Latest / Foul Territory / Hall of Famer Pedro Martínez on state of MLB, 2004 ALCS comeback

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Hall of Famer Pedro Martínez on state of MLB, 2004 ALCS comeback · Foul Territory

• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Here he is, the Hall of Famer, Pedro Martinez, joining
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: us on Foul Territory for the first time. A friend
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: who I worked with back in the day at MLB.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: You can catch him, though, all postseason long on TBS
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: studio coverage as an analyst. So also I saw nominated
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: for a sports Emmy. We can get into that for
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: outstanding sports personality. But Pedro, good to see you, my friend.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: How are you doing?
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: Great, great, great to see you guys. And I miss you.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: I miss you, too.
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: I miss, you know, the back and forth and, you know,
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: just dealing with all of you.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I miss you too, and we're going to
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: have some good ball talk for the next 15 minutes
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: or so here. So first off, just general consensus, because
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: we haven't talked to you on this show. What do
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: you think of the 2026 season? Like, if you catch
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: a friend who's like, oh, tell me what's going on
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: in baseball right now.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: What would you say stands out about this season?
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: I will have to say a little bit disappointed in
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: some ways, but as far as the game in general,
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: I think there were some things that really... got my
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: attention is the challenge situation with the umpires. I think
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: it's been great. I think it leaves everybody with a
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: fresh thought that they could be right or wrong and
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: no hard feelings. But in some of the teams, I'm
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: disappointed at some of the teams that haven't really performed up.
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: To the level that I thought.
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: Some of the divisions are not where I expected them
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: to be. That's the part that's really, like, I look
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: at the West in the American League, and I don't
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: like what I've seen, the numbers coming down.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: Some others are.
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: Really inspiring, like Pete Cronstrom doing what he's doing. Some
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: of the new stars that are popping up.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: I love the game in general. I love the game.
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: But in general, some areas of the game have really
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: declined to a point where I get disappointed. And I
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: see players that should be performing better and they're not.
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: I don't know what's going on. But, you know, seeing
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: Toronto last year give us probably the best World Series
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: that I have ever seen.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: And then this year they look different.
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: The West, we're accustomed to seeing so many great teams
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: and This year, it's not even exciting to watch.
• 2:43
  Speaker 4: Pedro, I was going to ask you something completely different,
• 2:45
  Speaker 4: but your answer changed what I was going to ask you,
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: so thank you. Do teams care enough? Do teams care
• 2:51
  Speaker 4: enough about trying to win the World Series? Because we
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: have this argument all the time. Are teams just excited, oh,
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: we almost got to the playoffs or we got to
• 2:59
  Speaker 4: the playoffs every year? We've never won the World Series.
• 3:02
  Speaker 4: Do teams care enough about getting the ultimate prize, which
• 3:05
  Speaker 4: is the World Series?
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: We all know I played the game, and I loved
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: the game, and I loved winning, and I hated losing.
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: But you have to understand that the business part of
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: baseball is probably the darkest part. And when I say
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: the business part, I'm talking about money. Some of the
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: teams care more about the money than they do about
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: actually winning. They want to sell to the fan base
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: that they really care.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: Some of them don't. Some of them just want the money.
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: And we have seen it in different organizations that have
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: won World Series and then get.
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: Rid of all the players.
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: I was part of that team that was in Montreal
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: about to win it. And the money was more important
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: than the championship. And some owners are in baseball just
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: for the business part of it. And I'm not going
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: to say it's all of them. But some of them,
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: it looks to me like they are more interested in
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: the money than they are in the fan base and
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: winning the championship.
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: And for some of us that love the game, it hurts.
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: It hurts to see that.
• 4:29
  Speaker 5: Where would you make the biggest impact? If you were
• 4:31
  Speaker 5: an owner, do you feel like you could... make the
• 4:34
  Speaker 5: entire reason for owning the team about winning? If you
• 4:38
  Speaker 5: were a GM, do you think you could make the
• 4:39
  Speaker 5: biggest impact because of what you said? I agree with
• 4:42
  Speaker 5: what you said.
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: Well, there are so many teams that you can just
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: stick around for a little longer and give them whatever
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: they need for now, and they are going to click.
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: I think the Miami Marlins are a team that are
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: on the verge of probably becoming a good team, but
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: you have to let them play together.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: You have to help them out. You have to kind of.
