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The Profile du Jour is Pedro Martinez, who arrived in camp yesterday, talked with reporters, and had the following to say when asked if he would like to play beyond next season with the Mets…
“I would like to. If I don’t finish as a Met, it’s going to be a long haul looking around for another team. I don’t see why not. I’ve adjusted really well (to New York). I wouldn’t mind staying in New York.”
…it’s easy to forget that pedro is just 36 years old…and, i say ‘just,’ because you would think he is 47 with a cane, given the way people tend to talk about him…
For more on Martinez, check out Bart Hubbach in the New York Post, as well as Mike Vaccaro in the New York Post; Bob Klapisch in the Bergen Record; Bill Madden in the Daily News, as well as Adam Rubin in the Daily News; John Delcos in the Journal News; Jeremy Cothran in the Star-Ledger; and Ben Shpigel in the New York Times, who quotes Martinez as saying the following, when asked about steroids and HGH…
“Yeah, I hurt because I did it clean, because I never had anything against the clean game of baseball. That’s why I was a prima donna. That’s why I hurt. That’s why I don’t pitch 33 outings every year. Because I have a small frame, and I did it clean. And all I could take was two Aleves or two Advil, a cup of coffee, a little mangu and an egg, and go out there and let it go and face everybody that’s out there. And you know what? That’s the era I dominated.”
…i love that he admits to being a prima donna…that’s perfect…
By the way, according to the Urban Dictionary, “Mangu is a typical Dominican food…It is made by mashing boiled green plantains and adding a little salt, pepper, water and butter to it. It’s commonly eaten as part of breakfast accompanying fried salami or as a side dish, just like mashed potatoes.”
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He says he feels better than he has since 1998 — back when he was one of the the best pitchers ever. After hurting his shoulder in 1998 postseason he won two more CY Youngs and then followed that with two ERA crowns and came in 2nd, 3rd and 4th in CY, then with his shoulder falling apart even more was pretty good with the Mets too. If he really is turning the clock back 10 years, even with 7-10 MPH off the heater, he could be 2003 good. Yikes.
Even if he is DL’d twice for calf or related age issues, he should get 25-27 starts.
14-7 4.25 is not impossible of course, but imagine 18-3 2.75?
It’s hard to predict the wins, but assuming he feels good all year, I highly doubt his ERA will be anywhere above 4. Mid to low 3’s is more accurate.
Pedro’s had some awesome lines over the years … “wake up the bambino, I’ll knock him down,” for example.
But the “You know what? That’s the era I dominated,” might be the best …
The Primadonna comment is Pedro saying “you called me a baby, but that was just me playing clean. please feel free to kiss my bee-hind.”
He’s one of the biggest winners of the steroids saga.
absolutely….I think him, Maddux, and Griffey are gonna come out of this whole sordid era looking like 3 of the greatest players of all-time, because they all did incredible things clean while possibly more than half the players around them were juicing.
Mangu is delicious. But if you’re at a Dominican restaurant, I’d recommend mofongo.
I’m Dominican, and I love mangu. They say that’s the secret to Dominican baseball players being so good. It’s the Dominican version of Popeye’s spinach.
i wish i had that stuff in HS then
I don’t know if a combination of mangu, HGH, and being bit by a radioactive spider would have helped us in high school, considering our #1 starter threw about 55 MPH.
It’s nice to hear that he’d like to stay a Met. Let’s see how the man does this season. If he can stay somewhat healthy and win 12 to 15 games, he’d be worth signing for another two years at about what he’s getting now. Any better or any worse than that and it might get tricky in that, if he wins 18 games, he might want a “serious” contract, which with his health and age, would be an issue. If he is injured or only wins 10 games or even less, then it becomes a matter of whether we still want him and also showing him the proper respect whether we do or not. That can be problematic - like with Piazza and for the Yanks certainly with Joe Torre (which was plain stupid).
Speaking of which, what’s going on with Piazza? Still no team for him?
just sign the man to a 1 day contract let him have a press conference at shea stadium to announce his retirement. he has nothing left to prove and i doubt at this point in time a contender in the AL is looking to sign him.
