Vote for Pedro! (Part 2)

This morning, Boston.com ran a story titled "Martinez comes up short for Phillies in Game 2." Ummm, excuse me, but Pedro did not come up short: #45 turned in a quality start, and the bats were silenced by the enigmatic (and expensive) A.J. Burnett.

Of course, the fans were their usual classy selves, but Pedro expected nothing less, having made his share of starts in (the Old) Yankee Stadium:

"It's a new Yankee Stadium, but the fans remain the fans," Martinez said. "I remember one guy sitting right in the front row with his daughter in one arm and a cup of beer in the other hand and saying all kinds of nasty stuff. I just told him, 'Your daughter is right beside you. It's a little girl. It's a shame you're saying all these things.' I'm a father myself. How can you be so dumb to do those kind of things in front of your child? What kind of example are you setting?"

What kind of example, indeed? And speaking of examples, where was Charlie Manuel in 2003, when Grady Little showed him how NOT to manage Pedro in the playoffs? Pedro will tell you that he's fine. This is a lie. His effectiveness drops off around 100 pitches. ARE YOU LISTENING NOW, MANUEL?!?! End rant.

As I headed off to class this morning, I expected Y-FAB to have some cutting remark about Pedro, and I was not disappointed. As soon I walked into the lecture hall, it started:


(Y-FAB): Last night was sort of like when Pedro played for Boston, huh? When he said "I'll just tip my cap and call the Yankees my daddy."


(Me): And what happened after that? Oh, right: he won a World Series.



: What was that, like nine years ago?




: It was five, actually, and how many World Series has Jeter won in that time? How many has A*Rod won, in general?



: *dirty look* And you guys won how many in the last hundred years?


At this point, I sighed internally, ready to dive into battle once again. However, it turned out that I had an unexpected ally:


(Phillies fan boy): Seriously? It's so ridiculous when you guys try to bring up the past like that. It doesn't matter if you won the Series in 1953. Who cares?


: Well, we're about to win another one... And we'll kick Pedro's ass while we're at it.



: You just keep telling yourself that. With that payroll, you should win; and if you don't? It's a failure.


It continued on in this vein for a while: PFB and I tried to reason with Y-FAB, but, like many Yankees fans, he refused to admit his defeat (though it was obvious). When it comes to the audacity of Yankees fans, Pedro said it best:

"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. They love the fact that I compete. I'm a New Yorker, as well. If I was on the Yankees, I'd probably be like a king over here."

Too true. Now, we've all been guilty of rooting for the laundry to an extent, but when a player like Pedro leaves town, the majority of fans want him to continue to do well, so long as it's not within the AL East, and thus to the detriment of the Sox (hello, Johnny Damon). Again, I want to apologize to those Yankees fans who aren't shaped in the mold of Y-FAB: I know some of you are normal, rational human beings, and I feel badly that Y-FAB and his ilk reflect poorly on you. However, the point still stands: Pedro would be a GOD in New York if he'd ever worn pinstripes (and thank goodness it never happened). Even if you don't like him (*cough*KarimGarcia*cough*), he's earned the respect of baseball fans the world over.

Here's hoping he's on the mound when the Phils clinch it... the man deserves some more postseason glory.


[All quotes in this post are from boston.com... I can only dream to have this sort of access someday.]