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: Give them what they need, some experience if they have
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: to go get some experience for the young players to
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: kind of polish themselves while they play. I think the
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: Milwaukee Brewers is another team. They're trying to win. They're
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: trying to win. What they need now is a little
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: bit more of a push. to actually get them to
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: what they need. And I'm hoping that they do it
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: this year. Small market team, I think they have enough
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: talent to win, but it's just that little extra push
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: that they need to actually become a champion. And if
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: I was a GM or an owner of a team
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: and I have talent like that, I will stick to
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: it and I will try to find the resources to
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: actually just Get them one step forward.
• 6:03
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• 7:04
  Speaker 4: All right, Pedro, I got to ask you this because
• 7:07
  Speaker 4: your answer, I love the answer you just gave. So
• 7:09
  Speaker 4: thank you for that. But now I got to ask
• 7:10
  Speaker 4: you this question. People say all the time, you know,
• 7:13
  Speaker 4: us old heads, us old guys, you know, especially the pitching. Oh,
• 7:17
  Speaker 4: you could never pitch in today's game with the challenges
• 7:20
  Speaker 4: in the strike zone and you know plus you know
• 7:23
  Speaker 4: let me let's be honest you were known to you
• 7:26
  Speaker 4: chucked a ball at a guy once or twice in
• 7:27
  Speaker 4: your career you can't do that anymore right and it
• 7:30
  Speaker 4: was one of the things that made you great though
• 7:32
  Speaker 4: was like hey i'm facing pedro i better not mess
• 7:35
  Speaker 4: up because i know one's coming at me right they
• 7:37
  Speaker 4: don't do those things anymore how would you have fared
• 7:40
  Speaker 4: in today's game.
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: I think i would have been better i would have
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: been better and and i and i've Without a doubt,
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: you're suing for defenses. Strikeouts don't matter. I was notorious
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: to get strikeouts. And I wasn't going to negotiate my
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: bread and butter. And my bread and butter was pitching.
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: And the only way I could be successful was the way.
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: I did it.
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: Pitching inside, I was determined to do that. I wasn't
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: going to negotiate the strike zone with any hitter, regardless
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: of how good they were.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: I was going to put up a challenge.
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: And if it, if that took for me to, you know,
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: bust your tower, I would do that because I was
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: there to beat you. I wasn't there to, to be
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: friends with you. I was out there to beat you. And, and, uh,
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: I was also very protective of my teammates. Uh, I,
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: I know it sounds cliche, but, uh, every once in
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: a while, I took it upon myself to do some
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: of the things I did, especially pitching in, uh, I
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: didn't like to be disrespected. That's another thing that nowadays
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: is normal to kind of take, you know, a minute
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: to actually, or more than a minute to run the
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: bases and you hit the first homer and you're peeping it.
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: Back in my days, and I know I'm an old head,
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: but I love to see the guys play, but play
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: with respect.
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: And that's the thing. I love the game and I
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: respected the game.
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: And to me, Nothing was more important than the day
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: I got the ball to go out there and pitch.
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: Because that was my job. That was my assignment. And
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: that day I wanted to make it special. I wanted
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: to love it. I wanted to be successful. And I
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: wasn't willing to negotiate that. And there were days where
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: I gave it up. And I had to tip my
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: hat and, you know, call the Yankees my daddies or
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: call the other.
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: Team my daddy. But I was just a professional. I.
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: I was out there to compete, to win, and I
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: was relentless when it came to that.
• 9:51
  Speaker 5: Which pitcher that's active right now reminds you the most
• 9:56
  Speaker 5: of you?
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: I would have to say... Tariq Scouble is one of them.
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: But Sandy Alcantara, I think when it comes to taking
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: pride on doing what you need to do, Sandy Alcantara
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: is a living proof of what I was. I think
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: Sandy trains, works, values, everything he does. It reminds me
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: a lot of the way I approach the game. I
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: did not want to look from the first inning to
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: the ninth inning. I wanted to look at the first
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: inning only to make sure I went through it. And
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: then from there, it was from the ninth inning down.
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: That is one thing that I had just revealed right now.
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: I never, never looked from the first inning down. after
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: the first inning up to the ninth inning, I, I
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: wanted to look from the ninth inning down to the
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: first inning I just posted. And that's, that's the approach
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: that I think Sandy Alcantara has when it comes to
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: kind of being old school. I think Sandy is that
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: guy that wants to finish what he starts. And, uh,
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: when it comes to being a bully out there, I,
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: I think Tariq Scoble has done it in the last
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: few years as good as anybody. And, uh, He's just
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: that guy, aggressive and attacking the strike zone.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: And he's a bully. He's not intimidated by anybody. And
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: that's the kind of character that I had.
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: When I was pitching.
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: I was just determined to go and beat you. I'm fearless.
