Pedro as Opposing Pitcher. Can it be?
Sometime later today, He will take the familiar left onto Yawkey Way riding in his white Mercedes (he never sold it or his house in Brookline) and instead of wheeling his still-slender frame into the Red Sox clubhouse, He’ll keep walking, this time to the ever-cramped visitors clubhouse. Pedro as Opposing Pitcher. Can it be?
Somehow the Great One’s departure was tempered by the fact that his landing spot was in the Senior Circuit. New York, sure, but thankfully, the METS. No Damon/Demon heresy for Petey—can you imagine him returning as a Yankee? He would be similarly booed like The Idiot, perhaps even more lustily, but that’s really the point, isn’t it? He’s not returning as a Yankee, and as such, this writer’s guess is that Petey gets the ovation of his life when he takes the hill Wednesday night.
The hair is still long and curled (this writer knows lots about curly hair) the chin and jawline are slightly softer, but make no mistake about it—Petey is still throwing gas. He’s mixing in the devastating offspeed pitch (really it’s that changeup that’s what makes him so devastating, coming at the batter with that perfect 10 miles an hour less juice than his fastball (hear that, Josh Beckett) and the same, nasty 12 to 6 curveball.
Reports out of Queens suggest Petey is enjoying himself. His team is playing well, he’s brought a winner’s attitude to an already-stacked team, and he has given the Mets a level of gravitas (and dare we say, attention!) usually reserved for the Boys from the Bronx.
Let’s remember, Petey’s departure was, well, less than a PR tour de force for Dr. Charles’ well-greased Red Sox publicity machine (The Globe is owned by the New York Times, which has an ownership interest in the Red Sox.) The Sox offered Pedro good money, but (a) not as much as the Mets put on the table, and (b) for more overall guaranteed years. But be advised, Nation—the Sox could have put exactly the same offer as the Mets in front of Pedro, and he would not have accepted it. Why is that, you ask?
The answer is pretty clear say some sources—tonight’s pitcher. That’s right. To many around baseball, indications are that Petey came to resent Curt (the Bloody Socked-one) Schilling sometime in 2004. This was unbeknownst to Schilling, who went so far as to lash out at poor Butch Steans who suggested he had sources that Petey and he were not “grab assing” and on friendly terms toward the end of that year. But, as he has told the morning guys, Dennis and Callahan, he himself has come to learn Petey didn’t love him the way he thought when he lashed out at Stearns. Et tu, Petey?
So now he brings his golden arm (and non-frayed labrum) to the Fenway Hill, one more time. If you know Pedro, you know he thrives on games like this. He’ll bring his very best, as he always did (can anyone ever forget his emerging late in that playoff game at Cleveland, and the looks on the Indians’ faces as he strolled out of the pen?) Sadly, tonight it’ll be as a Met. When he does, I strongly expect he’s going to get the greatest ovation of his life. One that might (just might?) want him to go into the Hall of Fame as a Red Sox.
