Once a Bostonian, Always a Bostonian

Pedro Wants to Do It for Us Because He's One of Us

Pedro Before Game 6: 'I Am a Part of Boston'

Q. Would it amuse you to hear that every Red Sox fan is rooting for you to beat the Yankees?

PEDRO MARTINEZ: No, it wouldn't. It wouldn't surprise me at all. I know that they don't like the Yankees to win, not even in Nintendo games. (Laughter). And knowing that I am part of Boston, I consider myself a Bostonian, as well, too, I've been a Montrealer, a Bostonian, and now a New Yorker, and somehow I might become a Philadelphian now. But I've only been there for a short period. It's something that's a work in progress, and I'm pretty sure that every Boston fan out there can feel proud that I'm going to try to beat the Yankees, and I'm going to give just the same effort I always did for them. They're special fans, and they will always have my respect.

YESSSS! Some how, some way the powers from above knew Pedro would get a chance to exact his revenge on his "daddy". He had to have known it; leaving the field on Game 2 to boisterous boos; Pedro looked up at the crowd, soaked it all in and let out a big grin. As if to say "I'll be back. Just you wait."

And sure enough he gets the ball for Game 6; defiantly blocking the doorway to the Yankees 27th World Series championship. And to be honest, Pedro makes the short list of player I'd want to hand the ball to in a situation like this. He saves his best stuff for the spotlight, more specifically Yankee Stadium. The one thing holding him back? Himself. Charlie Manuel has to be assertive when deciding on when to take him out of the game. He did it in Game 2. Grady Little did it in Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS. The guy is a gamer; he's always going to tell you he has enough gas in the tank. It's the manager's job to take the ball away from the pitcher.