• 11:34
  Speaker 5: Did you see what Sandy did last night coming out
• 11:36
  Speaker 5: of the bullpen and closing the game for his team?
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: Did you look me up?
• 11:44
  Speaker 5: Did I look you up?
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: I did that too.
• 11:47
  Speaker 5: Yes, you did, and that's why I wanted to ask
• 11:49
  Speaker 5: you about it.
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: I did that in Montreal a few times and not
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: only come up.
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: In relief, but I had done it, though.
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: I pitched for the Dodgers in my rookie year the
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: entire season as a reliever, and I was able to
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: understand what I needed to do, but there was a
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: time in Cincinnati where Felipe needed one of the starters
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: to go and close the game, and I just said, Felipe,
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: it's my bullpen day.
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: I'll take it. And Felipe gave me the ball, and
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: I saved that game.
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: And then, you know, at various points, I actually came
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: up in relief, and I wasn't afraid to do it. Actually,
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: Cleveland is a good example. I just could not stay
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: in the dugout, and I just wanted to go in relief,
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: and I did that.
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: And I was successful.
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: I was successful as a reliever. I imagine what would
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: have been if I became a closer instead.
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: Of a starter.
• 12:49
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I can't imagine you as a closer.
• 12:51
  Speaker 4: I've never told anybody this, but since we have you
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: on the air, I'm going to tell this story. 2001
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: was my first full season in the major leagues, okay?
• 13:00
  Speaker 4: Early in the year, I'm on the Twins. We were
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: supposed to suck. We were doing pretty well. We go
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: to Boston, and we're facing Pedro Martinez in Fenway, rocking.
• 13:08
  Speaker 4: You were at the height of your superpowers.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: We beat you.
• 13:12
  Speaker 4: You probably don't even remember this.
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: We didn't beat you.
• 13:15
  Speaker 4: We won the game, though, that you started. I'm going
• 13:17
  Speaker 4: to say Radke might've pitched against you. That game, I
• 13:19
  Speaker 4: got absolutely demolished by Jason Veritek in home play. Like
• 13:22
  Speaker 4: I got completely smashed on a play at the play
• 13:26
  Speaker 4: back when he could do that, right?
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: And we win the game.
• 13:28
  Speaker 4: And I remember thinking to myself, man, I got to,
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: first of all, I got to hit off Pedro Martinez,
• 13:33
  Speaker 4: which at the time you were, you know, you were
• 13:35
  Speaker 4: the highest of the high. And then we won the game.
• 13:37
  Speaker 4: I'm like, man, we actually are pretty good. So to you, Pedro,
• 13:41
  Speaker 4: I love the way you pitched. I love watching you pitch.
• 13:43
  Speaker 4: I hated facing you. Although, The numbers ain't bad. I
• 13:46
  Speaker 4: ain't going to get into that. But the numbers ain't bad.
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: But it was like that game was the game where
• 13:50
  Speaker 4: I was like, okay, I can play in the big
• 13:52
  Speaker 4: leagues and our team can play in the big leagues.
• 13:54
  Speaker 4: So you were kind of the measuring stick, at least
• 13:57
  Speaker 4: for me, for my career once I got to face you.
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: So all I'm saying is thank you.
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: Well, you know, I'm human. I don't have nothing. I
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: also understand that about the opposition. Yes, you beat me. Yes,
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: you probably did everything you needed to do to beat me.
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: But you also have to respect the opposition. The opposition
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: is good. And that's why I say I was a professional.
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: If I had to bust your tower to actually beat you,
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: and that would work for me without hurting you, without
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: hurting anybody, I would have done it. But I'm also
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: a professional. I know that you guys are also good.
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: And that's the one thing I can tell the new
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: generation of players. Every player that's out there deserves respect.
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: Every team that's out there deserves all the respect in
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: the world. And they are capable of beating you at
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: any point. Every team is capable of doing exactly what
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: you're doing. And there are special days for some of us.
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: But some other days can be horrible for some of us.
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: And I remember my best game that.
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: I can recall... It's probably one of the.
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: Worst results that I had in the big leagues. I
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: was told on the plane, Pedro, I'm going to use
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: the entire bullpen to save you so that you can
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: pitch for as long as you can against a weak team,
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: Kansas City Royals. And that was the first ever manager.
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: To tell me that. You are the ace.
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: You have Kansas City for yourself tomorrow.
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: And guess what happened?
