Pedro better show up
By Karen Guregian
Thursday, May 6, 2004
CLEVELAND - From here on out, Pedro Martinez [stats, news]' mound appearances will be like tonight's hugely hyped ``Friends'' series finale: Must-see TV.
While the masses watch Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Monica, Joey and Phoebe sign off, Red Sox [stats, schedule] Nation will be tuned into its sulking star.
Want the money, Pedro? Want the security?
Show us the pitching.
That's what it's come down to for the Sox' ace, thanks to some ill-timed and poorly chosen words last week.
Martinez, who tonight will be trying to salvage the club's road trip from hell when he opposes Indians southpaw C.C. Sabathia, is clearly losing the public relations battle. His latest verbal salvo has left fans either angry or apathetic. So it can't get much worse.
At this point, his best and only defense comes back to what he's able to do in the 60 feet, 6 inches between the pitching mound and the plate in his remaining starts from now until October.
Forget about what he's done in the past. Based on the way they're conducting negotiations, it's obvious the Sox have. It's all about the present. The here and now.
Martinez flunked miserably in his first post-rant start, getting shelled by Texas. One clubhouse insider believes Martinez simply tried too hard to back up his words after calling his bosses liars, claiming they were misleading people about the health of his pitching shoulder. He delivered these accusations while informing everyone he was done negotiating until the season ended.
Former Sox hurler Frank Viola, on hand to do the ESPN telecast last night, could certainly relate to that theory. Coming on the heels of a Cy Young Award-winning season with the Twins, Viola cut off talks after spring training, announcing he would test the free agent market. In hindsight, he says it was the worst thing he could have done.
``I picked up my Cy Young with Minnesota at the beginning of '89, and a few days earlier, I came out saying I was going to play out my free agency, similar to what Pedro did,'' Viola said. ``Some people are able to handle it. Some people aren't. In my case, it was the dumbest thing I had ever done because I put all kinds of pressure on myself to verify what I said. Maybe that's going through his mind, too.''
Viola wound up going 13-15 that year. So he didn't prove much of anything after dissing the Twins.
``I came out like an idiot,'' said Viola. ``Minnesota fans didn't want to hear that. No fans want to hear that. So when I went 13-15, it was pretty ugly.''
Over the years, Martinez has been the type to thrive on pressure, especially the negative kind. Only that wasn't the case Saturday when he was lit up for six runs on nine hits.
Viola watched that game, and has kept an eye on Martinez during the past few years. He sees the velocity is down, but that's not as troubling as Pedro's overall demeanor.
``When you have a situation like this, with (Curt) Schilling coming in, with the ballclub like they have, this is your chance to really shine,'' Viola said. ``When Roger (Clemens) and I were together, we pushed each other. You'd like to see some guys going back and forth and having that friendly type of rivalry. To me, Pedro just doesn't look like he has been the last two or three years. He doesn't look comfortable out there. I don't know what the case is. Only he knows for sure. But if anyone's going to put it together, he will.''
At this point, he doesn't have much choice. As former talk show host Arsenio Hall might say, Pedro's got to ``get busy.'' Perhaps it's a good thing Martinez, irked by the negative fallout of his last media session, has once again sworn off speaking to the press. Trouble is, he's one rant too late.
