Returnee Martinez ready, but also waiting
By Gordon Edes, Globe Staff, 4/1/2002
here is a hint of resignation in Pedro Martinez's words as he prepares to test the mortal limits of his fraying right shoulder this afternoon against the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2002 Red Sox season opener.
''I'm experienced enough to know that if I'm not patient, I'm just throwing my career out of the window,'' said Martinez, warning fans that when he makes his fifth straight Opening Day start for the Sox, they should not expect the same pitcher who has gone 31-5 through April and May (with a 1.80 ERA) over the previous four seasons.
''How patient am I going to have to be?'' said Martinez, who will throw no more than 75 to 85 pitches, according to new Sox manager Grady Little, and that's only under optimum circumstances (''Five to six innings of no hits, then I'm going to take him out'').
''Well, if I struggle in one inning for more than 30 pitches, I'm going to have to be taken out, regardless of what inning it is or what the situation is,'' Martinez said. ''I'm willing to do that in order to save my career.''
But at a time when it is unrealistic for Martinez to shoulder the same load he has since coming to Boston, the Sox team that will take the field behind him in Fenway Park has seldom appeared more committed to putting up a united front in his support.
Before the team came home from Houston this past weekend, shortstop Nomar Garciaparra and catcher Jason Varitek, through the help of traveling secretary Jack McCormick, organized a dinner for the entire team at a Morton's restaurant. Unlike past such endeavors, like Carl Everett's sparsely attended bash in Tampa two years ago, virtually everyone showed up.
''Never happened since I've been here,'' said Varitek, who like fellow menu planner Garciaparra is returning healthy to the lineup after the pair missed a combined 252 games last season. ''It was a phenomenal showing.''
Veteran infielder Carlos Baerga, one of 17 players on the Opening Day roster who weren't here a year ago at this time, said the gathering reminded him of his days with the Cleveland Indians, a pennant-winning team that routinely broke bread together.
There's something else about these Sox that warrants a parallel to those Indians, Baerga said. ''I think the hitting here could compare to the Indians when they had Albert [Belle] and [Kenny] Lofton and Robbie [Alomar] and Manny [Ramirez],'' said Baerga, who isn't the All-Star he was in the early '90s, but won a job as a Sox part-timer and is returning to the big leagues after a two-year hiatus, including a season split last year between the independent Long Island Ducks and the Samsung Lions in Korea.
''When you have a guy like [Johnny] Damon and sometimes Rickey [Henderson] hitting in front of guys like Garciaparra and Manny, you're going to see a lot of RBIs,'' Baerga said. ''I'm sure [new first baseman] Tony Clark has never been on a team like this.''
Even without Damon, the free agent center fielder imported to replace Everett, and Garciaparra, Ramirez drove in 125 runs last year, 84 of those RBIs coming before the All-Star break, when Ramirez still appeared to be a relatively happy camper in his first season in a Sox uniform. But when the summer turned sour, Ramirez's bat turned relatively silent, and even disappeared on occasions, like last August, when he went AWOL on the club in Anaheim.
But Ramirez, who had no use for interim manager Joe Kerrigan, seems a picture of contentment again. He has inherited the treasured corner locker once occupied by Mo Vaughn - above the locker, Ramirez has a color photo of Everett with his arm around the Sox left fielder - and now has the company of locker mates Henderson and Baerga, his ''Papi'' when both were with the Indians.
''I feel comfortable, anyway,'' said Ramirez, whose agent, Jeff Moorad, raised the comfort issue over the winter. ''Wait and see what's going to be. I can't say there's going to be this or that. You never know what's going to happen. We've got good guys over here. We've got a good team.''
With Martinez uncertain whether he will be able to duplicate the splendor of his previous four springs, the Sox ace will need more help than ever if the first team playing under the banner of new owners John Henry, Tom Werner, and Larry Lucchino intends to challenge the New York Yankees, winners of the American League pennant in each of the last four seasons.
