Martinez: I was tired after 7th

[joeybee12]

Martinez: I was tired after 7th
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Also, you can vote as to whether you believe Pedro at MSNBC--for what it's worth, I don't believe him.
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Red Sox ace said he warned pitching coach in Game 7

ASSOCIATED PRESS

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, Nov. 7 — Pedro Martinez revealed a bombshell to the Dominican press on Friday, saying that he warned the Boston Red Sox pitching coach that he was tired at the end of the seventh inning of fateful Game 7 of the American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees.

MARTINEZ ALSO SAID he would like to finish his career in Boston, although if the team does not renew his contract, he would prefer to return to the National League — where he started his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1992 — because there “the games are shorter and more fun.”
Boston manager Grady Little, whose contract was not renewed after the season, sent Martinez to the mound in the eighth inning, opening the door for the Yankees to mount a three-run rally to tie the game in that same inning and later win it in the 11th.
“After the seventh inning I told the pitching coach (Dave Wallace) to get left-hander Alan Embree and right-hander Mike Timlin ready because I was tired,” Martinez said in an interview with the Dominican press.
“I also told him (Wallace) to get Tim Wakefield ready so that he could close the game,” added Martinez, who until Friday had unconditionally defended Little’s decision to keep him in the game.
Little’s dumping by Red Sox owner Larry Lucchino and general manager Theo Epstein has been attributed by most in the media as a direct result of the skipper’s decision to keep Martinez on the mound, even after the Yankees began hitting him hard.

WOULD LIKE RETURN TO NL
Concerning his situation with the team, Martinez said the decision to renew his contract is in the Red Sox’s hands.
“I would like to remain in Boston for the rest of my career, but that is a decision that they have to take,” he said. “In the case that I become a free agent, I would like to return to the National League. In the National League, the games are shorter and more fun.”
Martinez also indicated that if the team does not want him and decides to make a change, “I would be grateful to them. One can’t be with a woman that doesn’t love him.”
Martinez, who had a 14-4 record and 2.22 ERA last season, will become a free agent after the 2004 season.
The Dominican star struck out 206 batters, one less than American League leader Esteban Loaiza of the Chicago White Sox.
In 11 seasons with Los Angeles, Montreal and Boston, Martinez has a record of 166-67, ERA of 2.58 and 2,426 strikeouts, and won the Cy Young award in 1997, 1999 and 2000.
Martinez said that since he won his third Cy Young, he began to think about the chances of going to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., after his career is over.
“I am playing for that. I want to be in Cooperstown to be with Juan Marichal, the only Dominican there,” Martinez said.
The pitcher did not want to expand about the recent situation of teammate and friend in Boston, outfielder Manny Ramirez, who was placed on irrevocable waivers by the Red Sox. No other team claimed him by the deadline, and thus the slugger remained in Boston.
“That move was a message about the new baseball market. Boston didn’t want to say anything to Manny or the other players on the team, but instead to the whole world. Things have changed in economic terms in baseball,” Martinez said.

[SpiralHawk]

1. You're pissin me off, Pedro

If you really felt tired -- and you were aware of the stakes -- why didn't you express it when Grady came out to the mound early in the 8th, when things were so obviously falling apart for you.

No. You chose to stay in the game - a moment of hubris. And Grady let you have it. You are both the Official Red Sox Goats for 2003.

Why don't you take a seat on the bench over there, next to Billy Buckner.

[jfxgillis]

2. Dunno if you have access to the Boston media ....

... But what I've heard so far is almost unanimously PRO-Pedro on this.

It makes him out to be MORE of a "victim" and Grady Little MORE culpable.

By tomorrow some folks might be calling WEEI to agree with you, but it hasn't happened yet.

[joeybee12]

3. No, I'm here in Denver. Pedro has always slightly bothered me...

...I don't think he was to blame for the Zimmer incident in Game 3, but he should have just gone out and apologized. Just be a man and get it over with--it bothers me that none of the Boston doidn't try to make him see it this way. That's why I tend to believe he didn't tell Little he was tired--too full of himself.

[jfxgillis]

6. Oh, now you got that part wrong

The Boston media was by no means unanimous on the Zimmer thing, or rather, Perdo took some serious heat for throwing at Garcia.

After things shook out, the Zimmer incident evolved mostly into a punchline, but they kidded Pedro, too, but not as much as Zimmer. Which is to be expected, I guess.

I guess you aren't all off-base in your judgment of Pedro's character, but in this case I think he's telling the truth 'cause all the ancillary signs point to it. Pedro looked AND ACTED as he usually does when a stint is over.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

4. Grady should have exercised his managerial power-Joe Torre took Clemens

out for the good of the team in the 4th. Why did Grady even GIVE Pedro a CHOICE in the matter?

[joeybee12]

5. Yup, but do you think this sort of indicates the pecking order?

Grady probably--from experience--knew not to make Pedro unhappy. Or maybe another manager would have.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

7. It's about the team-not the superstar

Clemens knew to defer to Torre-and he was possibly playing his last game!

[joeybee12]

8. It should be, but not being in Boston, I can only guess that the team

isn't run that way--the stars seem to be out of control.