Saturday, March 08, 2008

Pedro Dominates the NL, Part 1



Today is an anniversary that I bet most Red Sox fans don't know about. It was 10 years ago today that Pedro Martinez made his debut in a Red Sox uniform, in a spring training game in Florida. (Don't ask me who it was against or how he did, as I honestly don't know.) It would be the beginning of a seven year run for Pedro in Boston. He would give the Fenway Park fans some incredible memories that will live forever in the classic ballpark.

So today, with thanks to my friend Adam, here is one of those memories, when Pedro simply dominated the National League in the 1999 All-Star Game at Fenway, the same game that the immortal Ted Williams made a memorable and emotional appearance before the game. In this clip, Pedro takes care of the NL in the first inning, striking out Barry Larkin, Larry Walker and Sammy Sosa. Pedro was right in the middle of one of the greatest seasons any pitcher has ever had in MLB history. The clip lasts just under three minutes.

Here is the boxscore, courtesy of Baseball Reference: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ALS/ALS199907130.shtml

In that game, the starting RF for the AL was Manny Ramirez of the Cleveland Indians, and the NL starter was...Curt Schilling.

(And in a nice ironic twist, Joe Torre of the Yankees is managing the AL All-Stars at Fenway in the Red Sox dugout. And ten years later, who will be managing the AL All-Stars this year, at Yankee Stadium and from the Yankees dugout? Yep, Terry Francona of the Boston Red Sox.)

Tomorrow, I'll have the second inning. Enjoy.

1 comment:

Michael Leggett said...

Pedro Still has The Ability to dominate:

Funny, how he got traded for who proved to be a "Head Case", Carl Pavano;

Pavano's still a "Head Case" & Pedro's with The Mets, still capable of Domination.