''I think they can be beaten,'' said 34-year-old veteran Rey Sanchez, who will become the eighth different Sox second baseman to start Opening Day since Scott Fletcher appeared in back-to-backers in 1993-94, and the first to be a Gold Glove-caliber fielder.
Sanchez's contribution to that effort will include the kind of plays he made Saturday in Houston, when he ranged to the left side of second base to flag down a ground ball and threw out the runner from the outfield grass.
''I think people all know about my defense,'' Sanchez said. ''But I think I proved this spring that I can help out with the bat in situations where the team needs it.''
Sanchez's take on the Yankees?
''You've got to keep their hitters from doing too much damage, because their pitching is starting to get a little older,'' he said. ''Eventually they're going to get beat, but the hitters are getting better year after year.
''But even after adding [Jason] Giambi, they've got guys like [Shane] Spencer and Rondell [White] who really haven't proven themselves. That's two holes right there, compared to [Paul] O'Neill and [David] Justice.''
Any holes, real or imagined, that the Yankees have, however, pale when compared to the void the Red Sox would face if something happens to Martinez.
He clearly was struggling this spring to regain his command while finding some comfort level with his right shoulder, in which doctors detected a partial tear of his rotator cuff. He was 2-1 with a 6.62 ERA in five spring training starts, and while he had a side session Friday in Fort Myers in which he felt more comfortable than ever, it is useful to remember that Martinez has not won a game since last May 30, when he beat Mike Mussina and the Yankees, 3-0, striking out 13.
Two weeks later, he missed a start in Atlanta, and on June 27, he was on the DL.
''I might not be as sharp as I normally would be or I could be totally the opposite, as sharp as I've ever been,'' he said. ''I'll just have to wait to see tomorrow. I'm as curious as you guys are.
''I'm just going to try to stay healthy. I know that things can happen. We all know that, for a fact. I just need to stay healthy.''
Sox have a good bullpen, just be careful laying heavy chalk on
Pedro, maybe a run line bet(which is usually a bad idea).
The weather here is cold and rainy so pedro might be pulled earlier than expected. FWIW
GL
By Gordon Edes, Globe Staff, 4/1/2002
here is a hint of resignation in Pedro Martinez's words as he prepares to test the mortal limits of his fraying right shoulder this afternoon against the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2002 Red Sox season opener.
''I'm experienced enough to know that if I'm not patient, I'm just throwing my career out of the window,'' said Martinez, warning fans that when he makes his fifth straight Opening Day start for the Sox, they should not expect the same pitcher who has gone 31-5 through April and May (with a 1.80 ERA) over the previous four seasons.
''How patient am I going to have to be?'' said Martinez, who will throw no more than 75 to 85 pitches, according to new Sox manager Grady Little, and that's only under optimum circumstances (''Five to six innings of no hits, then I'm going to take him out'').
''Well, if I struggle in one inning for more than 30 pitches, I'm going to have to be taken out, regardless of what inning it is or what the situation is,'' Martinez said. ''I'm willing to do that in order to save my career.''
But at a time when it is unrealistic for Martinez to shoulder the same load he has since coming to Boston, the Sox team that will take the field behind him in Fenway Park has seldom appeared more committed to putting up a united front in his support.
Before the team came home from Houston this past weekend, shortstop Nomar Garciaparra and catcher Jason Varitek, through the help of traveling secretary Jack McCormick, organized a dinner for the entire team at a Morton's restaurant. Unlike past such endeavors, like Carl Everett's sparsely attended bash in Tampa two years ago, virtually everyone showed up.
''Never happened since I've been here,'' said Varitek, who like fellow menu planner Garciaparra is returning healthy to the lineup after the pair missed a combined 252 games last season. ''It was a phenomenal showing.''
Veteran infielder Carlos Baerga, one of 17 players on the Opening Day roster who weren't here a year ago at this time, said the gathering reminded him of his days with the Cleveland Indians, a pennant-winning team that routinely broke bread together.
