MLB WORLD SERIES: CARDINALS v RED SOX

October 26, 2004

Pedro Martinez

PEDRO MARTINEZ: It was great to come back to the atmosphere that I was used to. I was in the National League before I left. I was worried about the way I was going to swing the bat and if I had to bunt. But thanks to God my teammates did the work for me, did the dirty work, played some defense, that gave us a little bit of a break in the third inning play. And after that I just used my experience and threw strikes and got them swinging.

PEDRO MARTINEZ: Well, I was really happy he didn't take off and actually I worked on saving the run; I just wanted to get the out. It was early in the game, and we all knew that Suppan was going to be around the plate, and I knew we had a chance of making contact with the kind of hitters that we have in the team. So it would probably give us a chance to get a couple of runs, not hoping for the mistake there. But it was a break, and we took advantage of it. Once they didn't score in that inning, I said "it's up to me now." And I got a couple of runs to work with.

PEDRO MARTINEZ: She asked how excited I was about pitching the first game in the World Series, and also how do I feel about thinking that this might be the last game that I might pitch wearing the Boston uniform. I said I was really happy and lucky to actually be one out of one in the World Series game and to actually give my fans and everybody that sympathize for me and my team a win in my first time out in a World Series, and also to put up a good show for them. And about the last opportunity or maybe the last opportunity of me wearing the Boston Red Sox uniform. I said I hope it's not the last one, but if it is, I just want the fans and everybody to understand that I did whatever possible to represent the city well, the team and that my heart will always be with them, and that I did whatever possible for the team and for the city.

PEDRO MARTINEZ: That was the way we congratulate each other and at the same time we thank God for whatever happened, for whatever good deed we had done on the field. And that's the way we do it. We told each other we were going to let our hair grow together, we did it. We do it our own way and that's how we are. That's just Manny being Manny and Pedro being Pedro.

PEDRO MARTINEZ: I was really happy to see Manny, not even thinking about what happened at Fenway, and being able to come up with a big throw and a very good throw to put somebody out in a key situation. It was important to us and that got us going, and then he hit the home run to complement whatever he was doing, it's even greater.

PEDRO MARTINEZ: I don't think there is any difference between pitching a game in Yankee Stadium and pitching a game in the World Series. I think every game we play against the Yankees is played like it is a World Series. And I'm not surprised that Derek Lowe might be ready and set to go, because he's been through a lot and a lot of ups and downs, and I trust him completely, and I'm pretty sure that he's going to come out with a positive attitude and do what I would expect him to do. I just hope we give him support and we play defense for him, which is a big key for him. And I'm pretty sure he's ready, because he's been through everything. He's been through war. He's a warrior and I believe he's going to come out to do good.

PEDRO MARTINEZ: It's been great. It's been a great ride. I hope everybody enjoyed it as much as I did. Even with the struggles that I've had up and down during the season, I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed every moment. I enjoyed my career in Boston. I'm really happy things went the way they have. I hope I get another chance to come back with this team, but if I don't, I understand the business part of it. I just hope that many other people understand and understand that I wasn't the one that wanted to leave. I'm only doing what I have to do. And they're going to have their chances to get me back in that uniform. If they don't get me it's probably because they didn't try hard enough. My heart is with Boston. I consider Boston my house. It's actually my house. But I just hope everything works out okay. The emotions are always going to be there. I'm an emotional player. I'm just going to do whatever possible to remain here. If it doesn't work out, I'll go away with you'll the respect for management, for the team, for everybody. And I'm just going to continue to do what I have to do somewhere else and hopefully give them another push. I think four times out of seven years in the playoffs is not bad, is not a bad average. And also performing like I did tonight and in previous games in the playoffs is not bad. If I have to leave, I will leave and I'll be proud of it.