Thank You Petey. Now Please Go.
I was reading the various New York newspapers this morning (Online for free. I love America) and I came upon this article in the New York Daily News. Apparently, Pedro Martinez wants to return to the Mets for one more go around. He feels he left business unfinished and that the rehab of his injuries and death of his father provided plenty of distractions where he did not do his best to help the Mets. I harbor no ill will towards Pedro. Really, I love the guy. But if the Mets are going to get better, he can no longer be depended upon to help them win.
When the Mets gave Pedro that 4 year $54 million deal in 2005, there was an expectation that he would not live up to the salary of the last year of that deal. We were right. What we didn’t expect was that he would not live up to the second and third years of that deal as well. The Mets problems of the last few years were not all on Pedro Martinez. But he is not blameless either. Not that he did anything wrong. The man got hurt. Real deal hurt. Not Carl Pavano hurt. But his presence was one of the reasons the Mets never looked to overhaul and improve the rotation. He was always coming back. No matter how mediocre he looked, he was still Pedro. There was a belief that he would turn back the clock and give you that old time Petey performance. It has not happened in years. And because it didn’t, it adversely effected this team.
When the Mets signed Petey in 2005, they were coming out of a really dark time in Met history. Shitty, overpaid players. Shitty management. No real direction. Hell, they just traded Scott Kazmir for Victor Fucking Zambrano. The Mets could not get a free agent worth a shit because they sucked that bad. When Omar Minaya made his first big splash and signed Pedro, it was meant to alert the rest of baseball that the Mets were back in business. What they really wanted was Carlos Beltran and until Pedro signed, Beltran was only using the Mets to drive up his price. Now with Pedro, the team was a viable option, they paid, what is now great market value, for Beltran and began rebuilding the Mets behind those big free agents along with Wright and Reyes.
Pedro’s first year was great. He was 15-8 with a 2.82 ERA on a barely over .500 Met team. Things were looking up. He gave the Mets swagger. He was playing it up to the crowds and we ate it up. He really put on a great show. I was there for his 200th win, which felt like a big deal because we knew Pedro was never getting 300. He was not the dominant, fuck you Pedro from Boston, he was this crafty veteran who was the anti-Glavine. While Tom Glavine never brought his greatness to Shea, Petey did in his first one and a half seasons. The culmination of the greatness was in May 2006, when Pedro threw 8 innings of shutout baseball beating Brandon Webb in a 1-0 duel. After Pedro was pulled, he was interviewed in the locker room on SNY while the game was still happening. We had never seen that before. It seems common now, but at that time it was one of the first done. It was a a great moment. The Mets were rolling. Pedro was rolling. The year was going to be special. And then his shoulder started to hurt.
While the Mets did not miss Pedro for the summer of 2006, they were certainly waiting for his return. When he did come back in September he was getting roughed up. They Mets went into Pittsburgh looking to clinch their first division title since 1988. Petey went out and got destroyed. When he was pulled he went into the dugout and cried. It was the “Oh Shit” moment. We knew this was not tendinitis. He was diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff. And he missed the postseason as well as most of 2007. 2007 was a malaise where the Mets lead most of the way but were really looking for that spark. Initially, it was thought that Pedro would comeback in June. Then it was July. Then it was August. It turned out being the beginning of September. He was good but you could tell he was not the same and he couldn’t give them any type of real innings. During the September collapse, Pedro could not save them. Lots of their problems were in the bullpen and he couldn’t go further than 6 innings. The 2007 collapse was not Pedro’s fault but he couldn’t do anything to stop it either.
2008 was the return of Pedro. Or at least that was what we were told. Johan Santana was here and he and Pedro would be a Hall of Fame 1-2 combo better than the Pedro-Glavine Hall of Fame 1-2. We saw very little of Petey during Spring Training. Of course he was on his own time table. He had his molded shoes for his famous sore toe. He was slow tossing when everyone else was getting in their work. But all was well, Pedro knew what he was doing. He was ready for the beginning of the season and in the second game of the year he hurt his calf and missed two months. It was emblematic of the problem over the last two and half years. We were always waiting for Pedro. We were always given updates on body parts like it was national security. The Mets never went and got an inning eating horse because they were waiting for Pedro. When Pedro came back, we started to wish he went away. He was throwing 85. His changeup was 70. He curveball and slider didn’t really curve or slide. He was getting rocked around. He then became part of the problem. The Mets could not rely on him down the stretch. He couldn’t give you innings. He gave up 4 runs in 5 innings and left the bullpen to make it worse. Pedro was not even a decent fifth starter. He sucked.
I understand Pedro’s pride and competitive nature. I would not take back the Pedro contract. It was more important to sign him for PR and recruitment purposes then his performance on the field. I thank him. He was a pleasure to watch in the beginning and he was terrible to watch in the end. I don’t want Pedro back. Omar Minaya has suggested he will offer him a contract. I am hoping it is only a pity deal and Pedro’s pride doesn’t allow him to take it. If Pedro comes back it will mean more waiting. More of the Jorge Sosa’s and Brian Lawrence’s of the world. It will be all about the Nelson Figeruoa’s and Brandon Knight’s. It will be about injuries and body parts and waiting. And eventually losing. I love and respect Pedro Martinez. If the Mets bring him back I am afraid I will hate him. I don’t want to hate Pedro. Omar, don’t make me hate Pedro.
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Comments
stalkingerinandrews How many Mets/WCNYFG epics is roman gonna write? Sheesh, enough already.
/jk - This was actually pretty good.
spencer096 great read roman…there’s just one thing that i disagree with…
While Tom Glavine never brought his greatness to Shea
this implies that tom glavine had greatness to begin with. he did not.
romanwarhelmet spencer…I meant the promise of greatness in that statement…I fully agree that he is a pile of shit.
spencer096 i swear, if tom glavine gets into the HoF, that place is officially worthless. unless they induct all the umps who ever called his games. they’re the real heroes.
NickP The Mets won’t be able to afford Petey anyway.
They’re going to wisely spend all of their money on K-Rod and Raul Ibanez.
/sincere
romanwarhelmet Stigs, he is free agent so Omar has talked about offering both he and Ollie Perez contracts. That of course can mean anything
stigs um, yeah, i guess i can do math sometimes. i was thinking if they gave him a 4 year deal in 05, he would have one year left. i’m stoopid.
cbh49er The Red Sox, save for Schilling have been right in recent years about when let a guy go.
The fact that they are considering resigning Varitek is absurd though.
mizerle06 it really hasn’t been the same for Pedro since Nelson De La Rosa passed away.
/that’s what I heard at least.
sparty it really hasn’t been the same for Pedro since Nelson De La Rosa passed away.
/that’s what I heard at least.
//I saw it.
stigs jesus christ. it was up for like 2 seconds. i didn’t click it twice, so i deleted because i can.
cbh49er Watch the Packers video. It is CRM.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/extramustard/11/18/model-mystery-solved/index.html
Oh THREADJACK, AHHHHH, no is talking but I am jacking this thread.
illformula Pedro didn’t want to tarnish his winning percentage by turning his leads over to the Mets’ bullpen the last 2 years.
Tampa Bo CBH-WOw I hope Rich Rod dies.
“There’s a whole lot bigger problems. Look at the economy.”
That is fucking Lame.
cbh49er Seriously, of course there are bigger problems, your team being good would be a nice escape for some Michigan fans you douchebag.
Are you going to tell them to get a life when they start praising you endlessly if you ever starting winning?
I love Pedro, but it would probably be best that he and the Mets part ways. If he goes somewhere else and manages to stay healthy and pitch, so be it. This is the same way I feel about McNabb and the Eagles.
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