I’m not a big fan of either mangu or mofongo. In fact I think I almost threw up once from looking at it, but he’s going to the Hall while eating that stuff so to each his own.
I would assume that Mangu or Mofongo isn’t made the same in the Carolinas. Actually, they’re both pretty good, especially mofongo. I think I’ll find some for lunch.
Curiosly, all the papers are quoting him as saying “mango” instead of “mangu”
Yeah, there’s plenty of food that doesn’t look good, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t. Mangu falls under that category.
A few thoughts:
1) While the Mets resisted giving Santana the sixth year and loath longterm deals for pitchers, we should acknowledge that the Mets were the only team willing to Pedro THiS fourth year, and I don’t mind having him on the team this year…
2) Pedro can win 5 cy youngs, and still be more remarkable for his personality and presence. He’s the work ethic and positive attitude of DWright with the intensity and fun spirit of Strahan. There’s not a player in the game who doesn’t want Pedro on their team.
3) I think the media (and us to some degree) have been harsh in setting low expectations for Pedro. Last year, people said he wouldn’t make it back or he’d struggle when he did. Pedro came back after missing a year and dominated - just like he did in all of 2005. Given what was going on in ‘06, you can’t count that against his quality. Pedro is an injury risk, no doubt, but he’s also on par with any other team’s ace - he really is that good, and people have forgotten.
You are right and if we get lucky enough to have Santana be Santana and Pedro to be Pedro, look friggin out!!!
CJ i think you make a good point. Pedro kind of has been forgotton. He missed the strecth run of 06 and the playoffs and almost all of 07. hes pretty much been written off. His innings wont be very high, niether will his win total due to missing starts, but when hes out there he really can be as good as anybody at shutting down an opponent for 7 innings.
Right on Jelic, thanks for the added adrenlin. I fully agree and add that I strongly believe Maine and Ollie will get caught in this vacuum of success.
Can we please have another confidence poll
I was wondering why there wasn’t a confidence poll this week, too. The tease of seeing about 3 minutes total worth of footage from spring training, hearing Pedro speak, hearing Maine talk about his focus, and watching Johan throw from a mound have my confidence (or maybe it’s my excitement) level waaaaaaay up.
um, he’s definitely being sarcastic when he called himself a prima dona. That’s what a writer in Boston called him and he’s resented it ever since. He was pretty upset about it back in Boston. The point he’s making is, sure he has to take time off (why the writer called him a prima dona) but its because he gets nicked up because he’s a small guy and doesn’t use illegal substances to enhance himself. He certainly is not seriously calling himself a prima dona.
You can do it! You can do it all season long! Go Pedro! Woo Hoo! WE GOT PEDRO BIATCHES!
Did Pedro look a little chubby to anyone else?
That is seriously one of the best quotes ever. I love this part:
“And all I could take was two Aleves or two Advil, a cup of coffee, a little mangu and an egg, and go out there and let it go and face everybody that’s out there. And you know what? That’s the era I dominated.”
HE KNOWS HE DOMINATED, I LOVE IT!
I actually have to give Mike and the Mad Dog credit on this one. They were doing a comparison of the great pitchers of the past 20 or so years and they compared Maddux, Pedro, and Clemens. Even they admitted that Maddux and Pedro DOMINATED way more than Clemens. Take a look at the numbers, they are very interesting.
Pedro had the greatest 3-5 year run in the history of the game and it came at a time when offense was having its greatest run in the history of the game. Pedro dominated like no one before him.
I see that the MLB power rankings are out and have the Mets at
#8 with the Dodgers ahead of us. Their biggest question was if Pedro could return to his pre-injury form……..ah…..I thought he already put that to rest
The Dodgers? They shouldn’t be in the top ten. Every year we get told how good they are and that they are up in the power rankings and they do nothing by the end of the season. Remember when every baseball writer in town gave the Mets 0 chance to beat them in the play offs in 06? How did that turn out baseball analysts and journalists?