There's something else about these Sox that warrants a parallel to those Indians, Baerga said. ''I think the hitting here could compare to the Indians when they had Albert [Belle] and [Kenny] Lofton and Robbie [Alomar] and Manny [Ramirez],'' said Baerga, who isn't the All-Star he was in the early '90s, but won a job as a Sox part-timer and is returning to the big leagues after a two-year hiatus, including a season split last year between the independent Long Island Ducks and the Samsung Lions in Korea.
''When you have a guy like [Johnny] Damon and sometimes Rickey [Henderson] hitting in front of guys like Garciaparra and Manny, you're going to see a lot of RBIs,'' Baerga said. ''I'm sure [new first baseman] Tony Clark has never been on a team like this.''
Even without Damon, the free agent center fielder imported to replace Everett, and Garciaparra, Ramirez drove in 125 runs last year, 84 of those RBIs coming before the All-Star break, when Ramirez still appeared to be a relatively happy camper in his first season in a Sox uniform. But when the summer turned sour, Ramirez's bat turned relatively silent, and even disappeared on occasions, like last August, when he went AWOL on the club in Anaheim.
But Ramirez, who had no use for interim manager Joe Kerrigan, seems a picture of contentment again. He has inherited the treasured corner locker once occupied by Mo Vaughn - above the locker, Ramirez has a color photo of Everett with his arm around the Sox left fielder - and now has the company of locker mates Henderson and Baerga, his ''Papi'' when both were with the Indians.
''I feel comfortable, anyway,'' said Ramirez, whose agent, Jeff Moorad, raised the comfort issue over the winter. ''Wait and see what's going to be. I can't say there's going to be this or that. You never know what's going to happen. We've got good guys over here. We've got a good team.''
With Martinez uncertain whether he will be able to duplicate the splendor of his previous four springs, the Sox ace will need more help than ever if the first team playing under the banner of new owners John Henry, Tom Werner, and Larry Lucchino intends to challenge the New York Yankees, winners of the American League pennant in each of the last four seasons.
''I think they can be beaten,'' said 34-year-old veteran Rey Sanchez, who will become the eighth different Sox second baseman to start Opening Day since Scott Fletcher appeared in back-to-backers in 1993-94, and the first to be a Gold Glove-caliber fielder.
Sanchez's contribution to that effort will include the kind of plays he made Saturday in Houston, when he ranged to the left side of second base to flag down a ground ball and threw out the runner from the outfield grass.
''I think people all know about my defense,'' Sanchez said. ''But I think I proved this spring that I can help out with the bat in situations where the team needs it.''
Sanchez's take on the Yankees?
''You've got to keep their hitters from doing too much damage, because their pitching is starting to get a little older,'' he said. ''Eventually they're going to get beat, but the hitters are getting better year after year.
''But even after adding [Jason] Giambi, they've got guys like [Shane] Spencer and Rondell [White] who really haven't proven themselves. That's two holes right there, compared to [Paul] O'Neill and [David] Justice.''
Any holes, real or imagined, that the Yankees have, however, pale when compared to the void the Red Sox would face if something happens to Martinez.
He clearly was struggling this spring to regain his command while finding some comfort level with his right shoulder, in which doctors detected a partial tear of his rotator cuff. He was 2-1 with a 6.62 ERA in five spring training starts, and while he had a side session Friday in Fort Myers in which he felt more comfortable than ever, it is useful to remember that Martinez has not won a game since last May 30, when he beat Mike Mussina and the Yankees, 3-0, striking out 13.
Two weeks later, he missed a start in Atlanta, and on June 27, he was on the DL.
''I might not be as sharp as I normally would be or I could be totally the opposite, as sharp as I've ever been,'' he said. ''I'll just have to wait to see tomorrow. I'm as curious as you guys are.
''I'm just going to try to stay healthy. I know that things can happen. We all know that, for a fact. I just need to stay healthy.''
Sox have a good bullpen, just be careful laying heavy chalk on
Pedro, maybe a run line bet(which is usually a bad idea).
The weather here is cold and rainy so pedro might be pulled earlier than expected. FWIW
GL