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: When I got to Kansas City, I gave up five
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: in the first inning. And one more in the, I
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: think it was the second or third. And I was
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: supposed to pick up the entire bullpen. But I battled
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: myself around the six runs that I gave up in
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: the first two or three innings. And I ended up
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: winning that game because the team picked me up. But
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: I ended up pitching eight innings. And that's one of
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: the games that gives me a lot of satisfaction because
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: that's when you know you're being vulnerable, you're human, and still,
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: you pick up your teammates. And that's one of my
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: best games ever because I was able to do exactly
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: what my teammates needed me to do.
• 16:35
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• 16:37
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• 16:40
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• 16:50
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• 16:52
  Speaker 2: Go to SeatGeek.
• 16:53
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• 16:55
  Speaker 2: Easy it is.
• 16:55
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I know you used to scalp your tickets, but look,
• 16:58
  Speaker 5: it's way, way better now because you get to just
• 17:00
  Speaker 5: go right on SeatGeek and find your postseason tickets. I'm
• 17:04
  Speaker 5: not even going to fast forward to the postseason. I'm
• 17:06
  Speaker 5: going to say... The run to October, because some teams
• 17:09
  Speaker 5: aren't in yet, so right now is the time to
• 17:11
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• 17:13
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• 17:16
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• 17:18
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  Speaker 6: it later.
• 17:35
  Speaker 5: Pedro, we got nine games left in the season. What
• 17:38
  Speaker 5: teams are you watching right now? What race, tight race,
• 17:42
  Speaker 5: whether you think they're good teams or not, you already
• 17:44
  Speaker 5: said the West is kind of not playing very well,
• 17:47
  Speaker 5: but what teams are you watching right now that you're like,
• 17:51
  Speaker 5: if that team gets in, they could be dangerous?
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: They are dangerous. There's three teams that you have to
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: keep an eye on. You have to keep an eye.
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: Right now, San Diego was playing really good ball. San
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: Diego is one of those teams that has everything that
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: they need to actually get in there. But I'm thinking
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: about the Cubs. I'm thinking about the Braves. I'm watching
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: the Phillies. When are they going to finally click? And
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: I think it's their responsibility, but it's not about anything
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: else but the players. And I'm going to call out
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: the players. The players, they have experience. They have pitching.
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: They have relievers. They have everything. Now it's up to them.
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: This is a big moment for the Philadelphia Phillies to.
• 18:41
  Speaker 7: Kind of get your heartbeat checked because the Philadelphia Phillies
• 18:48
  Speaker 7: have been sniffing the World Series so many times with
• 18:52
  Speaker 7: a whole bunch of stars, a whole bunch of numbers.
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: And they have everything, experience and all, to win it.
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: I will have to check their hearts. Because they need
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: to make it happen. And that's one of the most
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: dangerous teams if you happen to go into the postseason.
• 19:11
  Speaker 3: And we saw it against the Dodgers last year. I mean,
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: they were just unbelievable. But they couldn't close the door.
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: I think it's personal about the Philadelphia Phillies to get
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: it done. I think the players individually need to look
• 19:25
  Speaker 3: themselves in the mirror. Because that could be one of
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: the best teams in the postseason if they make it.
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: But I believe the Braves are really good.
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: I believe the Cubs with PCA having this unbelievable season
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: and the rest of the guys, Bregman, a gamer, all
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: of those guys, if they happen to pitch just the
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: little bit, they could be scary too.
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 19:53
  Speaker 5: Did you like to listen?
• 19:54
  Speaker 4: Did you like to pitch on more than five days
• 19:56
  Speaker 4: or four days rest? Because sometimes in the playoffs, you know, guys,
• 20:00
  Speaker 4: everyone's given extra rest to pitchers. So what's the impact
• 20:03
  Speaker 4: of actually getting five days off or six days off
• 20:06
  Speaker 4: or whatever that is? And how important is it for pitchers,
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: especially starters, to stay on that routine?
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: During the regular season, pitching on five days rest is
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: fine with me.
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: It was fine with me. But during the postseason, just
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: get me healthy to go out there. I don't care
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: in what role.
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: You know, if I'm in the.
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: Postseason, this is what I fought all year. It was
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: just to get to the postseason. How can you not.
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: Want the ball? when the postseason is here. I want it.
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: Get me healthy, and I will pitch every day if
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: you want me to.
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: But, you know, I don't know how much they value
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: a championship and the amount of work that you put
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: in the entire year to actually get to the postseason.
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: That's why I think the Phillies need to really check
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: themselves because the Phillies need to understand how hard they
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: went about it, how close they have been And they
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: haven't closed that door.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: And now it seems like they're struggling a little bit.
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: I hope that they can actually pick it up on
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: time and put it all together. But it will be
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: so disappointing for me if I, you know, get to
• 21:22
  Speaker 3: the postseason and someone is like, no, I'm feeling this
• 21:26
  Speaker 3: and I'm feeling that and I can't. No, no, let's go.
