Last night’s thriller was a thing of beauty for a number of reasons. The first reason, of course, was that the Phillies won. The second was that the Mets lost (and were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs). The third reason was the joy of watching an honest-to-God pitching duel between two formidable players, one of whom has for several years been considered long past his prime.
 
To me, nothing beats a low-scoring game in baseball. High scores are great if you’re watching football, but a 14-13 final in baseball implies a degree of defensive sloppiness, and I watch baseball for the defense. (Yes, I recognize the irony of writing that as a fan of a team that is one of the most prolifically-scoring teams in the majors. Still…)
 
As a game like the one last night unfolds, a palpable tension begins to permeate the game and affects everyone involved, both players and fans. The margin for error is razor-thin. Every play is magnified; each strike, each out, each error and base hit looms larger in context. It’s like watching a three-hour game of chicken. Which side will crack first? How long can this nearly-flawless combination of pitching and defense hold out simultaneously for both teams?
 
First, Tim Redding deserves respect for what would on most nights be considered a sure-fire winning effort. He is a bane on the mound when he faces the Phillies, and I for one am happy Redding plays for a team they will not have to face in the playoffs. Moving on…
 
Pedro Martinez threw 130(!) pitches last night. He lasted eight innings, surrendered just six hits, and did not allow a single runner to cross the plate. That’s pretty god-damned difficult to do, whether you’re in the fifth season of your career, or your fifteenth. Madson came out in the ninth and did a good job of nailing down the victory in a situation when many fans have been developing severe ulcers.
 
Ah, the Phillies bullpen. Considering how poorly they’ve performed recently, you would think such a game was no longer possible. But recall the recent home series against the Giants. The Phillies scored just three runs in three games, and yet they won the series, so the possibility is there. (Granted, the first victory was a 1-0 complete game shutout courtesy of Cole Hamels.)
 
This makes seven straight winning seasons for the Fightins, who have not finished under .500 since going 80-81 in 2002. If they were to play .500 ball from this point forward, they would finish with the exact same record they had last year when they successfully defended their division title. They have one more brutal stretch — a ten-game road trip that includes stops at rivals Atlanta and Florida — before ending the season at home with a four-game revenge series against Houston and three final games against Florida, which by then (we hope) may have nothing left to play for.
 
Of course, if the Phillies haven’t clinched the division by the time they come home to face Houston, we might have to deal with a few more nail-biters. But that’s what makes baseball fun to watch, right? At least in the National League.

If you were watching the Phillies game on FOX with the sound on yesterday, besides being very brave, you got to hear a story as told by pint-sized reporter Ken Rosenthal explaining how Pedro Martinez had the gall to carry around a bag with the Mets logo on it for road trips. Obviously, a couple guys in the locker room took exception to Pedro’s choice of accessory, and made him get rid of it.

Kenny Albert then asked Rosenthal to retell the semi-amusing anecdote during the broadcast, so he did.

V e r y s l o w l y:

A little black bag, kind of for his personal effects. It had a Mets logo on it, the Phillies took notice of this and basically ordered him to dump it. Which he did. And he said to Jimmy Rollins — actually shouted — “You’re my witness.”

Rollins replied, “Cut the umbilical cord.”

So you thought — well, the scene might be over, but Shane Victorino took the bag out of the garbage, mounted it on top of the television set, the big screen TV in the Phillies clubhouse, and he told Pedro to burn it.

I don’t think anyone is giving Ken the ‘Storyteller of the Year’ award anytime soon, so we never found out if he actually burned it or not. Or why Shane put the bag on top of a big screen TV before telling him to set it on fire, but hey — it was informative nonetheless.

After the jump, check out a couple screenshots of eccentric Pedro’s bullpen antics from this weekend, as well as the brand-spanking-new Birdland x The Fightins t-shirt honoring the 3-time Cy Young Award winner.

Read more »

Courtesy of the Twitter account of CSN’s John R. Finger (@jrfinger for those not knowing) comes the news that the greatest pitcher of your lifetime, Pedro Martinez, will make his season debut for the WFC’s as they take on Notre Damer Jeff Samardzija and those Chicago Cubs Wednesday Night at Wrigley (on ESPN).

The other news to come out of the reshuffling of the starters is that Grampa Jamie Moyer has been relegated to the ‘pen.  Which basically means he might see some action if we’re down 7 runs in the 4th inning, or up 9 in the 7th.  I kinda feel bad for the old guy.

Photo: David Maialetti/Daily News

Pedro Martinez was on the hill last night for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs trying to work his way back into shape so he can join the Phillies rotation when his time on the DL has expired.  He looked pretty good up until the fourth inning — even registering 93 mph on his fastball at one point — but then the Indians AAA squad forced Pedro out of the game after he allowed four earned runs.

Afterward, Pedro talked with reporters and was asked about his former teammates David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez being outed as two of the guys who tested positive for steroids in 2003.  While he didn’t make any excuses for the pair, Pedro did want to address whether or not he has ever partaken in the ‘roids.

As you might expect, this little IronPiggy had none:

For those who don’t like watching video, here’s what he had to say in all its blockquoted glory:

I’m the only one that might standing.  All of a sudden, one of these days they’re going to come, “Oh, Pedro too.”  That’s when I’m gonna start stripping my clothes off and showing everybody that I never had acne on my back. I’m going to start stripping in front of everybody because, ya know what? I haven’t even seen anything like that ever.  As far as I know, I’m still 188 [lbs.] today, 188 in 2003, 2004, 2000-always.  So um, I don’t know that it helped me.  And if I did use it before?  They need to give me my money back.  That shit didn’t work.

Even if Pedro never throws a pitch for the Phillies, he’s more than paid for himself with these entertaining press conferences. It’s nearly impossible not to like him.

Hot off the wire.  Per Gordon Edes breaking the news on Yahoo’s Big League Stew:

Breaking: Free-agent pitcher Pedro Martinez passed his physical with the Phillies about 20 minutes ago, clearing the way for him to sign a deal with the defending world champions. A press conference announcing his signing is expected to be held Wednesday in Philadelphia.

If I can get over him still ripely stinking of Met, then I might like this move. Time will tell…

Video game rendering of what Pedro Martinez will look like in Phillies gear pitching at Citi, ATJ…

Read more »

Without question, the best part about coming from behind to beat the Metros is watching their loser fans react to the inevitable, and last night was no exception.

In the fifth inning, when the Fightins’ were in the midst of coming back from their early 7-0 deficit, Ryan Howard jumped on an outside fastball delivered by the no-longer-intimidating Pedro Martinez. The astute CW57 cameraman must have been scoping out the angriest of the Metro fan prior to the blast, and immediately cut to a volatile gentleman who most likely dropped some major cash for a first row seat. Around the :22 second mark, you can clearly see Mr. Temper mouth some expletives before becoming so enraged, he just gets up out of his seat and walks out.

hahahaah:

“Hey. It’s brad. Now that the mets are spanking them no need to guest post.”

At 9:42 PM (when the Phillies cut the lead to 7-6):

“Okay. I take it back.

“Too late,” I replied. Didn’t these Mets fans learn anything from last year?

• MoyerIsMyHero on No wonder A-Rod pulled a piece of ass like Kate Hudson
• MoyerIsMyHero on What, No Centaur Joke?
• Garrett on Phillies fan interrupts a lunch date between Joe Buck & David Wright
• Watrick on World Series Game 5 Recap: Phillies 8, Yankees 6
• T-Bags Big Bouncy Man Boobs on World Series Game 5 Recap: Phillies 8, Yankees 6