Yankees Again Pedro Martinez's Daddy

NEW YORK -- He didn't want to relinquish the ball, not with the fans ready to bombard him, not when they were preparing a final triumphant round of "Who's Your Daddy!" chants. But it was time for Pedro Martinez to depart nonetheless, perhaps forever from a stage that is 110 streets north of midtown Manhattan but always has felt like pure Broadway every time he has performed there.

Thursday night at Yankee Stadium was no exception. Nicked by the home team for three runs in six-plus innings, on a night when the Phillies had few answers for the vicious breaking stuff of A.J. Burnett and a two-inning dose of Mariano Rivera, Martinez handed the ball to manager Charlie Manuel, absorbed the rude serenade as he left the mound, pointed to his father in the sky and then, as he neared the visitors' dugout, broke into a grin that had to make you laugh even if you were a Philadelphia fan sensing defeat.

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Yes, the Yankees were Pedro's "Daddy" again in Game 2 of the World Series, the latest twist in a magnificent duel that has been fairly even through the years. But while Martinez allowed a fourth-inning home run to Mark Teixiera that finally got a slumping lineup off the schneid, then yielded a golf-shot homer by Hideki Matsui that gave the Yankees a cushion in a 3-1 victory, trust me when I say Pedro was no one's fool or pinata. He pitched his 37-year-old butt off, and if Yankees fans enjoyed resurrecting a chant inspired late in the 2004 regular season -- when Martinez suffered an 11-1 loss and mumbled offhandedly, "I just tip my cap and call the Yankees my Daddy," -- they also had to respect a classic villain who had done his job as usual.

Which explained his grin.

"I've always been a competitor. They love the fact I compete," he said. "If I played for the Yankees, I would be their King."

"I've always been a competitor. They love the fact I compete. If I played for the Yankees, I would be their King."
-- Pedro Martinez It also explained why he would have pitched all night long if possible, even if he was fighting the flu and hadn't eaten well or slept much in recent days. Twice, manager Charlie Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee talked to him in the dugout about how he felt. Twice, Martinez told them that he was fine. And twice, he got his way and stayed in the game. "I wasn't going to give anybody the opportunity to take me out, regardless of how much I coughed and how much my chest hurt," he said. "There was something I had in mind when I chose this team, and it was to pitch in the World Series with this team. I can say I finally got it. I'm extremely happy to have that opportunity tonight. I was the loser, but I'm extremely proud that I was able to compete against a real good team and put my team in position to win that game."

The reason the Yankees tied the series at 1-1 was Burnett, who earned his $82.5-million contract days after a bad start against the Angels in the American League Championship Series. Blessed with some of the best stuff in the sport, he was aggressive and efficient with his fastball, which set up his killer curveball and slider. As it is, the Game 1 winner has won 11 of the last dozen World Series. So imagine the predicament of the Yankees had they taken an 0-2 deficit into Citizens Bank Ballpark. It was extremely important that Burnett pitch well. He pitched brilliantly in allowing a run and four hits and striking out nine over seven innings -- so brilliantly that Joe Girardi over-managed (again) in summoning Rivera for another two-inning save, increasing the risk of burning him out in what looks like a very long Series.

"It was extremely important that he pitch well," Girardi said. "We're playing a very good baseball team, and you don't want to spot them two games when it's best of seven."

"It's a terrible cliche, but it was a must-win," Teixeira said. "You don't want to go 0-2 into Philly. They're so tough at home, and they're fans are going to be all over us."

Burnett would have become a pariah in New York if he lost. Impressively, he wasn't fazed by the magnitude of his first World Series start. "I wanted to come out and attack, feed off the crowd and not just be calm. I had to come out with fire," said Burnett, who said he also gained inspiration from watching the post-Game 1 interview of a very confident Cliff Lee, who has dominated the Phillies' postseason. "I didn't feel the pressure, no lie. I knew it was the biggest game I've ever thrown, but you can't let that affect you. I knew I had a task ahead of me with Pedro on the mound, so I went at him pitch for pitch."

And won, which was no small feat given the way Martinez fed off the same crowd, as always. One fan in particular drew his interest. "It's the new Yankee Stadium, but the fans remain the fans," he said. "One guy in the front row had his daughter in one hand and a couple of beers in the other hand, and he was saying all kinds of nasty stuff. I told him, 'You're a father, and right beside you is your little girl. It's a game.' I had to stop and tell him he's a father. How can you be so dumb in front of a child? What kind of an example are you setting?"

He said this on a night when he was setting an example himself: how to return from arm and hip surgeries and revive his career with guile and cunning. While his fastball was smoking as high as 91 mph, this isn't the Pedro who used to throw 98. It felt like another stop on his Farewell Tour, just as it did two weeks ago when he pitched seven scoreless innings against the Dodgers, his former team, in Los Angeles. But he left the door open to returning next season, unless the Phillies win. "If we win the World Series, I suggest you come to the Domincan (Republic) and ask me," he said. "But it we don't, I'll probably give it another shot. I'm perfectly healthy. I threw more than 100 pitches, and I feel totally fresh, real good."

The Yankees won even though Alex Rodriguez is back to being a postseason stink bomb. After being hailed as a New York "hero" and "role model for kids" in the tabloids amid his hitting tear in the first two playoff series, A-Rod is 0-for-8 with six strikeouts against the Phillies. It's a good thing the Yankees won. Or he'd be A-Fraud again around here. "The fact that I'm 0-for-the-series and we're 1-1 and the guys picked me up today makes me feel really good about going into Game 3," he said. "It's eight at-bats. I'm not concerned at all."

"I know he'll bounce back," Girardi said. "Obviously, you want him to continue on the torrid pace that he was on, but he'll bounce back and we'll get it going in Philly."

Said Teixiera: "I'll bet on it."

We also can bet on bad umpiring continuing to infect October ... and November. Thursday night's star was first-base ump Brian Gorman. In the seventh, with two on and one out, Johnny Damon lined a ball that first baseman Ryan Howard gloved on a short hop. Gorman called Damon out, which resulted in a double play. Later, Chase Utley was called out by Gorman at first, for a double play, when a replay clearly showed he was safe.

"Utley was safe," Manuel said. "But I'm not saying nothing about the umpiring. I'm just saying he was safe."

Yet there was commissioner Bud Selig, continuing to dismiss the idea of expanded replay because he's worried about slowing down the pace of games. The same man who allows TV to push the Series to Nov. 5 -- the same man who allows the Angels to wait 21 days to play nine games -- is worried about pace? Such a hypocrite.

"I understand that we've had some incidents that were most unfortunate," Selig said before the game. "I think there are other ways we can make corrections. During the offseason we'll review everything. I'm not afraid of change. but you have to be very careful when you tamper with the sport."

If the umpiring has reeked, the competition has been terrific and the pitching great. This smacks of a wonderful World Series. Pedro Martinez, one bad Daddy himself, left a lasting memory.