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: That's what we fought for all year. Let's go all
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: together and let's win it. Finish the job.
• 21:37
  Speaker 5: Is there a world where the pitcher pumps the team up?
• 21:43
  Speaker 5: We talk about it all the time. Pitchers are never
• 21:46
  Speaker 5: really the leaders because they only play once every five days.
• 21:50
  Speaker 5: Is there a world where you get the boys going
• 21:52
  Speaker 5: or is it just like you said, I'm professional, I'm
• 21:55
  Speaker 5: going to go take the ball, game one of the playoffs?
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: I was a difficult, a very difficult customer. I was
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: a I was all in, and they needed to let
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: me in. That game in Cleveland actually showed everybody that
• 22:13
  Speaker 3: I played with what I was made of. I couldn't
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: throw the ball before the game. And you know that
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: back in those days, they would give you a little
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: medicine to see how everything was.
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: It was cold. It was difficult. And I was really hurt.
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: And I just decided that I needed to do something.
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: Even though I had my career in jeopardy, At that moment,
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: I didn't care. Like I said, once we get this
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: close to where we might win it, I was going
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: to do whatever. And that's what I did. And I
• 22:46
  Speaker 3: think sometimes you lead by example. Some other time, you
• 22:52
  Speaker 3: find your way to approach your teammates. I remember when
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: we were 0-3 against the Yankees, some of the guys
• 23:01
  Speaker 3: that the Yankees had had a couple of words that
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: were a little bit disrespectful to us or to me. Like,
• 23:11
  Speaker 3: we're going to sweep them. Not only they look like idiots,
• 23:15
  Speaker 3: but we're going to sweep them and send them home.
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: It's okay if you beat our brains up, but don't
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: be yapping, especially to the media. And I remember that
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: was the only time I called, you know, a meeting,
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: all players, only players, no coaches. And I read what
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: they said in the papers and, you know, what the
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: media were saying about us. Well, yeah, we look like
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: idiots because we wanted to look like idiots. We wanted
• 23:46
  Speaker 3: to have long hair just like we would shave our hair.
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: But just don't say it. And that woke us up.
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: And even though the Yankees were as good as there is,
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: they took us and test us to the limit.
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: That was a turning point.
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: Just those words that they use.
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: They look like idiots. And we're going to sweep them
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: and send them home tonight. And the rest is history.
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: But that was the only time that as a pitcher, leader,
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: or veteran in the team, I called the team.
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: And it paid off.
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: It paid off to call the team in and let
• 24:27
  Speaker 3: them know that we were more than just idiots. And
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: the rest is history. But sometimes you just got to
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: be careful. You can't overdo it. You have to find
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: the right moment to do it or, you know, find
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: your teammates when they really need, you know, a word
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: of encouragement.
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: That's good stuff.
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: This gets me fired up. I mean, some of the
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: people watching, too, they're like, I'm fired up.
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: I love this. Really good ball talk.
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: Pedro, I wish we had more time, but we'll invite
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: you back for a little more when we can get you.
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: And also excited to watch you this postseason on TBS
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: as always.
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: Love your takes. Miss working with you, bud. Good to
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: see you.
• 25:08
  Speaker 3: Well, miss you too. And good to see all of you. Guys,
• 25:12
  Speaker 3: stay healthy and enjoy this postseason. I hope we get surprises.
• 25:17
  Speaker 3: I hope we don't have these boring kind of seasons
• 25:20
  Speaker 3: that we have been seeing in some areas. I hope
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: that whatever team makes it, Give us a real good postseason.
• 25:27
  Speaker 3: And I hope that the owners of the teams are
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: listening so that they can help and push those teams
• 25:33
  Speaker 3: to be better every single time.
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: And also tell those.
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: Owners to not lock out the sport too so we
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: can play next year on time.
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: That would be nice. That will be the worst thing
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: that can ever happen.
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: To baseball because baseball is really on a steady climb.
• 25:48
  Speaker 3: There's no need to do that. Find a way to
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: get it done. And the PA as well. needs to
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: find a way to get along with the owners, and
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: please don't mess up baseball.
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: Everybody's watching. Everybody knows, and everybody's making money. Let's share it.
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: I'm with you. Let's talk about it. Once we get through,
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: we're going to have fun for six weeks. We'll bring
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: you back.
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: We'll talk about how we fix it and make sure
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: that they get back on the field on time.
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: So good to see you, buddy. Great to see you guys,
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: and blessings to all of you. You too. Appreciate you.
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: That's Pedro Martinez. All right.