full conversation with Pedro Martínez on In the Moment with David Greene on Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Subscribe so you can listen to other elite athletes relive their moments every Tuesday.
And tell us on Twitter @religionofsport: what was your favorite Pedro Martínez moment?
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